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The Bikeriders is a 2023 American crime drama film written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and starring 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 title 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 a positive reception and grossed $36 million worldwide.
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 his men 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 eventually 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 decides to test the Kid by allowing only him to join. When he expresses his willingness to abandon his friends, Johnny rejects him. The Kid attacks Johnny with a knife, but Johnny beats him and warns him not to 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 in a vehicular accident, 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 cop. Kathy is nearly gang-raped while Benny is busy; she is narrowly rescued by Johnny. Furious, Kathy demands Benny quit the Vandals. Instead, he leaves her for several days.
Cockroach, scared for his life, asks Johnny to help him. To allow Cockroach to safely leave the club, Johnny and Benny stage a break-in, where they shoot him non-fatally in the leg. Afterwards Johnny confides in Benny the club has become wild and violent and he can't control it anymore. Disturbed 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 of the Vandals. In a parking lot, Johnny confronts the Kid who pulls a handgun and kills him. Kathy relays to Lyon that after the Kid took over the Vandals, they became a large criminal gang involved in drug trafficking and murder. The original members either fell in line, left to obtain legitimate jobs, or died.
Benny returns home after learning of Johnny's death and Kathy comforts him. 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. She looks out the window at Benny, who smiles as the sounds of motorcycles are heard.
Nichols cast Comer after sitting on two awards panels that honored her performance on the one-person Broadway show Prima Facie and after 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. The rest of the ensemble came on board soon after. Principal photography began in Cincinnati, Ohio, in October 2022 and concluded in December. Several actors, except Shannon and a few others, learned how to ride a motorcycle for the film; 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." Adam Stone was the cinematographer, and during post-production, David Wingo composed the score.
In December 2023, Focus Features scheduled the film for a theatrical release in the United States on June 21, 2024. 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 $30–40million production cost and was reportedly "on the hook" for print and advertising (P&A) expenses.
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 . In its second and third weekends the film made $3.3 million and $1.3 million, respectively.
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.
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