Are you ready to ride off into the sunset? Because The Bikeriders is rolling into a theater real soon.
The year 2023 is filled to the brim already with plenty of great films. While some have been pushed back until 2024 due to the WGA strike, such as Dune: Part 2, others have kept their release dates, like the romantic fantasy All Of Us Are Strangers or the whimsical Wonka. And now, we have another one to add to the list of films releasing later in 2023 – The Bikeriders, starring Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and many more.
But when precisely in 2023 is The Bikeriders releasing? And who else is going to star in it? What could this be about? Here is what we know so far for any questions about the upcoming film.
What Is The Bikeriders Release Date?
Get ready to add The Bikeriders to your possible 2024 Oscars card because it rolls into theaters on December 1, 2023, according to a Deadline report from July 2023.
While the release date came after the WGA Strike’s beginning, anything can change regarding when The Bikeriders will be released. However, for now, this is the confirmed information that we have.
Plenty of movies are lined up for people to see in December 2023. We already mentioned Wonka, but several other big films will be coming out, like the Emma Stone-led Poor Things, Magazine Dreams, the romantic-comedy Anyone But You, and the highly anticipated Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Indeed, the 2023 movie schedule is brimming with films.
Again, anything can change with release dates, but I’ll happily add The Bikeriders to that list.
The Bikeriders Will Star An Ensemble Cast With Tom Hardy, Austin Butler And More
As mentioned in the introduction, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy are two of the biggest stars of The Bikeriders, but there are several others that we need to talk about as well.
The initial announcement of the film included Butler and Hardy, which came out in a Deadline article in early August 2022. Also included in this article was that Jodie Comer would co-lead the film. The actress is known for several roles in movies like Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel and the Ryan Reynolds-led Free Guy. She gained critical acclaim for portraying Villanelle in Killing Eve on BBC America.
Another major casting announcement came in mid-August 2022 from Deadline, reporting that Michael Shannon (Mud), Boyd Holbrook (The Sandman), and Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) had signed on for The Bikeriders.
In early September 2022, Deadline reported that Emory Cohen (The OA), Toby Wallace (Babyteeth), Beau Knapp (The Lost Symbol), Karl Glusman (Nocturnal Animals), and Happy Anderson (Bird Box) had joined the ensemble cast for The Bikeriders.
Then, in October 2022, Deadline announced that Norman Reedus, mainly known for his role as the badass Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead, had signed on for The Bikeriders. This isn’t that surprising. If anyone knows Reedus, they’d realize he likes motorcycles a lot (his show Ride with Norman Reedus focuses on bikes), and The Bikeriders is all about motorcycles.
I also want to mention that there is a rumor that Mike Faist (West Side Story) had signed on for The Bikeriders. While there wasn’t an official announcement from Deadline like the others, Total Film wrote a feature on a new Tom Hardy project in November 2022. In that feature, they mention that Hardy was currently filming Bikeriders with most of the main cast mentioned here, as well as Mike Faist.
Again, this isn’t confirmed elsewhere, from what we can see, but for now it’s still something worth mentioning. Even so, this cast already has me excited to see what is going to happen with this movie – I’m already counting down the days.
The Bikeriders Is A Fictional Story About Motorcyclists That Takes Place During The 1960s
As mentioned before, we said that The Bikeriders is all about motorcycles – specifically a motorcycle gang.
The Deadline article about the initial film announcement in August 2022 stated that The Bikeriders is inspired by photography used a 1967 book of the same name by Danny Lyon and depicts the lives of the Chicago Outlaw Motorcycle Club of the 1960s through several photographs.
The film will adhere to the 1960s setting, but tell its own story to trace the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club. It will commence with humble beginnings, but over a decade, the motorcycle club will transform into a gang with dark intentions that deviate significantly from the club’s original purpose.
There have been plenty of motorcycle movies out there, or films that feature motorcycles (my personal favorite being the Ghost Rider film series), but this one genuinely sounds incredibly interesting. I for one can’t wait to see what comes from it.
Jeff Nichols Directed The Bikeriders
The initial Deadline announcement in August 2022 confirmed Jeff Nichols as the director of The Bikeriders. Jeff Nichols, known for his critically acclaimed film Mud (starring the amazing Matthew McConaughey), released in 2012, has worked on several films during his time in Hollywood, including Loving, Midnight Special, Take Shelter, and Shotgun Stories.
Where The Bikeriders will rank among those is unknown, but it’ll certainly be one of his most interesting movies so far.
Filming Took Place In 2022
The last thing we know about The Bikeriders is that filming apparently took place last year, in 2022.
City Beat initially reported in August 2022 that filming for The Bikeriders would commence in October. Subsequently, in October the same year, World of Reel reported that filming was on schedule and was starting in Ohio.
Later, in December 2022, it was revealed by someone on the film’s crew that filming had ended – and later on, the written post was removed (via Collider). The announcement said, “Elvis has left the building! That’s a picture wrap on The Bikeriders! Thanks for a great time. Great crew, great time!” The reference is towards Butler’s Academy Award-nominated role as Elvis in Elvis, released in 2022.
Regardless, The Bikeriders looks like it’s going to be a fun time, and to be honest, it makes me want to go out and get a motorcycle myself – but maybe I should stick to a standard car for now.