Amazon announces theatrical debut of Jordan shoe line biopic ‘Air’
Amazon teases the release date of its new biopic chronicling the conception of Nike's beloved Air Jordan shoe line.
Video Transcript
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SEANA SMITH: Amazon announcing it will release its film "Air" in theaters. "Air" is about the creation of one of the most successful brands of all time, Air Jordan. Now, the film is being produced by and will star Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Other stars include Marlon Wayans, Chris Tucker, Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, just to name a few there.
A few months ago, Bloomberg reported that Amazon was planning to release 12 to 15 films in theaters and would spend a billion dollars to do so. Dave, I think this is such a smart move by Amazon. They picked the perfect film to do this with. And you talk about people wanting to go back to the theaters, getting that extra exposure. I think it's a huge home run potentially here for Amazon.
DAVE BRIGGS: Oh, Affleck and Damon, how about them apples?
SEANA SMITH: --two stars.
DAVE BRIGGS: I mean, that takes us back to "Good Will Hunting," one of the all-time great films. And tie in Jason Bateman, one of the most underrated actors on the planet--
SEANA SMITH: Oh, I love him.
DAVE BRIGGS: --quite frankly. And yes, this is the kind of movie coming out of the pandemic that we just don't see very often. We know the "Avatars" of the world can succeed. But films that you can go to with your whole family, your kids and the parents want to see together, bravo. Looks like a terrific cast. And obviously, the story of Nike is one related to Michael Jordan that we all relate to and we all want to hear about.
But big picture, you can't help but wonder if this is what Amazon is going to do. Going to have a very positive impact on the movie theater and the film industry as a whole. We talked to Richard Gelfond, the IMAX CEO, about that. He was very excited about the prospect for the films that they're going to get in theaters. Right when we see the pipeline of films looking like it's flat-lining, Amazon could be that shocker that the industry needs, 12 to 15 films a year. Very excited for it.
SEANA SMITH: Yeah, I think it could be huge. And we know we've seen some resistance from Netflix, some of the other streamers, just in terms of releasing their movies, their new content in the theaters, some of that resistance of the traditional model. So the fact that Amazon is taking this leap and releasing so many movies, up to 15 this year, that is a huge win, I think, for the industry. And like you're saying, they're doing anything to get people back into those theaters. So something to be optimistic about.
DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, we were all wondering what they would do with this when they acquired MGM for, what, it was 8.45 billion. Now we're getting a glimpse. We'll see that on Easter weekend. That might--
SEANA SMITH: I'm excited.
DAVE BRIGGS: --even get you back to the theaters.
SEANA SMITH: I was going to say, that might get me--
DAVE BRIGGS: No, it won't. It'll get me there.
