Director Matt Johnson says he initially had little interest in Anthony Bourdain or in making another film based on a real person, but changed his mind after discussing the project with actor Dominic Sessa. Their A24 film, Tony, avoids a full biography and instead portrays Bourdain as a troubled young man before his later fame, making the story more personal and accessible.

Loosely adapted from sections of Bourdain’s memoir Kitchen Confidential, the film follows him during a summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, when he begins work as a dishwasher in his first professional kitchen. Sessa plays the young Bourdain, alongside Leo Woodall, Stavros Halkias and Antonio Banderas; the screenplay, credited to Johnson, Matt Miller, Lou Howe and Todd Bartles, appeared on the 2024 Black List.