Tom Hardy‘s crime thriller The Bikeriders had a disappointing run at the box office, grossing only $35.8 million worldwide. But when the film released on Peacock, it became a streaming hit.
Based on Danny Lyon’s photo book of the same name, The Bikeriders follows Austin Butler as Benny, a young biker who finds his loyalty stretched between his new club, the Vandals, and its leader Johnny (Tom Hardy), and his girlfriend Kathy (Jodie Comer). As reported by Screen Rant, The Bikeriders ranked as the tenth most popular movie on streaming for the week of August 22 – 28.
The Bikeriders failed to break even with its estimated budget of $40 million, despite the star power of its leads and its supporting cast. Austin Butler and Mike Faist both starred in box office successes in the months prior to the release of The Bikeriders; Butler as Feyd-Rautha in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two, and Faist as Art Donaldson in Luca Guadagnino’s romantic sports drama Challengers.
Exploring The Bikeriders’ Theatrical Failure
One possible reason for the film’s underwhelming performance is its budget, as mid-budget films often struggle to find audiences in a theatrical landscape dominated by big-budget releases. The film also garners a niche appeal with its subject matter and historical setting, which can make for a more involved watch for the viewer than the spectacle of blockbusters.
Another possible cause is that The Bikeriders made its way to VOD just 18 days after it debuted in theaters. The timing of a film’s release in theaters and on streaming has been a hot topic in Hollywood in recent years, notably after the lawsuit filed by Scarlett Johansson against Disney, which alleged her contract with Marvel was breached when Black Widow was released on the Disney+ streaming service simultaneously with its release in theaters.
Johansson felt this directly cannibalized the theatrical earnings of the film, and while The Bikeriders had different dates for its theatrical and streaming releases, the closeness between those dates might have inflicted a similar Black Widow effect on theatrical performance.
While their ability to draw audiences to the theater based on name alone is debatable in a changing entertainment landscape, Hardy, Butler, and Comer have all shown they hold that power in streaming.
The popularity of Peaky Blinders prompted Netflix to purchase the rights and rework it into one of their originals, with Hardy joining the main cast in season 2, portraying Jewish gang leader Alfie Solomons. Butler starred in Apple TV+’s 2024 miniseries Masters of Air as Major Gale “Buck” Cleven, a member of the 100th Bomb Group. The BBC thriller Killing Eve, in which Comer plays the glamorous yet sociopathic Russian assassin Villanelle, experienced a surge when it debuted on Netflix. According to Variety, the series was watched for 719 minutes on its first week on Netflix, landing at No. 8 on the Nielsen weekly streaming rankings for the April 15 – 21 window.
Tom Hardy’s next high-profile film is the upcoming Venom: The Last Dance. Releasing in theaters on October 25, 2024, it’s the type of big-budget superhero flick that typically does well with audiences. Until then, those interested in Hardy’s work can check out The Bikeriders on Peacock.
