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The Bikeriders is a 2023 American crime drama film written and directed by Jeff Nichols. The film stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Beau Knapp, Emory Cohen, Karl Glusman, Toby Wallace, and Norman Reedus. Its plot, inspired by the photo-book of the same name by Danny Lyon, depicts the lives of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictional version of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

The Bikeriders premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023, and was released in the United States on June 21, 2024. Originally scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on December 1, 2023, by 20th Century Studios, the release was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Ultimately, Focus Features acquired the film rights from producer New Regency. The film received positive reception and grossed over $25 million worldwide.

Plot

In 1965, Kathy Bauer meets Benny Cross, a hotheaded member of the Chicago-based Vandals Motorcycle Club, and marries him just five weeks later. Photography student Danny Lyon travels with and interviews the Vandals. He learns that the founder, Johnny Davis, was inspired to create the club after watching The Wild One. Johnny's leadership is challenged when he rebuffs a Vandal's suggestion that new chapters be allowed to form. They engage in a fist fight which Johnny wins; he reestablishes his authority and grants permission to expand the club. New chapters begin to form across the Midwest.

In 1969, Benny is attacked by two men in a bar for wearing his colors. His foot is nearly severed by a shovel during the altercation. Johnny forces the owner to provide the names of the men, and orders the Vandals to burn down the bar. While Benny is recovering from surgery, Johnny pressures him to come to a motorcycle rally before he is fully healed, to Kathy's objection. Johnny offers Benny leadership of the club when he steps down, but Benny rejects it.

A 20-year-old delinquent known as "the Kid" asks Johnny to allow him and his motorcycle club to join the Vandals. Johnny initially dismisses them, but tests the Kid by allowing only him to join. When he expresses willingness to abandon his friends, Johnny rejects him. The Kid attacks Johnny with a knife, who beats him and warns him to not come back.

In 1973, Lyon interviews Kathy about the fate of the Vandals. She explains that Johnny became despondent after the death of his lieutenant Brucie, and the club grew increasingly violent after drug-addicted Vietnam War veterans joined the ranks. At a party, longtime member Cockroach is beaten by new members when he drunkenly expresses a desire to leave the club to become a motorcycle police officer. Kathy is nearly raped while Benny is busy dealing with Cockroach's attackers; she is narrowly rescued by Johnny. Furious that Benny wasn't at the party to protect her, she demands Benny quit the Vandals. Instead, he leaves her for several days. To allow Cockroach to safely leave the club, Johnny takes Benny to stage a break-in at his house, where they shoot him non-fatally in the leg. Perturbed by the increasing violence of the club and again rejecting Johnny's offer of leadership, Benny quits and leaves Chicago for parts unknown.

The Kid, now a member of the Vandals Milwaukee chapter, challenges Johnny to a knife fight for leadership, only to shoot and kill him. Kathy explains to Lyon that after the Kid took over the Vandals, they became a large criminal gang involved in drug trafficking and murder. The older members either fell in line, left to obtain legitimate jobs, or died.

Benny, upon learning of Johnny's death, returns home and breaks down. He and Kathy relocate to Florida where Benny works as a mechanic and has stopped riding motorcycles. Kathy tells Lyon that they are happy, and Benny doesn't miss the biker lifestyle. Outside, Benny hears motorcycles nearby and wistfully smiles at her.

Cast

Production

The Bikeriders is named after Danny Lyon's photo book of the same name, which filmmaker Jeff Nichols read for the first time in 2003. The story's Vandals MC are inspired by the book's detailing of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. Lyon is portrayed in the film by Mike Faist.[6] Since 2004, Nichols had mentioned the project to Michael Shannon, who has starred in all his films, on the set of each collaboration; while making the short film Long Way Back Home in 2018, Shannon quipped that he had "been talking about that damn idea for so long."[7][8] In 2022, Nichols wrote the screenplay from his original story idea and began forming the project. New Regency agreed to produce the film in May 2022.[9][10]

Nichols was announced as director in August 2022, with Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, and Tom Hardy on board to star.[11] Nichols cast Comer after sitting on two awards panels that honored her performance on the one-woman Broadway show Prima Facie and hearing good things about her from Adam Driver, who co-starred with her in The Last Duel (2021). He met with Hardy for the first time at his London residence, admitting to leaving the meeting "kind of punch drunk" before seeing a performance of Comer's in Prima Facie at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End.[6] The rest of the ensemble came on board in the following months.[12][13][14][15] Principal photography began in Cincinnati, Ohio, in October 2022 and concluded in December.[16][17] Several actors, except Shannon and a few others, learned how to ride a motorcycle for the film;[18] Butler mentioned a motorcycle accident on set: "We were doing a night shoot and hit a patch of wet leaves and I went down, but I thankfully landed on my feet."[19]

Release

Comer, Nichols, and Butler at the London premiere of the film

The Bikeriders premiered as the opening film of the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023.[20][2] It was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on December 1, 2023, by 20th Century Studios, to make time for awards season, but it was taken off the release schedule in July due to the SAG-AFTRA strike (July–November 2023), which prevented the cast from promoting the film.[21] Industry sources also cited Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé opening on the same day and New Regency's The Creator (2023) performing poorly in theaters as reasons for the delay. Following this, on November 20 that year, New Regency was reportedly shopping the film to rival studios and streamers for release instead. Insiders at New Regency noted a lack of "time to mount a proper publicity campaign following the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike".[22][23] Two days later, Focus Features acquired the distribution rights, with its parent Universal Pictures distributing internationally.[24] New Regency chose Focus Features because of their previous collaboration on The Northman, which became profitable despite box office disappointment.[25]

In December 2023, Focus Features scheduled the film for a theatrical release in the United States on June 21, 2024.[26] Regarding the film's promotion, Deadline Hollywood noted that after The Bikeriders transferred from 20th Century Studios (owned by Disney) to Focus, the original marketing campaign centered around Comer was altered to focus on Butler and Hardy; opening weekend audiences leaned male. Focus covered half of the film's $30–40 million production cost and was reportedly "on the hook" for print and advertising (P&A) expenses.[3]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, The Bikeriders was released alongside The Exorcism and Thelma, and was projected to gross $8–10 million from 2,665 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $9.7 million, finishing in third behind holdovers Inside Out 2 and Bad Boys: Ride or Die.[3]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 230 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Fueled by a charismatic cast and the gritty authenticity of writer-director Jeff Nichols' approach, The Bikeriders offers a conventional yet impactful look at motorcycle culture."[27] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[28] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 73% positive score.[3]

References

  1. ^ "The Bikeriders (15)". BBFC. June 22, 2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Feinberg, Scott (August 31, 2023). "Telluride Awards Analysis: The Bikeriders Opens Fest, Puts Jodie Comer in Hunt for First Oscar Nom". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 24, 2024). "Inside Out 2 Record Second Weekend For Animated Pic Bigger At $101M – Monday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  4. ^ "The Bikeriders (2024)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  5. ^ "The Bikeriders – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Bamigboye, Baz (September 7, 2023). "Breaking Baz Exclusive: Filmmaker Jeff Nichols On The Sexual Tension At Heart Of The Bikeriders Movie Involving A 'Love Triangle' Played By Austin Butler, Jodie Comer & Tom Hardy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  7. ^ Giroux, Jack (October 18, 2018). "Jeff Nichols On The Midwestern Biker Movie He Dreams Of Making". /Film. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  8. ^ "The Bikeriders with Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Jeff Nichols | Academy Conversations". Oscars. June 21, 2024. Event occurs at 1:23. Retrieved June 23, 2024 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ Chapman, Wilson (August 4, 2022). "Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy to Star in Jeff Nichols Film 'The Bikeriders'". Variety. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  10. ^ Gomez, Dessi (June 20, 2024). "The Inspiration Behind Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders, Explained With Danny Lyon's Book". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  11. ^ Kroll, Justin; Wiseman, Andreas (August 4, 2022). "Jodie Comer, Austin Butler & Tom Hardy to Lead Ensemble For Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders At New Regency". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  12. ^ Kroll, Justin (August 17, 2022). "Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook and Damon Herriman Latest To Join Jeff Nichols The Bikeriders At New Regency". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  13. ^ Kroll, Justin (September 1, 2022). "The Bikeriders: Emory Cohen, Toby Wallace & Others Join Ensemble Of Jeff Nichols Pic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  14. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 4, 2022). "Norman Reedus Latest To Join Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders At New Regency". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  15. ^ Milici, Lauren (November 9, 2022). "Tom Hardy is coming for David Attenborough's job and narrating a new documentary series". GamesRadar+. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  16. ^ "Tom Hardy, Austin Butler and Jodie Comer to Begin Filming New Movie in Cincinnati". Cincinnati CityBeat. August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  17. ^ Glynn, Jennifer (December 8, 2022). "Austin Butler's 'The Bikeriders' Wraps Filming". Collider. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  18. ^ Garner, Glenn (June 22, 2024). "The Bikeriders Director Reveals Which Actor 'Was Not Allowed To Get Near A Motorcycle'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  19. ^ Rockson, Gabrielle; Cramer, Alex (June 18, 2024). "Austin Butler on Motorcycle Crash Filming The Bikeriders: 'All I Was Thinking About Was the Bike' (Exclusive)". People. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  20. ^ "50th Telluride Film Festival - Program Guide" (PDF). Telluride Film Festival. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 28, 2023). "Disney Dates 20th Century Studios' Jeff Nichols Pic 'The Bikeriders' For December". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  22. ^ Sneider, Jeff (November 20, 2023). "Exclusive: 'The Bikeriders' Eyes New Path; Lex Luthor Found; Jason Bourne Returns; Best Actress Power Rankings". The InSneider. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  23. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 21, 2023). "New Regency's 'The Bikeriders' Looking For A New Home". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  24. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 22, 2023). "Tom Hardy, Austin Butler & Jodie Comer New Regency Pic The Bikeriders Zooms Over To Focus Features". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  25. ^ Taylor, Drew (June 21, 2024). "Jeff Nichols on The Bikeriders Going Head-to-Head With A Quiet Place, the Movie He Almost Made". TheWrap. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  26. ^ Chitwood, Adam (December 8, 2023). "Focus Features Sets June Release for The Bikeriders Starring Austin Butler and Tom Hardy". The Wrap.
  27. ^ "The Bikeriders". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 8, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  28. ^ "The Bikeriders". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

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