The Bikeriders: Release date, cast and latest news for Austin Butler film

The first trailer landed back in March and gave fans a first look at Hardy in action as Johnny, the leader of the gang, as well as Butler as Benny, a member of the club who finds himself torn between his loyalty to the gang and his partner Kathy (Comer).

Speaking about the inspiration behind the movie, Nichols previously told Digital Spy that the film is an "odd hybrid".

"I would say 70 per cent of the dialogue is taken from this book, certainly of Kathy's dialogue," he explained. "To say that this story follows these real people, that's not true either.

"It is this really odd hybrid where we had Danny [Lyon, author] visiting these people in 1965, and then he was done. And that's all I really had. So I had to invent everything before and everything after.

"It really is a balance of saying: these are fictional characters, but they hold a lot of reality in them, taking directly out of Danny's book."

So, when can UK cinemagoers expect to see it? Read on for everything we know so far about The Bikeriders.

The Bikeriders release date

The film is set to land in cinemas on Friday 21st June 2024 in the US and the UK.

It had initially been earmarked for a release in UK cinemas on Friday 1st December 2023, but it was subsequently pulled from the schedules with no new date announced.

Focus Features then opted to take on the movie and have given it a summer slot.

The Bikeriders cast

The Bikeriders has attracted some of the biggest names in Hollywood – with a few of our favourite British icons set to star.

Emmy award-winning Killing Eve actress Jodie Comer will play the role of Kathy, and Tom Hardy – who was awarded a CBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama – will act as Johnny.

During a recent appearance on The One Show, Comer explained that her character’s mannerisms reminded her of her nan.

"There [were] elements of her," she said. "She's extremely vivacious and an incredible storyteller."

"There was a humour I found in her and a warmth that I felt like a lot of women, especially from Liverpool or the north, there's certain character traits about them that I felt Kathy had.

"So, that was something I could of like lean into and something that felt familiar amongst a lot that felt very far from myself."

Joining them is the Oscar-nominated Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two, Masters of the Air), whose star turn in Elvis last year marked him out as one of the most exciting actors of his generation, as well as Michael Shannon, who is a regular collaborator of director Jeff Nichols.

See below for the full cast of The Bikeriders:

• Jodie Comer as Kathy
• Austin Butler as Benny
• Tom Hardy as Johnny
• Michael Shannon as Zipco
• Mike Faist as Danny Lyon
• Norman Reedus as Funny Sonny
• Boyd Holbrook as Cal
• Damon Herriman as Brucie
• Beau Knapp as Wahoo
• Emory Cohen as Cockroach
• Karl Glusman as Corky
• Toby Wallace as The Kid
• Happy Anderson as Big Jack

What is The Bikeriders about?

Based on Danny Lyons's 1968 book of black and white photographs, The Bikeriders follows a fictional Midwestern biker gang in 1965 Chicago called the Vandals.

Austin Butler stars as Benny, who, like elder gang member and founder Johnny (Tom Hardy), is unconditionally devoted to the club.

Jodie Comer stars as Kathy, Benny’s wife who fell for him at a young age and grapples with the consequences of Benny’s involvement in the group.

The trailer reveals that the gang eventually get involved with criminal activity and shows the violence that follows.

The Bikeriders trailer

You can watch the official trailer for The Bikeriders below:

Bikeriders arrives in cinemas on Friday 21st June 2024.

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