A24's upcoming film Tony traces Anthony Bourdain back to his very first kitchen — a summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he started as a dishwasher. Matt Johnson directs, with Dominic Sessa starring as the young Bourdain. The film is loosely drawn from a handful of chapters in Bourdain's 2000 memoir Kitchen Confidential. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Eric Ripert — the celebrated chef who was Bourdain's friend and colleague for more than two decades — makes a brief appearance in the film, sitting on an admissions panel. Johnson explained how the cameo came about in a feature published by The Hollywood Reporter on 7 August 2026. Ripert's presence carries obvious weight for anyone who knew Bourdain's circle; the two men worked together at New York's Brasserie Les Halles and remained close until Bourdain's death in 2018. (The Hollywood Reporter)

The cast around Sessa is packed. Antonio Banderas plays a pious chef who runs the kitchen where the young Bourdain washes dishes. Leo Woodall and comedian Stavros Halkias play cooks. The script — credited to Johnson and Matt Miller, with Lou Howe and Todd Bartles — landed on the 2024 Black List, the annual survey of Hollywood's most liked unproduced screenplays. (The Hollywood Reporter)

For Johnson, Tony marks two departures. It is his first non-Canadian production, and his first feature in which he does not appear on screen. His previous work — including BlackBerry (2023) and The Dirties (2013) — has been rooted in the Canadian film system and built around his own performances. A24 confirmed the project on its official website. (The Hollywood Reporter; A24)

A24 has also been building goodwill ahead of the film's August 2025 release with a series of free advance screenings for hospitality and food service workers — the people whose lives the film depicts on screen. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Beyond the film itself, A24 is publishing a companion book titled Happier, Stupider Times, covering Bourdain's Provincetown years. Johnson wrote the introduction. The book includes never-before-seen photographs of Bourdain and his crew from that period. (A24; A24)

What makes the project stand out is how precisely it narrows its focus. Rather than attempting a full biopic of a man whose career spanned restaurants, television and global travel writing, Tony zeroes in on a single formative summer — the moment a young man first steps into a professional kitchen and discovers the world that will define the rest of his life. The casting of Ripert, however briefly, connects that origin story to the person Bourdain became.