Viola Davis, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina & More Attend 'AIR' L.A. Premiere!

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo. The film, which The Post called “lousy,” opened on Wednesday, ahead of the holiday weekend.

J. Kim Murphy Before “Air” could get the greenlight, director Ben Affleck needed one last seal of approval. With months of development already complete, the director flew out to meet with Michael Jordan, seeking his blessing for the film, which explores the NBA star’s landmark 1984 sponsorship deal with Nike and the origin of the Air Jordan line. For screenwriter Alex Convery, this was the most stressful 24 hours of his career. “Either this was going to get made and it would be my first produced movie, or it’s all going to fall apart. Back to square one,” Convery recalls in a conversation with Variety. “To really do this responsibly, you need Michael to say yes. Ben said it in the first meeting, ‘We will not do the movie if Michael doesn’t want to do it.’”

Brent Lang Executive Editor It’s-a blockbuster! “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” continued to rack up high scores at the box office as it heads into Easter weekend. The animated movie, a collaboration between Illumination, Nintendo and Universal, shows no signs of slowing down, earning a massive $26.5 million on Thursday. That brings its domestic haul to $58.2 million. At this rate, the mustachioed plumber should end his first five days on the big screen with more than $150 million in stateside winnings. Internationally, the movie has earned $62.5 million, pushing global ticket sales to $120.7 million. The week’s other major new release, Amazon Studios’s “Air,” a footwear tale detailing how Nike convinced Michael Jordan to become its most successful brand ambassador, earned $2.4 million on Thursday. That brings the sneaker story’s domestic total to just under $6 million. The film, which stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Tucker and Viola Davis, is expected to earn $16 million in its first five days in theaters. That’s a mere blip compared to Mario, but a solid result considering the struggles that movies aimed at adults have faced. Affleck directs the film in addition to starring opposite his “Good Will Hunting” buddy Damon. “Air” cost $90 million to make, meaning that Amazon better sell a lot of paper towels to justify that spending.

Marlons Wayans is opening up about his grief.During an appearance on , the actor discusses his role in the acclaimed new film,, where he plays George Raveling, one of Michael Jordan's coaches at the 1984 Olympics, in the film about how Nike signed the superstar to a groundbreaking shoe deal.When asked how life informs his work, Marlon shares how his own pain motivates him to help heal others through laughter. «In my life right now, I have so much stuff that can be depressing. I lost my mom recently, I lost my dad three days ago.

Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s Super Mario Bros Movie doesn’t need a mushroom to get bigger, it just organically is. Out of the gate today Wednesday, sans any Tuesday previews, the feature take of the classic game is looking at $26M, for what’s translating into a $86.2M 3-day, $127.5M Wednesday through Sunday haul. Interesting, even though its opening day was a Friday, Paramount/Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had a $26.3M first day a year ago (that included Thursday previews). That film currently holds the 3-day record for a videogame feature adaptation with $72.1M, a benchmark which Super Mario Bros looks to squash.

The man, the myth, the legend. Michael Jordan rose to stardom for his time with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards — which was only the beginning of his professional career.

Air, the about Nike's signing of rookie Michael Jordan in 1984, take place in a dimly lit office, without other people present, and over the phone. And yet, in a film that includes heavyweights Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, and Chris Tucker, Messina stands out.

While Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were writing “The Last Duel,” their first screenplay together since their 1997 breakthrough, “Good Will Hunting,” they noticed that something in their winding and usually separate careers had been missing.

Viola Davis’ meeting with Julius Tennon wasn’t the stuff of great romances.

Manchester United is one of the most well-supported football clubs in the world.

Leonardo DiCaprio makes a rare appearance at the North American debut of the Polestar 3 at The Shed on Tuesday night (March 28) in New York City.

Charlie Hunnam make a lowkey arrival to the AIR premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday night (March 27).

Love on and off the big screen! Viola Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, walked the red carpet at the Regency Village Theatre on Monday for the L.A. premiere of their biographical drama, . In the film, the real-life husband and wife play Michael Jordan's parents, Deloris Jordan and James Jordan.

Ben Affleck steals the show at the “Air” red carpet.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor It’s been more than 25 years since Ben Affleck became the youngest Oscar winner for best original screenplay for “Good Will Hunting,” which he co-wrote and starred in with Matt Damon. Isn’t it time for a sequel? Not so much. Damon laughed when revealing that Affleck was recently approached for a follow-up movie. “Someone just tried to pitch Ben ‘Good Will Hunting 2,’” Damon told me Monday at the premiere of “Air” in Los Angeles. “I shit you not — that happened. He told me today. He was like, ‘You’re not going to believe what I heard.’ This was a flat-out sequel. I don’t get it.”

on the red carpet, while celebrates the release of his latest movie, AIR, rather than the other way around. And she looked gorgeous while doing it, obviously. , wore a floor-length Antonio Grimaldi Couture gown, with a mermaid silhouette and a skirt in a shocking shade of canary yellow. The dress's bodice, a sheer illusion mock-turtleneck embellished with crystals, was hardly more subdued.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck looked more loved-up than ever as they walked the red carpet at the “Air” premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night.

Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana Barroso, looked great on Monday at the premiere of his film,  at Regency Village Theatre in West Hollywood — but it was their daughters who stole the show.The 52-year-old actor and his wife of 17 years were joined by their three daughters, Isabella, 16, Gia, 14, and Stella, 12, who posed next to their parents on the red carpet. Damon recently co-founded a production company called Artists Equity with Ben Affleck, who also attended the premiere with his wife, Jennifer Lopez.Air, directed by Affleck, tells the story of the sneaker brand, Nike, and Air Jordan's rise to fame.The new film features an all-star cast, including Chris Tucker, Jason Bateman, and EGOT winner Viola Davis.Also at the premiere, Damon, Affleck, and Davis, all Oscar winners, posed together.The shoes — produced by American corporation Nike, Inc — were created for Hall of Fame former basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with the Chicago Bulls in 1984 and were released on April 1,1985.Although not directly involved with the film, Jordan met with Affleck prior to the start of production and gave the project his blessing. The casting of Davis was his idea.Damon plays sports executive Sonny Vaccaro, who is in charge of improving Nike's sales in their basketball division and works to sign rookie Jordan to a deal to wear their shoes.During the premiere, Damon jokingly spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier about his longstanding bitter rivalry with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who was also at the event.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez packed on the PDA at the red carpet premiere of his new film, Air, on Monday night. Ben and Jennifer, who rekindled their early 2000s romance and got married last year, attended the red carpet premiere for Ben's new sports film which he both directed and stars in.The couple were seen posing together, and put on some PDA for the cameras as they were seen holding each other close before kissing. Jennifer wore a long-sleeved Antonia Grimaldi dress which had a sheer white top covered in rhinestones with a neon green maxi skirt that perfectly hugged her around her hips and waist.

We don’t often see Matt Damon in public with his kids, but he made a rare exception for the premiere of his new movie AIR!