A24 has released an official “first look” video about Tony, the upcoming Anthony Bourdain biopic based on two chapters from the late chef and author’s Kitchen Confidential.
Bourdain’s memoir, published in 2000 by Bloomsbury, recounted his experiences in the restaurant industry. He began as a worker at Provincetown, Massachusetts, eateries in the 1970s, studied at the Culinary Institute of America, and eventually served as executive chef at Manhattan’s Brasserie Les Halles.
Kitchen Confidential became a bestseller and was adapted into a 2005 television show starring Bradley Cooper. The show was canceled during its first season.
Tony is based on Bourdain’s chapters about working in Provincetown. It’s directed by Matt Johnson (BlackBerry, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie) and stars Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) as Bourdain; other cast members include Emilia Jones (CODA), Dagmara Domińczyk (Succession), Rich Sommer (Mad Men), Stavros Halkias (Bugonia), and Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory).
The A24 video, which incorporates behind-the-scenes interviews with Sessa and Johnson, opens with Banderas, playing a chef, pouring a pot of water on Sessa (Bourdain), who’s asleep in a hammock. “What time is it?” Sessa asks. “It’s time for work,” Banderas replies.
Sessa, in an interview, says, “Bourdain, for all of us, is sort of this iconic, rebellious guy.” It then cuts to a scene of Halkias, playing a cook, asking Sessa, “How you holding up, little Tony?” Sessa responds, “Ask your mom.” Later, Banderas tells Sessa, “Let me teach you this,” as he prepares a dish of lobster thermidor.
Tony is scheduled to premiere in select theaters on Aug. 7, followed by a nationwide release on Aug. 21.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
