The first trailer for the forthcoming biopic A Complete Unknown, centred on the life of Bob Dylan, is finally here. In the highly anticipated clip, leading man Timothée Chalamet sings the 1963 protest song A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.
Directed by James Mangold—who directed the best biopic this writer has ever seen (the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line)—the film is set in the early 1960s.
Chalamet portrays a 19-year-old Bob Dylan experiencing a meteoric rise from folk singer to chart-topping sensation, travelling from his early New York City days to his explosive performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Alongside Chalamet is BAFTA nominee Edward Norton (American History X, Primal Fear), Elle Fanning (The Great, Maleficent), Monica Barbaro (Top Gun: Maverick), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them), Norbert Leo Butz (Bloodline, Justified: City Primeval), and Scoot McNairy (Killing Them Softly, Narcos: Mexico).
A Complete Unknown is heading to cinemas “soon.” A Variety report stated that the film will hit American theatres in December.
Monica Barbaro will portray Joan Baez, while Elle Fanning reportedly plays Sylvie Russo – a fictional version of Dylan’s then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo. Norton plays the folk singer Pete Seeger, Holbrook appears as Johnny Cash, Scoot McNairy is Woody Guthrie, and Dan Fogler is Albert Grossman.
You can watch the trailer below.
According to the BBC, Mangold received Bob Dylan’s blessing to make the film, and the music legend is on board as executive producer.
Mangold said he was intrigued by “This idea of a talent like Bob, so vexing, so provocative, so filled with fiction and fact.
“This idea of this incredible, artistic character landing in New York with $12 in his pocket – trying to thread the needle of how one goes from there to there is so interesting to me.”
In October 2021, Dylan quietly announced a tour that would run from November 2021 through 2024.
Entitled Rough And Rowdy Ways (after his 2020 album of the same name), the tour is being billed as a world tour. While no word has been officially given on Australian dates at this time, the billing and sheer length of the tour have fans extremely excited about the prospect of some shows down under.