On May 5th, A24, an independent film distribution company, released the trailer for TONY, a new movie based on Anthony Bourdain’s summer as a 19-year-old working at a restaurant in Cape Cod. The film is directed by Matt Johnson, a Canadian filmmaker known for other movies such as BlackBerry – another biopic, about the rise and fall of the BlackBerry phone – and this year’s Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie, an unserious comedy which was a passion-project of the director.
TONY follows a young Anthony Bourdain, played by Dominic Sessa, known for his debut role as Angus Tully in 2023’s The Holdovers. TONY takes place in 1975, when Bourdain at a youth knows he wants to be a writer, but takes a job at a restaurant in Provincetown under the mentorship of a Brazilian restaurant owner, played By Antonio Banderas.
“It’s a sort of origin story in a way,” explained Sessa to People Magazine.
The trend of biopics in cinema has been controversial for a long time. Biopics tend to perform well at the box office, especially music bio pics such as Bohemian Rhapsody, but many critics believe that studios create biopics to capitalize on the public’s love for figures who have passed, or are just easy to produce and guaranteed to make money. With TONY, Bourdain’s estate has given their blessing.
“We chose to support TONY because it is not a standard biopic and doesn’t attempt to summarize a life. Guided by the vision of director Matt Johnson, the film depicts one transformative summer in 1975 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is an interpretation, as that part of Tony’s life will always remain somewhat unknown. We hope this film serves as a reminder that every journey has a start, and that audiences see the beginnings of the man who taught us how to be better explorers on our own paths,” the estate shared this statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
Speaking of working on the film, director Matt Johnson has shared how Dominic Sessa shaped the film alongside him.
“I had lunch with Dominic in New York with my producer, and within an hour we were writing what would become the screenplay of the movie together,” Johnson shared with Entertainment Weekly.
“More than any movie I’ve ever made, this film was a partnership with an actor. He is in every shot of the movie, and carries the entire story on his hunched shoulders,” added Johnson.
Some people have shared concerns over if Bourdain would have approved of a biopic of himself. Especially with all the criticism that biopics receive, it was almost certain that this film would have controversy, and with the type of figure that Anthony Bourdain was, even more so. Others believe in director Matt Johnson, known for his eccentric work, and believe that this biopic is in the right hands and is not going to be just another generic movie, but rather one made by someone who loves his work and wants to make something truly great and respectful to honor Bourdain.
