NEW YORK – JANUARY 13-15: Bob Dylan plays a Fender Jazz bass with the harmonica around his neck … [+]
Bob Dylan’s highly anticipated biopic has been teased and hinted at for months, if not years. Longtime fans of the musician, as well as those who love the actor set to play him, are eager for the film to be released–and they won’t have to wait too much longer.
A Complete Unknown finally has a release date. Searchlight Pictures, the company behind the film, revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that the movie is scheduled to arrive in theaters across the U.S. on Christmas Day.
The movie stars Timothée Chalamet as a young Dylan, just getting started in his career. Fans of the Academy Award-nominated actor are surely also eager to see his performance, which has already garnered some Oscar buzz.
The first proper trailer for A Complete Unknown was released in late July. The visual shows the world Chalamet’s take on Dylan and gives insight into the music that will be used, as well as the moments from the musician’s life that made it into the script.
A Complete Unknown details the early days of Dylan’s stardom. As a teenager, he got his start in New York City’s music scene, which, at the time, was a hub for folk artists. The movie follows the singer-songwriter as he finds a following and then becomes a real star.
It appears that the film ends with Dylan’s adoption of electric guitar in the mid-’60s. He shocked many with a live performance at the Newport Folk Festival that saw him ditching his worn acoustic sound for something bigger and bolder. While it was a controversy at the time, that decision has come to be known as one of the bravest and most important in rock music’s history.
The Dylan biopic is directed by James Mangold, and it’s something of a departure for him. His last several movies have all been action-packed, including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Ford v. Ferrari, and both Logan and The Wolverine. The screenplay was helmed by Mangold and celebrated screenwriter Jay Cocks, who adapted it from the book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald.
