Focus Features has released the first trailer for Roadrunner, a documentary about the life of chef, author, and travel host Anthony Bourdain. The film premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 11th and will be released widely in theaters on July 16th.
Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?), Roadrunner follows Bourdain’s career, starting with when he first published his daring restaurant memoir Kitchen Confidential in 2000 and landed his first travel show, A Cook’s Tour, on the Food Network. Through his later series, No Reservations on the Travel Channel and Parts Unknown on CNN, Bourdain captivated audiences with his passion for food, his curiosity and empathy toward other cultures, and his biting, sardonic commentary, all the way up to his tragic death by suicide in June 2018.
The film combines clips from Bourdain’s shows with behind-the-scenes footage, home videos, and interviews with some of Bourdain’s closest friends, colleagues, and production crew members, including restauranteurs David Chang and Eric Ripert, longtime producer Tom Vitale, and Alison Mosshart of the Kills. In a statement, Neville said his goal for the film was to capture Bourdain “in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.”