NBCUniversal is turning to Matt Damon to hype up Olympic fandom.
Damon, who will play the legendary Greek king Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming adaptation of The Odyssey for NBCU’s Universal Pictures, is set to star in a new campaign for the company’s Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics coverage.
“It’s not just sports. This is cinema,” says Jenny Storms, the CMO for NBCUniversal television and streaming, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “It is a cinematic Olympics. Italy is a character where star power is really meeting Team USA, and that’s where we’re definitely going to continue to push the envelope, especially going into L.A.”
The “Our Games” campaign, which includes multiple promo spots and teasers, sees Damon standing on the top of an Italian mountain (it was actually shot on the ILM Stage on the company’s lot in Universal City), as footage of Olympic athletes past and present play (including the 1980 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team, Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn, Jordan Stolz and Ilia Malinin).
A cut-down promo version will debut during this weekend’s NFL wildcard game, with the full-length teaser set to air during the first night of Olympics primetime coverage and a shorter version during the Super Bowl pregame show.
“The hero’s journey, facing trials, enduring sacrifice, persevering against all odds,” Damon says in the initial spot. “An epic quest to fulfill one’s destiny, has led here, to northern Italy, where the story continues.”
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Storms notes that NBCU’s TV and sports team works closely with Donna Langley’s Universal Pictures business, and the timing, location and themes of The Odyssey aligned perfectly with what they were trying to accomplish with their Olympic promotional plans.
“We have a really incredible partnership with Universal Pictures internally, that close connection with that organization gives us really an unmatched opportunity and access to not only the world’s biggest stars, but also helps us tie in with the most talked-about films that are coming forward,” Storms says. “This decade-long voyage of Odysseus, it’s about grit and ingenuity, and the Winter Games are absolutely full of those arcs. This is a perfect connection when you talk about athletes solving problems in the moment and the world is watching. That’s where this Damon piece really makes it feel epic and human all at the same time. And so we’re excited about this one to really land now that some of the Odyssey pieces are out there, and that people can start to see those threads and bring them together.”
NBCU has been making good use of the ILM Stage for its Olympic promos, which have included stars like Ray Romano, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, Glenn Powell, and Scarlett Johansson.
“Another learning coming out of Paris was consumers want to be immersed in the city and in the country, and Italy is a co-star here they are a huge part and a character of these Olympics, whether it’s food, fashion or anything else,” Storms says. “How do we bring Italy into these spots? The best way to do it has been through that ILM Stage … they feel like the characters, the athletes, are there in front of the Duomo and things like that, but it also provides us that opportunity of bigness, it is used in major films, motion pictures.”
And the Milan-Cortina Olympics, with their Italian setting and high stakes, are a perfect place to bring that bigness to life within NBCU’s sports portfolio.
“For night one of the Olympics, we want to make a bold statement about these Games and their power to connect us through the inspiring stories of the world’s greatest athletes.” said Molly Solomon, executive producer and president of NBC Olympics Production. “Matt Damon, one of entertainment’s most incredible storytellers, artfully weaves themes of dedication, sacrifice and inspiration into the heart of this tease, setting the stage for what will be the most unifying event in the world and an unforgettable 17 days of competition.”