Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Spotted Together on Set of Their Upcoming Nike Movie
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Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are back to work.
The longtime friends and collaborators were photographed Tuesday on the Los Angeles set on their as-yet-untitled Nike movie.
With Diet Cokes in hand as they walked side by side, the Boston natives were dressed casually, with Affleck, 49, wearing a dark-gray button-down over a white shirt and jeans.
Damon, 51, sported a multicolored polo and a clean-shaven face compared to Affleck's scruff, finishing his look in a pair of dark slacks.
Damon and Affleck are both writing, producing and starring in the sports drama produced by Amazon Studios and Skydance Sports about Nike's journey to inking its blockbuster deal with Michael Jordan, PEOPLE confirmed in April. Mandalay Pictures, the actors' production entity, was set to help produce as well.
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Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Affleck, who is playing Nike co-founder Phil Knight, is directing the film with Damon playing former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, who helped the third-ranked shoe company land its massive deal with the NBA superstar in the 1980s.
The untitled Amazon film is based on the true story of Vaccaro's efforts to strike a shoe deal with Jordan, now 59, amid the athlete's illustrious basketball career. However, Jordan himself will not be portrayed in the film and will remain as an unseen character.
Mandalay Pictures was first to pick up the original screenplay titled Air Jordan, written by Alex Convery, PEOPLE confirmed. Skydance Sports president Jon Weinbach "was integral in obtaining Vaccaro's life rights" for the film bought by Mandalay Pictures Vice President Jordan Moldo, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Affleck and Damon's friendship, meanwhile, was cemented the moment they broke into Hollywood together with Good Will Hunting, which made them the youngest people to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1998.
They would go on to star together in films like Dogma (1999) and 2021's The Last Duel, the latter of which was the first film they wrote together in more than two decades.
RELATED VIDEO: Matt Damon Admits He Texts Ben Affleck to Fact-Check Stories About Him: "Did This Happen?"
In Damon's profile for GQ last October, Affleck spoke about the impact their relationship has had on his mental health throughout their years together in the public eye.
"I can't speak for Matt," he said, "but my own kind of sanity and mental health really benefited from having someone who I grew up with and knew as a child who was also going through something similar — this 20-year-plus journey of being in the public eye — who I could reflect on it with honestly, talk things over with, be myself with, who I knew why we were friends, why he was interested and loved me, why I loved him."
"I often think of people who just become successful and then get thrust into this, and I think, 'How do they do it without having somebody that they can talk to? Who they can trust? Who knew them before?' " Affleck added. "It's just been such an asset to me — and, I think, I hope, to Matt — this relationship that we've had."
Damon shared that he's careful to keep their bond the same as it was back in the day.
"Like, I don't want to be his friend in public, you know what I mean?" Damon said. "It's way too important a friendship for that, and it goes so beyond this career or anything. You know, it's a significant part of my life and not for public consumption in that way."
