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A few months ago we reported that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were surprisingly working on a new film centered around Nike’s pursuit of Michael Jordan and while we haven’t gotten word on who’ll be playing his Airness, some casting news is afoot.
Deadline is reporting that Joel Gretsch and Gustaf Skarsgård are the latest additions to Affleck’s as-yet-untitled Nike film. Joel Gretsch has been featured in films like The Legend of Bagger Vance and Glass House: The Good Mother while Gustaf Skarsgård has been seen in shows like Vikings and Westworld. In other words, we don’t know them like that, but apparently Ben Affleck feels like they’ll be good additions to his upcoming film as Gretsch will play former Converse CEO John O’Neil, with Skarsgård taking on the role of Adidas founder Horst Dassler.
The drama has Damon playing maverick sneaker salesman and former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, with Affleck as Nike co-founder Phil Knight, in a story about Nike’s long-shot effort to sign Michael Jordan to its shoe company in the mid-’80s. It was an endorsement that seemed impossible at the time, but would become the most significant relationship between an athletic brand and an athlete ever, and launched the global, multibillion-dollar contemporary sneaker industry.
Still, who’s going to be playing Michael Jordan? Must be an up and coming actor because off top we can’t think of a famous person who looks like Mike in his heyday.
No word on when Ben and Matt’s Nike film will be hitting the airwaves on Amazon Prime but best believe we’ll be tuning in just to see which retro sneakers will be featured in the film.
Will you be checking out the upcoming Nike film? Let us know in the comments section below.
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