Dominic Sessa turns up the heat as Anthony Bourdain in the trailer for the forthcoming feature Tony.
A24 releases filmmaker Matt Johnson‘s movie in theaters this August. Sessa (The Holdovers) portrays a 19-year-old Bourdain in the film that also stars Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Antonio Banderas, Dagmara Dominczyk, Rich Sommers and Stavros Halkias.
Focusing on a period of Bourdain’s life that predates his fame as a celebrity chef and acclaimed author, Tony centers on the titular character (Sessa) as he takes a job at a restaurant on Cape Cod and experiences a transformative summer.
“I’m actually not a fucking cook,” Sessa clarifies in the trailer. “I’m a writer. But I said I know how to cook.”
Johnson (Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, BlackBerry) helmed the movie from a script he co-wrote with Matthew Miller, Todd Bartels and Lou Howe. Johnson, Miller, Tim White and Trevor White serve as producers.
Bourdain’s estate released a statement offering insight into the decision to give their blessing. “We chose to support Tony because it is not a standard biopic and doesn’t attempt to summarize a life,” the statement read about the cooking personality who died in June 2018 at age 61. “Guided by the vision of director Matt Johnson, the film depicts one transformative summer in 1975 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is an interpretation, as that part of Tony’s life will always remain somewhat unknown.”
The message continued, “We appreciate the portrayal of Tony’s complexity, his intellectual appetite and his conviction — qualities that eventually took him around the globe and endeared him to so many. We hope this film serves as a reminder that every journey has a start, and that audiences see the beginnings of the man who taught us how to be better explorers on our own paths.”
