‘Air’ Premiere: Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Pay Tribute To The Late Erik Lomis, Who Played Key Role In Film’s Theatrical Release

Erik Lomis died suddenly last week and the stars of Air honored the late MGM and Amazon Studios executive.

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Matt Damon acknowledged at the red carpet premiere of the film he co-produces with Ben Affleck under their Artists Equity Label that Lomis played a key role in moving the feature from a Prime Video drop to a theatrical release.

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“It sucks, it’s a huge loss for both of those teams and I’m grateful that he was part of putting [this movie in theaters] – the way we’re going to see it and the way the country is going to see it,” Damon told Deadline.

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“It’s a huge, huge loss,” he added. “There’s been an e-mail chain going around with his colleagues at Amazon and MGM. There’s a little way that we’re honoring him tonight in the screening.”

Damon said that although he “didn’t get the chance to know him well,” he “was on a number of calls” with Lomis where they brainstormed the marketing strategy around the film.

Thanks to Lomis, Air became Amazon’s first wide release in years. Affleck also honored the late executive during the red carpet premiere highlighting Lomis’s qualities as a person.

“He was a lovely guy – lovely, smart, kind, generous, funny, warm, guy and I was shocked and saddened at his sudden passing away,” Affleck told us about Lomis. “He was instrumental in saying, ‘Hey, I’m a theatrical distribution exec, I know how to do this, we can do this with this movie. He pushed for [a theatrical release] and he believed in it. I’m sure there were other many important things he would’ve liked to see but as for me, it’s a shame, I wish he had gotten to see this movie come out.”

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