Trivia / Air (2023)

• Box Office Bomb: Air grossed just shy of $90 million at the box office to a budget of $70-90 million. This is a rather unique scenario in the eyes of its producers and distributors, as Air was never meant to be a theatrical release in the first place — it was originally budgeted out and produced as a streaming-only film, with Amazon Studios changing their mind following positive test screenings. As a result, while the raw box office numbers would normally indicate a massive loss, Amazon doesn't treat it as one on account of the grosses covering the costs of marketing and theatrical distribution, and they're expecting to make up the rest through Prime Video as intended, sort of like a premeditated, hyper-compressed form of Vindication By Cable.
• Creator-Chosen Casting: Michael Jordan himself requested that Viola Davis be cast to play his mother Deloris in the film.
• Real-Life Relative: Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, who play Michael Jordan's parents, are married in real life.
• Sleeper Hit: Originally set to be a streaming-exclusive, Warner Bros. agreed to distribute the film for Amazon for a theatrical run. The end result managed to perform well above anyone's expectations and served as successful counterprogramming to The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
• Throw It In!: Chris Messina improvised his rant to Sonny when he calls him after finding out that he visited the Jordan household. It also overlaps with Enforced Method Acting as Matt Damon was forced to improvise in response.
• Uncredited Role: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon rewrote the script to accommodate changes Michael Jordan had requested. They did not receive screenwriting credit for the changes.
• Wag the Director: Michael Jordan requested a number of changes to the script, which Ben Affleck honored. These included the inclusion of George Raveling and Howard White in the film, that his parents' role in the script be beefed up, that Viola Davis play Deloris, and the removal of Tinker Hatfield from the final draft.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Ben Affleck wanted to include music by Duran Duran and Eurythmics on the soundtrack, but the rights to use the songs would have taken the film over budget.
  • Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield was originally included as a character in the film, until Michael Jordan informed Affleck that, contrary to popular belief, Hatfield wasn't actually involved in the creation of the original Air Jordan shoe.

---