Director explains the true story of the Bikeriders and the book accuracy

Although it is based on a true story, The Bikers is not entirely rooted in reality. The film is inspired by Danny Lyons’ photo book, which contains images from his time spent with the real-life Outlaws Motorcycle Club. It features Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Norman Reedus and others. The film had its full domestic premiere on June 21 and Cyclists has received quite positive reviews.

Even after its release, it can be difficult to get to grips with the film’s roots. In an interview with Digital SpyWriter and director Jeff Nichols talked about how much of the film actually came from Lyons’ book and how much was inspired by real events. Much of the dialogue is from the book, but there isn’t much plot to dig through, so Nichols “invent” the rest of the story. Check out his full quote below:

I would say 70% of the dialogue is from that book, Kathy’s dialogue, for sure. To say that this story follows these real people isn’t true either. It’s this really weird mix where Danny (Lyon, author) went to visit these people in 1965 and then he was done. And that’s all I really had. So I had to invent everything before and everything after. It’s really a balance between what you can say: these are fictional characters, but there’s a lot of reality in them, and they’re taken directly from Danny’s book.

Development…

Source: Digital Spy

The Bikers

The Bikeriders tells the story of the Vandals, a motorcycle club in the Midwest in the 1960s. From the perspective of Kathy, played by Jodie Comer, the film shows the club’s evolution from a group of local misfits to a dangerous gang.

director

Jeff Nichols

Release date

21 June 2024

Authors

Jeff Nichols

Duration

116 minutes

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