A24 has released the first trailer for the biopic Tony — and it looks like a knockout. The Holdovers breakout Dominic Sessa stars as legendary chef and television icon Anthony Bourdain, with the film set for a theatrical release in August 2026.
The trailer follows a 19-year-old Bourdain — freshly dropped out of college and going nowhere fast — who winds up in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where the chaos of a restaurant kitchen turns his entire life upside down. The story is rooted in the summer of 1976, Bourdain’s last time on the Cape before enrolling at the Culinary Institute of America two years later.
The film tracks Bourdain’s grind from dishwasher to line cook — the unglamorous, sweaty foundation beneath the empire he’d eventually build.
Sessa’s portrayal is intense, raw, and combustible — that same volatile energy that made the real Bourdain impossible to look away from. The trailer maps a clear arc: from rejection and rebellion to something that actually looks like a calling.
It all ends with Bourdain landing on his identity in the most Bourdain way possible — “If anybody asks, I’m not a writer. I work in a kitchen.”
This isn’t the first time Bourdain’s life has made it to screen. Back in 2005, his memoir Kitchen Confidential was adapted into a TV sitcom starring Bradley Cooper. Then in 2021, the documentary Roadrunner sparked controversy by using AI technology to recreate Bourdain’s voice for three narration sequences.
To keep things authentic, the production made a deliberate choice to cast real chefs in the film — a move that signals just how seriously A24 is taking this one. The project has also gone through multiple test screenings and reshoots, suggesting the studio is being unusually careful about getting this right.
Notably, Kimberly Witherspoon — who represents Bourdain’s estate — is on board as executive producer, confirming the family has given this tribute its blessing.
Industry watchers say the combination of Bourdain’s enduring cultural legacy — he died in 2018 — and Sessa’s rising star power could put Tony squarely in the awards conversation come fall.
Tony will be released in theaters in August 2026.
