Rebellious. Cool. Nostalgic. Bringing ‘The Bikeriders’ to life, and movie theaters
Jeff Nichols had dreamt of making a film about a 1960s motorcycle clubs for over 20 years.
The obsession started in his brother’s apartment, when he first cracked open Danny Lyon’s book “The Bikeriders,” a New Journalism-style account of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club in the mid-1960s. He could see the movie in his mind: A story about rebels, romantics, frauds and the end of an era.
But he didn’t quite realize just how terrifying it would be to film the motorcycles in motion.
The bikes were vintage. The actors, including Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, would be riding at high speeds. And there would be no helmets. At some point, one of his stunt coordinators just came out with it: “There is no way to make this 100% safe.”
They went for it. The danger was kind of the point. And everyone made it out unscathed.
