The Bikeriders Release Date, Cast, Plot, Trailer And More Details

Writer-director Jeff Nichols has made a name for himself by capturing humanity at its most dogged, gritty, and real. Now, he's pouring his talents into the world of 1960s motorcycle clubs with "The Bikeriders." This searing drama promises to blow moviegoers away; it's already earned dazzling reviews and generated quite a bit of buzz with nothing more than a few festival screenings.

As Nichols has discussed in a number of interviews, "The Bikeriders" explores the glamour and romance of those who travel the country astride roaring choppers. But this film isn't content to simply worship its subjects as the height of cool. No, "The Bikeriders" explores the messy, complicated, and often dangerous reality of midcentury bikers through its three central characters. This trio is bound together by love, jealousy, charisma, and longing — in short, the stuff of great human drama. Excited to explore the wild, weird, and windswept world Nichols has put to film? Then stick with us — we've got all the details on "The Bikeriders."

"The Bikeriders" will hit theaters on June 21, 2024. As anyone who's followed the project can tell you, it's taken a long, long time to arrive at this point. Originally, the movie was slated to hit American theaters on December 1, 2023, but the SAG-AFTRA strike threw a wrench into the works, and it was taken off the calendar entirely. A brief shopping-around period ensued, which ended when Focus Features snapped up the film's rights.

Some might be a tad disappointed by the 2024 release date, as it excludes the film from the upcoming Oscar season. Buzz was definitely being built up, especially after its screening at the Telluride Film Festival. Still, there's always next year. Moreover, after so much uncertainty, it's just nice to have a firm release date for "The Bikeriders" at all.

"The Bikeriders" boasts some truly unique source material: It's inspired by celebrated photographer Danny Lyon's 1968 photo book of the same name, which captures midcentury biker culture with unique insight and intensity. The movie will focus on three vivid characters: Benny, a powerfully charismatic young member of the Vandals biker club, Johnny, the club's complex leader, and Kathy, Benny's fierce wife. These three figures become enmeshed in a complicated tangle of loyalty, envy, and attraction — but it's not exactly the love triangle you might expect. Rather than Benny and Johnny fighting over Kathy, "The Bikeriders" explores the way Kathy and Johnny become rivals for the magnetic Benny's attention.

As this emotional tug-of-war goes on, the Vandals go from being a club of like-minded outsiders to something a lot more gang-like. As director Jeff Nichols put it to Deadline, this deterioration mirrors that of the trio. "As you start to put rules around the beautiful thing you built, you're starting to destroy it," Nichols remarked. "So it's undoing it as soon as you start to fashion it, you're undoing what made it special in the first place. And it stands for the club they're members of but it also stands for the relationships between these three people." This makes for seriously poignant drama and some truly pulse-pounding action sequences. "I don't know how they insured the film, to be honest," Austin Butler told Interview, while describing what it was like to race motorcycles across the landscape. "And you're riding behind a picture car as well, it's kicking up pebbles in your face, so you're getting hit in the eyes with rocks. It was so visceral."

"The Bikeriders" boasts a seriously star-studded cast. Austin Butler, fresh off the titular role in Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis," plays the powerfully attractive Benny. "That guy's a movie star," Jeff Nichols remarked to Deadline, "He's got the chops and then some." He went on to describe Butler's performance as purposefully understated, which promises to combine brilliantly with the actor's natural charisma. Opposite Butler is Tom Hardy, who plays club leader Johnny. Hardy's intense presence seems like a perfect fit for Johnny, who must navigate the changing club, his relationship with Benny, and the manifold dangers of life on the road. Notably, Butler loved working with Hardy: As he told Interview, "I pictured him to be this grizzly bear, always serious. And really, he's one of the funniest people I've ever met."

Jodie Comer will play Kathy, Benny's wife. Kathy isn't just a major character in this drama — she structures the entire saga through interview segments conducted by a fictionalized Danny Lyon, played by Mike Faist. Having been floored by Comer's performance in the one-woman show "Prima Facie," Nichols is over the moon about snagging her for this part. "I walk out of that play and I'm like, 'I'm the luckiest director in the world,'" Nichols told Deadline. "Like this is it. I have an ace up my sleeve and just wait till we get there [on set] because she's going to kill this."

This talented trio is bolstered by a stellar supporting cast. "The Walking Dead" star Norman Reedus will play Funny Sonny, Boyd Holbrook of "The Sandman" will play Cal, and longtime legend Michael Shannon will play Zipco. The details of these roles remain murky, but they seem likely to be members of the Vandals.

Jeff Nichols serves as both director and writer on "The Bikeriders." His impressive filmography is reason enough to get excited by the movie. Nichols, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, has a spectacular track record when it comes to capturing the fringes of American culture, with a particular focus on the battered but unbroken humanity of those on the margins. His 2016 romantic drama "Loving" explores Richard and Mildred Loving's landmark 1967 Supreme Court case, which struck down laws prohibiting interracial marriage. 2012's "Mud" tells the story of a couple of Arkansas teenagers who get tangled up in a fugitive's life on the run. Suffice it to say, "The Bikeriders" is right in his wheelhouse.

It's also a movie he's been meaning to make for a very long time — 20 years, to be exact. That's the moment he got his hands on a copy of Danny Lyon's groundbreaking book. Nichols has spent so long mulling the notion over, in fact, that Michael Shannon became skeptical it'd ever get made. "I mentioned it in a bar in Memphis when we were shooting this [short film]," Nichols remarked to /Film, "and Mike was sitting next to me, and he was like, 'You've been talking about that damn idea for so long. You're never gonna make that s***.' I'm like, 'No, I am. It's a great idea.'" He's officially proved Shannon wrong, and in a major way; "The Bikeriders" has earned stellar early reviews. "This is the most complex script I've ever written," Nichols told Variety. It shows in the best way.

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The trailer for "The Bikeriders" is a blistering streak of violence, romance, and speed. Kathy gives it structure through glimpses of her interview segments; she recalls the day she met Benny, her entrance into the world of bikers, and her initial estimation of Benny's hot-blooded attitude. "I thought I could change him, you know?" she muses. "Not to be different, but to be ... I don't know, like, he's wild!" 

He is indeed — and it is this wildness that captures club leader Johnny's attention as well. A scene between him and Benny bookends the trailer, in which he appears to invite Benny to take up a leadership position beside him in the club. Said club clearly begins as a haven for rebels and misfits — we see vivid scenes of people roaring along highways, whooping for joy — but slowly, it begins to change. Violence is a particularly corrosive force; glimpses of brawls, burning buildings, and guns make a major impression on the viewer. All in all, this trailer paints a portrait of a brutal, beautiful, and truly bold film. "The Bikeriders" is set to impress moviegoers everywhere.

It probably won't come as a surprise that "The Bikeriders" is rated R. This is, after all, a movie about a motorcycle club that slowly transforms into an outright gang. The MPAA has specifically given it this rating for adult language, drug use, sexuality, and violence. 

The world of bikers is indeed full of violence, drugs, sexuality, and other sorts of adult realities. "The Bikeriders" aims to present this slice of society in full, which means it's likely to have some seriously rough edges. These are people living on the margins of American life, norms, work, and morals. Things get brutal, and often without warning. It's obviously not a movie for kids, but some teenagers — and their parents — might be wondering if "The Bikeriders" is suitable viewing for them. Concerned parents should probably give the movie the once-over themselves to decide whether or not the adolescents in their life can handle it.