EXCLUSIVE: New Regency‘s Jeff Nichols-directed crime drama The Bikeriders, which was at 20th Century Studios, is getting acquired by Focus Features. Focus is taking global rights to the pic, reteaming them with New Regency who they partnered with on 2022’s The Northman. A 2024 theatrical release is planned. Universal will distribute the movie overseas.
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The movie was previously dated on Dec. 1 via 20th Century Studios/Disney. However, New Regency made the choice to pull the movie back, I hear, due to the ongoing actors strike and the cast unable to promote. The Bikeriders is currently 85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critics.
Focus Features Chairman Peter Kujawski tells Deadline, “We are delighted to add such a riveting project to next year’s strong slate of films. We look forward to once again working alongside New Regency and reuniting with the multi-talented Jeff Nichols on another one of his visionary projects. This film exemplifies our commitment to collaborate with the industry’s best filmmakers and production partners, and we can’t wait to build upon its early success to draw audiences into this poignant film bolstered by powerful performances from an incredible cast.”
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Yariv Milchan, Chairman and CEO of New Regency says, “We are excited to team up again with our Focus Features partners and look forward to another successful collaboration. And we couldn’t be prouder of The Bikeriders, Jeff Nichols and all the talent he has brought together to create this truly exceptional film.”
The movie, which made its world premiere at Telluride, was also written by Nichols and stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy, and follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones are producing through Tri-State, the company they share with Nichols, alongside New Regency. Fred Berger is EP.
New Regency had The Creator released earlier this fall via their deal at 20th Century Studios/Disney where it’s grossed over $104M worldwide. The company’s upcoming titles include a series for Amazon based on their hit 2005 film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and starring two-time Emmy winner Donald Glover that will premiere on Feb. 2, 2024.
Focus Features has the awards contender The Holdovers from Alexander Payne currently in theaters. Upcoming titles include Drive-Away Dolls from Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke starring Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Beanie Feldstein, Zelda Williams’ feature directorial debut Lisa Frankenstein, written by Diablo Cody, as well as Back to Black about the life and music of Amy Winehouse from director Sam Taylor-Johnson, Robert Eggers’ reimagining of Nosferatu, which stars Bill Skarsgard, Lily Rose-Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, and Willem Dafoe, Baltasar Kormakur’s Touch, and Goran Stolevski’s new feature, Housekeeping for Beginners, among others.