Austin Butler stars in an upcoming movie called The Bikeriders that may find a built-in fanbase thanks to Sons of Anarchy and Mayans M.C. The Bikeriders draws on the real history of biker gangs and motorcycle culture in the 1960s, primarily from Danny Lyon’s 1967 photobook by the same title. Fans will likely find a lot of connections to the fictional world of Jax Teller.
The Bikeriders was written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and it stars Hardy as a reckless young motorcycle enthusiast named Benny. However, the real protagonist is Kathy (Jodie Comer), Benny’s lover who narrates the story in interviews – presumably in a split timeline. She explains the development of Benny’s gang, “the Vandals,” and how they went from a friendly club to a criminal organization.
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The descent of the club seems to be instigated by Johnny (Tom Hardy,” who earns unwavering loyalty from the other Vandals and even seems to compete with Kathy for Benny’s attention. The all-star cast also includes Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Norman Reedus, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Beau Knapp, Emory Cohen, Karl Glusman, Toby Wallace and Happy Anderson. Faist notably plays a fictional version of Danny Lyon, hinting that the movie might be framed around Lyon’s interviews with real bikers in the 1960s.
Lyon was already an established journalist, photographer and author before taking on The Bikeriders, having covered the civil rights movement extensively. From 1963 to 1967, he lived in Chicago and traveled with the local chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club in an “attempt to record and glorify the life of the American bikerider.” Lyon technically became a full-fledged member of the gang near the end of the project.
Lyon’s book is considered a seminal study of American biker culture, along with one of Lyon’s biggest influences – Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. It has never been specifically cited as a major influence by the creators of Sons of Anarchy, but now that The Bikeriders is getting the big screen treatment it is clear the two pieces are in an evolving conversation with each other.
The Bikeriders made its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August and it received great reviews according to Rotten Tomatoes and MetaCritic. The movie hits theaters on Dec. 1, 2023 in the U.S.
