Dominic Sessa, who gained attention for his lead turn in “The Holdovers,” is playing the late Anthony Bourdain in “Tony,” an upcoming film produced by A24. Emilia Jones, Antonio Banderas, Rich Sommer, and Stavros Halkias (!) are also part of the cast. We now have a trailer.
The film looks fine. It’s not necessarily a rise-and-fall biopic so much as a slice-of-life portrayal of a moment that greatly shaped Bourdain’s inevitable rise in the culinary and cultural world. The dynamic between Sessa and Banderas seems to drive the film.
Now, after testing a handful of times, “Tony” recently had reshoots, and a new cut is being prepped for an August release. Yes, that means no TIFF, where its filmmaker, Matt Johnson, is a hometown boy; rather, it seems as though A24 is attempting a commercial play with this one.
The film is directed by Johnson, known for 2023’s acclaimed “BlackBerry” and this year’s playfully inventive “Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie.” The screenplay comes from Todd Bartel and Lou Howe. “Tony” takes place in 1976, when a young Bourdain had a life-changing experience working and living in Cape Cod, Mass., as a line chef.
Banderas plays a Brazilian-born restaurateur who takes the young Bourdain under his wing. Emilia Jones plays the girl he falls for.
Bourdain made his mark in the culinary world as an executive chef in Manhattan during the 1980s. His breakthrough came with the release of Kitchen Confidential: “Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” a bestselling memoir that propelled him to stardom.
Known for his raw honesty and no-nonsense perspective on food and culture, Bourdain became a beloved figure through his Travel Channel series “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” which aired for eight seasons. He died by suicide in 2018.
Johnson is the real pull here. He’s been on the rise with “BlackBerry” and ‘Nirvana.’ He was recently tapped by Legendary and Hasbro to direct a “Magic: The Gathering” movie for them, which, knowing how Johnson operates, will not be a business-as-usual adaptation of the popular game.