MATT Johnson is moving from tech satire to culinary-world mythology. According to a new report, the ‘BlackBerry’ filmmaker has signed on to direct A24’s ‘Tony’, a film focused on the early life of Anthony Bourdain.

In the same report, Johnson says he didn’t initially understand the “hype” around Bourdain when he first agreed to the project, despite Bourdain’s reputation as a hugely influential travel-and-food storyteller.

The piece also notes Johnson’s prior work, including ‘Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie’, and frames ‘Tony’ as a look at how Bourdain became a larger-than-life figure for viewers who prized his curiosity, conversation, and food knowledge.

More specifics about casting and release timing aren’t detailed in the supplied summary, but the focus is clearly on Bourdain’s formative years and Johnson’s evolving perspective on the subject.