Anthony Bourdain is now known around the world as the iconic chef, author, and travel documentarian. He spent years in the spotlight and has twelve Emmy Awards for his series, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. However, the Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony, does not focus on Bourdain’s fame or his entire life. Instead, the movie explores a very different and crucial part of his life, following him as a 19-year-old before he became the renowned chef the world came to know.

More importantly, it focuses on a period in his life when he discovered his passion for cooking. While many are familiar with the later years of Bourdain’s career and fame, his beginnings are also worth exploring. As the movie continues to gain traction, here is where to watch Tony.

Anthony Bourdain’s biopic, Tony, was released in limited theaters on August 7, 2026, and will get a worldwide release on August 21, 2026. So, as of now, the movie can only be watched in theaters. As for its future streaming destination, the movie could eventually arrive on HBO Max. 

Due to an exclusive deal signed between A24 and HBO Max in 2023, the latter has the rights to stream A24 movies first. As for the release window, A24 movies typically arrive on HBO Max after 120 days. Based on the film’s hype and popularity, however, it could take longer.

While there is no official confirmation yet, there is hope that the film will arrive on HBO Max after its theatrical run. More importantly, there has been immense hype around the film. Directed by Matt Johnson, the movie explores Bourdain’s life before he became the famed chef, when he was a 19-year-old working as a dishwasher in a restaurant kitchen. It stars Dominic Sessa as a young Anthony Bourdain, Emilia Jones as Nancy, Antonio Banderas as Chef, Leo Woodall as Sal, and Dagmara Domińczyk as Gladys. 

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While the film focuses on a period of Bourdain’s life that he himself described in his book, Kitchen Confidential, questions remain over how much has been changed for the movie.

While Tony focuses on a crucial period in Anthony Bourdain’s real life, it makes several changes for dramatic purposes. One of them is Tony’s desperate pursuit of his crush, Nancy. In real life, Nancy Putkoski was Bourdain’s longtime girlfriend.

The two had been dating for years before eventually getting married. Another change involves the chef, who appears in the film. Bourdain has specifically mentioned a Chef as his mentor in Kitchen Confidential and nicknamed him “Bigfoot.” However, this chef was someone Bourdain worked with at his first job in New York, not at the Provincetown restaurant.

A third change is that the film shows Tony staying at the chef’s home after getting a job as a dishwasher. However, in the book, Bourdain shared that he actually stayed in a summer cottage with his friends. Despite these changes, the film stays true to the focus of the story. It is a brilliant look at the summer of 1975 that Bourdain mentioned in his book, Kitchen Confidential.

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