Tom Hardy Flop Turns into a Streaming Hit After Box Office Disappointment

The Tom Hardy film, The Bikeriders, initially struggled at the box office earlier this year but has found a strong audience on the streaming platform Peacock.

Set in the 1960s, director Jeff Nichols’ film focuses on Benny (Austin Butler), a young biker who joins a Chicago-based gang called ‘The Vandals,’ led by Johnny (Tom Hardy). Benny finds himself torn between his new lifestyle and his girlfriend Kathy, played by Jodie Comer.

The crime drama, which also stars Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, and Norman Reedus, is based on the Danny Lyon photo book of the same name.

Despite a modest budget of $40 million, the film struggled to break even, grossing only $35 million at the box office. This was despite positive reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 75 percent.

However, all is not lost for The Bikeriders. Recent data from the blog Reelgood indicates that it became the tenth most popular movie on all streaming platforms for the week of August 22–28 after its release on Peacock. It is also available for rent on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Apple TV.

Other movies in the top streaming list include the original 1979 Alien, The Instigators starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck on Apple TV, Jackpot featuring John Cena and Awkwafina on Amazon Prime, and A Quiet Place: Day One on Paramount+.

Interestingly, the top-ranking movie on the list is Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which also performed poorly at the box office earlier this year. The prequel to 2015’s successful Mad Max: Fury Road earned just $172.8 million, far below the estimated $350–375 million needed for profitability.

New fans of The Bikeriders may have found Hardy’s unconventional Midwest accent puzzling. In an interview with Variety, Hardy revealed he aimed to defy expectations with his performance.

“You look straight away at a biker movie and think, ‘Oh, it’s leather. It’s sexy. The music’s great. The hair’s great. The obvious choice is to play to all of these.’ So the obvious choice for somebody like me is to go to the counterpoint of all those. This guy is a tragic clown,” said the Venom star.

He added, “Where’s the pathetic element? Where’s the wretch? Where are the embarrassing moments? Where are the weaknesses? I need to flesh this guy out. Why is the voice a little bit creepy? Why is it a little like Bugs Bunny? What can we imbue this stud with that’s so un-studly that I can identify with it? Because I’m not that!”

Audiences can next see Hardy in Havoc, a film by The Raid filmmaker Gareth Evans.

Source: Variety, Reelgood