Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have a new project to tout — a sports film called “Air” — and the movie is getting some major buzz right now.

A trailer for “Air,” dropped this week, just ahead of the Super Bowl, giving us a look at the storyline. The film focuses on Nike sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro (played by Damon) and his determined efforts to sign a deal with basketball player Michael Jordan in the mid-1980s. At the time, Jordan was a highly promising athlete, but had yet to become a superstar and household name.

Affleck, who’s directing the film, plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Affleck and Damon are among the producers for “Air,” as well. The cast also includes Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, Chris Messina and Marlon Wayans.

The movie has a distinct “King Richard” vibe, as Damon’s hard-driving character struggles to overcome naysayers and make his vision a reality.

Although you won’t see him in the trailer, Alabama actor Michael O’Neill is set to make an appearance in “Air,” playing an executive for Converse. That company ruled the market for athletic shoes before Nike signed Jordan and emerged as a top-selling brand.

O’Neill talked about his role in “Air” during an interview with AL.com in fall 2022. At the time, the movie’s working title was “New Model.”

“I just worked on a wonderful film called ‘New Model,’” O’Neill said. “It’s the story of how Nike signed Michael Jordan to a basketball shoe contract. Converse was king. They had Magic, they had Bird, they had Dr. J, Julius Erving. They had a litany of guys. Converse was the king. Affleck directed it; Damon’s starring in it.

“I play a Converse exec. It’s a lovely film. When I read the script, I went, ‘Oh, my God.’ I had no idea about this, nor the stakes that were involved. I just finished that. We filmed in LA. I really do have a … don’t blink, you’ll miss me. But I had so much fun working on it. It’s coming. It’ll be in theaters.”

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O’Neill said he couldn’t share many details about the movie, but gave a big thumb’s up to the prestige project led by Affleck and Damon. There’s no release date yet for “Air.” However, a report from The Hollywood Reporter says “Air” will have a “traditional theatrical release” — in other words, we’ll be able to see it in movie theaters — before it debuts on Prime Video.

O’Neill, born and raised in Montgomery, has a resume that any character actor would be proud to claim. He’s played heroes and villains, senators and cops, judges and sheriffs. His resume includes roles in movies such “Seabiscuit,” “Transformers,” “Sea of Love” and “Dallas Buyers Club.” His face also is familiar from a wealth of TV series, including “The West Wing,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” “Bates Motel,” “Extant,” “Rectify,” “Council of Dads” and “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.”

“For a guy that they said, ‘You’re not going to make it,’ it worked out OK,” the actor, 71, told AL.com. “I never really thought about it as a career. I thought about the next job. It’s like a shark: If you stop moving, you go down.”

O’Neill returned to his home state last year to star in a theater piece, “Alabama Boys,” with Thom Gossom Jr. at Auburn University. The autobiographical play, which had its world premiere at the Gogue Performing Arts Center. was written by O’Neill and Gossom. It illuminates their parallel journey as children in Alabama during the civil rights movement, as students at Auburn and as actors in Hollywood.