Dropped Disney Movie Gets Summer 2024 Release Date After Being Saved By Another Studio

After being dropped by Disney, The Bikeriders will now be distributed by Focus Features in summer 2024. The star-studded movie follows the members of a fictional motorcycle club over the course of a decade as they grow their club and navigate life in 1960s Chicago. Starring Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, and Norman Reedus, the Jeff Nichols-directed movie premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival in August 2023 and was originally slated for theatrical release December 1, 2023.

The Bikeriders was pulled from Disney’s release schedule because of the recent SAG-AFTRA strike and then dropped by Disney altogether, leaving the New Regency movie adrift without a distributor until now. Luckily, Deadline now reports that Focus Features has taken over the project from Disney and set a June 21, 2024 release date. The news confirms a theatrical release for the movie, which was potentially facing a streaming release after being dropped by Disney.

Why The Bikeriders Delay Could Have a Positive Impact

While June 2024 represents a significant delay for the highly anticipated project, the new release schedule may have positive results for the film in terms of box office numbers. While December can be an ideal time for theatrical releases, theaters are currently saturated with popular films as 2023 nears its end, with more exciting projects coming down the pike to round out the month. June 2024 does boast some long-awaited projects, such as Inside Out 2 and Ballerina, but the new release date could offer more opportunity for The Bikeriders to earn its due regardless.

Outside the consideration of other heavy-hitting movies in theaters at the time of release, The Bikeriders has the potential to be a perfect summer film, with promotional materials so far featuring plenty of grand outdoor shots as the members of the motorcycle club live their lives on the road. After the success of Top Gun: Maverick, another star-studded drama set in a decade that inspires nostalgia, with a serving of impressive vehicles and a side of complex themes of masculinity, could inject a similar fervor in viewers upon The Bikeriders‘ release. Boasting impressive talent and garnering comparisons to popular television show Sons of Anarchy due to its focus on a motorcycle gang, The Bikeriders could lead to another banner summer for movie theaters.

Now that the strike has concluded, the talent involved in The Bikeriders will be able to promote the film, as well as having more time to do so before its June release despite Butler and Hardy’s busy schedules. Early reviews for the film are positive, with an 85% score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, which should work in the movie’s favor and encourage viewers to see it upon release. Set up to be an awards contender and boasting a successful festival debut, The Bikeriders could be facing a future as a sleeper summer blockbuster now that it has been picked up.

Source: Deadline