Timothée Chalamet is reportedly in line to play Bob Dylan in a new biopic about the 60s folk legend’s life. James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari and the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic, Walk The Line) will direct the film, which will focus on Dylan’s early life as he slowly rises to fame and acclaim in the mid-20th century.
The biopic doesn’t have a title yet, but is being produced at Fox Searchlight. Although now owned by Disney, the indie-leaning arm of Fox is the kind of place where the Mouse House can make films a little out of their wheelhouse and not worry as much about hurting the Disney “brand”. No other details regarding the film are available yet.
This is obviously a huge coup for Chalamet, who continues his impressive climb up the movie star ladder. After breaking out a few years ago, he’s taken a bunch of interesting projects, including David Michod‘s The King and Greta Gerwig‘s Little Women in 2019, with roles in Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune and Wes Anderson‘s The French Dispatch lined up. There’s also a Call Me By Your Name sequel in development.
Playing a figure as iconic as Dylan can be tricky when they’re such a footprint on pop culture history. Todd Haynes‘ unusual 2007 quasi-biopic I’m Not There did arguably the best job of bringing the allure of Dylan to the screen, as he was played by multiple actors portraying him across different generations, nicely capturing the chameleon-like effect of the folk legend.
Although we don’t know much yet, this biopic sounds like it will be a lot more straight forward than that. As mentioned, Mangold directed Walk The Line in 2005, so he’s got some experience in bringing the lives of legendary singers to the big screen.
For those wanting to hear Chalamet sing, this is good news. For those also wanting him to get an Oscar, this is even better news, as we know how much the Academy loves biopics.
#Peace.Love.BobDylan
