Austin Butler is going from blades to bikes as he goes from Dune: Part Two to the upcoming period drama, The Bikeriders. Butler revealed that his immediate start on The Bikeriders meant that he couldn’t shave his hair for Dune 2 as time was not allotted to have his hair grow back, so he’s actually wearing a prosthetic bald cap. He got to keep his blonde locks and Focus Features has now released the new trailer for The Bikeriders, which Butler stars in with Tom Hardy.

If you recall, The Bikeriders was originally set for a fall 2023 release via Disney’s Searchlight. The studio ended up selling the film (in an unusual move) to Focus, who decided to set it up as summer counter programming. This might have been a smart move as Butler is sure to come off Dune: Part Two an even bigger star than he was a few months ago.

The official synopsis reads,
“The Bikeriders is a furious drama following the rise of a fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members. Inspired by Danny Lyon’s iconic book, The Bikeriders immerses you in the look, feel, and sounds of the bare-knuckled, grease-covered subculture of ’60s motorcycle riders. Kathy (Comer), a strong-willed member of the Vandals who’s married to a wild, reckless bike rider named Benny (Butler), recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny (Hardy). Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny, and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other. Sarah Green, p.g.a., Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, p.g.a., and Arnon Milchan are the producers. The executive producers are Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Sam Hanson, David Kern, and Fred Berger.”

Produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, The Bikeriders features a cast that would make any Sons of Anarchy fan drool with envy. Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, Venom), Boyd Holbrook (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Jodie Comer (Free Guy, The Last Duel), Michael Shannon (The Flash, Take Shelter), Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: Part Two), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead, The Boondock Saints) lead the cast. Damon Herriman (Justified, Judy & Punch), Mike Faist (West Side Story, The Atlantic City Story), Karl Glusman (Devs, Nocturnal Animals), and others also star.

What did you think of The Bikeriders trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Bikeriders trailer takes you for a ride on the wild side with Tom Hardy and Austin Butler appeared first on JoBlo.

For me, Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders is emblematic of Disney’s big content problem. They were set to put out the star-studded biker flick in time for a 2023 awards run, but about a month ago, they decided to wash their hands of the finished film, with Nichols’ usual studio, Focus Features, swooping in to pick it up. It’s very strange to me that Disney, which owns the studio (20th Century Films) that was set to distribute it, didn’t see any potential in a movie starring Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Michael Shannon. Given how many flops they’ve had recently, why not take a chance at an upscale adult audience with something a little different?

At any rate, their loss in Focus’s gain, with the studio now slating it for a June 24, 2024 release. The studio has had a lot of luck with summer counter-programming over the years, and indeed the star-studded cast adds a good degree of mainstream appeal to Nichols’ first movie since Loving in 2016.

The film is based on the famous photo book of the same name by Danny Lyon and revolves around the formation of a Chicago Motorcycle Club called Outlaws MC, which starts as a social club but eventually becomes more sinister. The movie had a film festival run this fall in anticipation of a 2023 roll-out, but it was initially delayed due to the cast being unable to promote it due to the SAG/AFTRA strike. It was considered a strange move by Disney to drop the film, especially with Austin Butler and Jodie Comer being rising stars, with Tom Hardy is arguably one of the most popular leading men of the era. At any rate, Focus feels like a better home for this movie, and hopefully, they’ll give it the care a film by Jeff Nichols deserves. I hope we don’t have to wait another eight years for his next movie.

The post The Bikeriders: star-studded Jeff Nichols film moved to summer 2024 appeared first on JoBlo.

Update: One day after announcing its departure from New Regency and 20th Century Studios, Focus Features has acquired Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders. Focus gains global writes to the drama as a part of the deal, reteaming them with New Regency to bring the acclaimed film to audiences. After losing its December 1 release date, The Bikeriders moves to 2024, with Universal distributing the movie internationally.

Original Article: New Regency and Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders is resetting its kickstand to bring the crime drama back to the open road to go in front of rival studios and streamers after losing its December 1 release date.

New Regency has a deal with 20th Century Studios/Disney, who initially set the film’s December release date. However, after complications from the strikes and weighing options, The Bikeriders may not be an excellent fit for the merged studios. As Deadline points out, 20th Century Studios/Disney released Gareth Edwards’ The Creator, starring John David Washington, in September to tepid box office results. The sprawling (and frankly, excellent) sci-film only managed $104M worldwide against an $80M production budget. The long and the short of it is when it comes to releasing films outside of Marvel, Pixar, Animation, and Lucasfilm branding, adult features don’t typically fare well through the House of Mouse.

Early buzz for The Bikeriders is ultra-positive, with the film earning an 85% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes after its world premiere at Telluride. Amidst plumes of dust and the smell of gasoline, Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special, Take Shelter) directs from a script he wrote inspired by the Danny Lyon book of photography. The Bikeriders is an original story set in the 1960s following the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.

Produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, The Bikeriders features a cast that would make any Sons of Anarchy fan drool with envy. Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, Venom), Boyd Holbrook (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Jodie Comer (Free Guy, The Last Duel), Michael Shannon (The Flash, Take Shelter), Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: Part Two), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead, The Boondock Saints) lead the cast. Damon Herriman (Justified, Judy & Punch), Mike Faist (West Side Story, The Atlantic City Story), Karl Glusman (Devs, Nocturnal Animals), and others also star.

Per the studio’s official press release:

The Bikeriders is a furious drama following the rise of a fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members. Inspired by Danny Lyon’s iconic book, The Bikeriders immerses you in the look, feel, and sounds of the bare-knuckled, grease-covered subculture of ’60s motorcycle riders. Kathy (Comer), a strong-willed member of the Vandals who’s married to a wild, reckless bike rider named Benny (Butler), recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny (Hardy). Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny, and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other. Sarah Green, p.g.a., Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, p.g.a., and Arnon Milchan are the producers. The executive producers are Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Sam Hanson, David Kern, and Fred Berger.

Is it a good idea for The Bikeriders to search for alternative distribution? Could this begin a trend for adult-oriented films marked for release through 20th Century Studios/Disney? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

The post The Bikeriders cruises over to Focus Features after losing its December release date appeared first on JoBlo.

You may believe that Tom Hardy is a lot like the characters he portrays, with all the gruff mumbling you could ask for, but Austin Butler discovered that his co-star on The Bikeriders was actually one of the funniest people he’d ever met.

While chatting with Josh Brolin for Interview Magazine, Austin Butler said that he had imagined Tom Hardy was going to be a rather intense and serious figure. “One of the things I was thinking about earlier, when you were talking about that relaxation on set, was that Tom Hardy surprised me,” Butler said. “I pictured him to be this grizzly bear, always serious. And really, he’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He’d be joking around until action is called, and then go into being the most intense guy I’d ever seen.” Butler continued, “It reminds me of the stories I heard of [Marlon] Brando, talking to the camera operator until the moment action is called.“

Austin Butler added that he learned a lot from Tom Hardy during The Bikeriders. “It reminds me of you, where you can be in that relaxed place where you’re receptive to your environment, and then when the time comes, you can click into what the scene demands,” Butler said. “That one was also great because I had a couple of weeks off from Dune. I went back, and just started training on the motorcycles every day.“

The Bikeriders is a “furious drama following the rise of a fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members. Kathy, a strong-willed member of the Vandals who’s married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny, recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny. Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other.“

New Regency recently delayed the release of The Bikeriders due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival this summer (to rave reviews) and was originally set for a release on December 1st.

The post The Bikeriders: Austin Butler was surprised at how funny Tom Hardy was appeared first on JoBlo.

Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders was one of the more anticipated dramas set to be released this winter, but THR has reported that New Regency has delayed the release of the movie due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

The Bikeriders premiered at the Telluride Film Festival this summer (to rave reviews) and was originally set for a release on December 1st. Now that talks between SAG-AGTRA and the AMPTP have broken down, those hoping that the actors’ strike would swiftly conclude are left wondering how much longer it could last. With a cast that includes Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Norman Reedus, and more, it’s easy to see why the studio would want to trot out their stars for the marketing campaign. At the moment, The Bikeriders doesn’t have a new release date, but “the intention is to still qualify it for this year’s awards race.“

The move also pushes The Bikeriders out of the way of Renaissance, Beyoncé’s recently-announced concert film which is set to hit theaters on December 1st.

The Bikeriders is a “furious drama following the rise of a fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members. Kathy, a strong-willed member of the Vandals who’s married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny, recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny. Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other.“

While the delayed release of The Bikeriders is disappointing, we’ll hopefully still get to see the film later this year when SAG-AFTRA gets a fair deal.

The post The Bikeriders release delayed amid ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike appeared first on JoBlo.

This week saw the release of the trailer for The Bikeriders. The new biker drama comes from Jeff Nichols, whose credits include heavy indies like Mud and Take Shelter. In the famed Sony email hack of 2014, it was revealed that before hiring James Wan, Warner Bros. had been in talks with Nichols for helming the Jason Momoa Aquaman solo film. Wan’s vision proved to be a successful one, as the 2018 Aquaman film would gross $1.1 billion globally. However, Nichols, a veteran of dark character drama, reveals what his own vision entailed.

According to Variety, Nichols outlined some of his ideas on the Happy Sad Confused podcast while promoting the premiere of The Bikeriders at the Telluride Film Festival. The director admits that his concept may not have grossed a billion like Wan’s. “I still have scenes from [Aquaman] in my head that would’ve been good. They would’ve been quite different from the film that was made. It wasn’t ever feasible…I liked the older Aquaman, like when he had a harpoon for a hand. He was a fallen king and his son had died. He was in mourning. Obviously from this brief pitch you can see it would’ve sold hundreds of dollars worth of tickets.”

Nichols continues, “That stuff is fun to noodle on, but we got a lot of those movies now. There are a lot of stories in the world. It’s ok to spend time time telling some other ones.” While Nichols’ pitch didn’t stick the landing, he would go on to make another drama titled Loving, which was Oscar-nominated. While he didn’t get to helm Aquaman, the IP that Nichols felt more emotional about was his Alien Nation remake that fell through. “On the Alien Nation front, that was a heartbreaker. That’s one of the reasons it’s taken me so long to make another film. I spent four years on that. We were at the one yard line. I had it cast and we had it ready to go, but the universe didn’t want me to make that right then. That was an original story I crafted and they wanted to put the Alien Nation title on it. Fortunately that script without the title has gone over to Paramount. After the strike lifts, I can get back to work on it.”

The post Aquaman pitch from Jeff Nichols, which included his hook hand and dead son, was deemed unfeasible appeared first on JoBlo.

20th Century Studios hits the open road today with The Bikeriders trailer, previewing the film shortly after its Telluride Film Festival screening last week. Amidst plumes of dust and the smell of gasoline, Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special, Take Shelter) directs from a script he wrote inspired by the Danny Lyon book of photography. The Bikeriders is an original story set in the 1960s following the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.

Produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, The Bikeriders features a cast that would make any Sons of Anarchy fan drool with envy. Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, Venom), Boyd Holbrook (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Jodie Comer (Free Guy, The Last Duel), Michael Shannon (The Flash, Take Shelter), Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: Part Two), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead, The Boondock Saints) lead the cast. Damon Herriman (Justified, Judy & Punch), Mike Faist (West Side Story, The Atlantic City Story), Karl Glusman (Devs, Nocturnal Animals), and others also star.

In The Bikeriders trailer, Kathy (Jodie Comer) recalls her first encounter with Benny (Austin Butler), a loyal motorcycle club member with smooth moves and looks to match. Chaos reigns as the club expands, claiming lives, territory, and dreams of the future as life-altering events unfold.

Per the studio’s official press release:

The Bikeriders is a furious drama following the rise of a fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members. Inspired by Danny Lyon’s iconic book, The Bikeriders immerses you in the look, feel, and sounds of the bare-knuckled, grease-covered subculture of ’60s motorcycle riders. Kathy (Comer), a strong-willed member of the Vandals who’s married to a wild, reckless bike rider named Benny (Butler), recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny (Hardy). Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny, and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other. Sarah Green, p.g.a., Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, p.g.a., and Arnon Milchan are the producers. The executive producers are Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Sam Hanson, David Kern, and Fred Berger.

Let us know in the comments below what you think about The Bikeriders trailer.

The Bikeriders arrives in U.S. theaters on December 1, 2023.

The post The Bikeriders trailer revs up with Tom Hardy, Jodi Comer, and Austin Butler raising hell on wheels appeared first on JoBlo.

The 50th Telluride Film Festival is underway, with Jeff Nichols’ latest, The Bikeriders, setting the pace with rave reviews all around, with some even saying it is now officially part of the Oscar discussion. Now, where’s that trailer we all want?

Reviews for The Bikeriders coming out of Telluride have particularly pinpointed the movie’s stars, noting that Austin Butler keeps his star power soaring and it gives Tom Hardy one of his best roles. But actress Jodie Comer is nothing to sleep on here, either, as she could very well find herself one win away from EGOT status, as she already has an Emmy for Killing Eve and a Tony for starring in the one-woman play Prima Facie.

Although it’s still early and there are less than a dozen reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, The Bikeriders does currently hold a 100%. While this will obviously drop, one can see it end up being one of the most praised films of the year. That’s definitely promising for fans of Jeff Nichols (and how could you not be?) who have waited seven years since his last feature (Loving, which competed at the Cannes Film Festival and earned lead Ruth Negga an Oscar nod). Could The Bikeriders be the movie that earns Nichols an overdue Best Director nomination?

Other than the aforementioned Butler, Hardy and Comer, The Bikeriders also stars Michael Shannon (who has been in every Nichols movie to date), Norman Reedus, Boyd Holbrook, and Mike Faist as photographer Danny Lyon, whose 1968 book of the same name was the source material.

As per Telluride’s program guide, The Bikeriders “charts the rise and fall of an outlaw motorcycle gang. The gang’s founder and leader Johnny (Tom Hardy) struggles to enforce the rules he’s creating; Benny (Austin Butler) is his charismatic but dangerously unpredictable follower; Kathy (Jodie Comer), a no-nonsense outsider to the gang, is alternately fascinated and horrified by the biker lifestyle…Nichols blends comedy, violence and tenderness with astonishing control, simultaneously celebrating the biker code of loyalty, courage and independence while providing a cleareyed if sometimes ironic perspective on how their “freedom” threatens other ways of being in the world.”

The Bikeriders will pull into theaters on December 1st, giving it a perfect release date to help its potential at the Oscars.

Are you looking forward to The Bikeriders? Do you think it could be a threat at the 96th Academy Awards? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post The Bikeriders earns major praise out of Telluride premiere appeared first on JoBlo.

We all know the degree in which Austin Butler immersed himself in the role of Elvis Presley, and the actor told The Times of London that his co-star Tom Hanks actually grew concerned about his mental health.

Austin Butler said that Tom Hanks told him: “You have immersed yourself so deeply in ‘Elvis’ that, for your mental health, it would be wise to go straight into something else. If you just jump off the train, you might have emotional whiplash… and, you know, I’ve got this thing I’m producing.’” That project happened to Masters of the Air, the upcoming World War II miniseries for Apple TV+ that follows in the footsteps of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Butlers stars in the series as Major Gale Cleven alongside Barry Keogan and Callum Turner.

Austin Butler added that Elvis forced him “to go to the very edge of what is possible, and not every experience will be like that. I don’t think I’ll ever have an experience like that again, but if I have to really dig, it makes me feel alive.“

After completing production on Masters of the Air, Austin Butler moved on to pair of movies set to be released at the end of the year, including Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders and Denis Villeneueve’s Dune: Part Two. “I was stretching myself and living within the shoes of somebody else for a bit that’s very, very different from Elvis,” Butler told Vanity Fair. “I never want to say I shed Elvis or washed it off because it makes it sound like something that I want to leave me. It was such a gift and it was such an amazing time. But as far as the thing where you’re all consumed with something, my mind couldn’t think about anything that wasn’t Elvis-related—and I didn’t want to for over two years.” Butler plays Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in the Dune sequel and sports a look far removed from Elvis.

Masters of the Air doesn’t have an official release date yet, but Dune: Part Two is slated to be released on November 3rd followed by The Bikeriders on December 1st.

The post Tom Hanks was concerned for Austin Butler’s mental health after Elvis appeared first on JoBlo.

Gas up your hog and prepare to ride alongside Tom Hardy because 20th Century Studios is ready to announce The Bikeriders release date. The motorcycle club drama hits the road in theaters on December 1, 2023, just in time for Oscar season. Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special, Take Shelter) directs from a script he wrote inspired by the Danny Lyon novel. The Bikeriders is an original story set in the 1960s following the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.

Produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, The Bikeriders features a cast that would make any Sons of Anarchy fan drool with envy. Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, Venom), Boyd Holbrook (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Jodie Comer (Free Guy, The Last Duel), Michael Shannon (The Flash, Take Shelter), Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: Part Two), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead, The Boondock Saints) lead the cast. Damon Herriman (Justified, Judy & Punch), Mike Faist (West Side Story, The Atlantic City Story), Karl Glusman (Devs, Nocturnal Animals), and others also star.

Hardy’s Havoc is in post-production. The story occurs after a drug deal has gone wrong when a bruised detective must fight through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged son while unraveling a deep web of corruption and conspiracy ensnares his entire city. Gareth Evans directs, with Timothy Olyphant, Forest Whitaker, and Luis Guzman leading the cast.

Meanwhile, production for Hardy’s Venom 3 is pausing due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Pre-production for Marvel’s Venom threequel started in February, with exciting additions to the cast signing on for the symbiote spectacle. Kelly Marcel directs Venom 3, with Juno Temple (Ted Lasso, Fargo) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Dirty Pretty Things) assuming lead roles.

Are you excited about The Bikeriders release date bringing the film to theaters before the end of the year? Have you ever ridden a motorcycle? Do you think they’re great methods of transportation or death traps on two-wheels? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.

The post The Bikeriders: Jeff Nichols’ Midwestern motorcycle club film starring Tom Hardy gets dated appeared first on JoBlo.