Tom Hardy’s latest thriller,The Bikeriders, has become a streaming success, which only makes me wish Disney had given it a chance. One of2024’s most anticipated releaseswas the crime drama thrillerThe Bikeriders, directed by Jeff Nichols. Inspired by the photo-book of the same name by Danny Lyon,The Bikeriderstakes viewers back to 1960s Chicago to meet the fictional Vandals Motorcycle Club, based onthe real-life group Outlaws Motorcycle Club. The Vandals are led by Johnny (Hardy), who also founded the club.
Also part of the club is Benny (Austin Butler), who meets Kathy Bauer (Jodie Comer) and marries her five weeks later. It’s through her that the stories of Johnny, Benny, and the club are told as she’s interviewed by photography student Danny Lyon.The Bikeridersfollows the rise and fall of the Vandals as they go through losses, conflicts with other groups, and an unexpected change in their ranks. Despite its premise and its cast (which also includes Michael Shannon and Norman Reedus),The Bikeridersdidn’t do well at the box office, but its success on streaming proves Disney shouldn’t have dropped it.
Tom Hardy’s The Bikeriders Is A Hit On Streaming After Making Just $35M In Theaters
The Bikeriders Found Its Audience On Streaming
The Bikeriderspremiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2023 and was originally scheduled for a December 2023 release under 20th Century Studios’ wing. However, it was removed from the schedule due to the SAG-AFTRA strike in July 2023 as the cast was prevented from promoting the film. In November 2023, New Regency began shoppingThe Bikeridersto rival studios and streamers instead, reportedly due to the lack of time to put together a proper publicity campaign following the end of the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
The Bikeridersfound the success in streaming that it couldn’t get in theaters, making it to the top ten most popular movies in the final week of August 2024.
Focus Features pickedThe Bikeridersup and acquired its distribution rights, with New Regency agreeing to it after their previous collaboration onThe Northmanproved to be profitable even if it wasn’t a box office hit. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case forThe Bikeriders, which ended up grossing $35.8 million against a budget of $30-40 million. However,The Bikeriderswas a critical success and currently holds an 80% critics scoreonRotten Tomatoes.
Not long after its theatrical release,The Bikeriderswas released on streaming, where it finally found its audience.The Bikeridersfound the success in streaming that it couldn’t get in theaters, making it to thetop ten most popular movies in the final week of August 2024. It has become quite common for movies that didn’t succeed at the box office to find their place on streaming (which also happened toThe Northman), and while I’m happy thatThe Bikeridersis finally getting the attention it deserves,this could have been avoided if Disney had given it a chance.
Disney Could Have Been The Bikeriders’ Home
IfThe Bikeridersbecame an anticipated 2024 release it was thanks to Disney. A movie about a motorcycle club starring Tom Hardy and Austin Butler was going to get a lot of attention on its own, but under the Disney/20th Century Studios banner it had bigger chances of succeeding. As mentioned above, the 2023 Hollywood strikes were a contributing factor toThe Bikeriders’ release date change and New Regency looking for a new distributor, butDisney could have still made it work once the strike was over.
While I’m obviously glad Focus Features gaveThe Bikeridersa chance, it got a very quiet release that made it almost unnoticeable.
With a marketing push like only Disney knows how to do,The Bikeriderscould have performed better in theaters – the difference might not have been massive, but definitely notable. While I’m obviously glad Focus Features gaveThe Bikeridersa chance (I admit there was a point where I thoughtThe Bikeriderswasn’t going to see the light of day), it got a very quiet release that made it almost unnoticeable, leading to its box office underperformance.
The Bikeridersneeded a strong marketing campaign to get the attention and bigger audience it deserved.
The Bikeridersis the type of movie that struggles nowadays: it’s not a sequel, it’s not a fantasy movie, it’s not part of a franchise, and its source material isn’t widely known.The Bikeriders, then, needed a strong marketing campaign to get the attention and bigger audience it deserved, which wouldn’t have just been good for the movie but for more of its type being made, which is much needed in the current era of franchises, sequels, remakes, and reboots.
The Bikeriders Is Tom Hardy’s Best Movie In Years
The Bikeriders Was A Much-Needed Change In Tom Hardy’s Career
The Bikeridersis a good combination of drama, crime, and thriller with a cast that excels in every scene – but if those aren’t good enough reasons for it to deserve a bigger theatrical release,The Bikeridersis also Tom Hardy’s best movie in a long time. Hardy saw great success in 2015 and 2016 withMad Max: Fury Road,The Revenant, andDunkirk. Since then, however,Hardy has mostly had appearances as Eddie Brock/Venomin Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in 2020, he had the lead role in the forgettable biographical dramaCapone.
While Hardy’s performances as Eddie Brock/Venom have been entertaining, they don’t exactly qualify as some of the best in his career.The Bikeridersfeels like his return to the more serious and dramatic roles he has been praised for, so it’s an even bigger shame that it didn’t get the attention it deserved in theaters – thankfully, it has found its audience on streaming.
The Bikeriders
The Bikeriders is a 2024 drama exploring the turbulent relationship between Kathy and Benny, a member of the Vandals motorcycle club. As the club delves into violence, Benny faces a critical choice between staying with Kathy and his allegiance to the club.
