I don’t know if this is such a good idea.
As briefly mentioned a few days ago, Timothée Chalamet is set to do his own singing as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s biopic “A Complete Unknown.”
Chalamet has also reportedly hired vocal coach Eric Vetro for the film. Vetro recently trained Austin Butler for “Elvis’.” At least he did a good job with that one. I’m not so sure I want Chalamet nasally singing Dylan songs.
Chalamet can pull off the Dylan look. That’s a given. But replicating that iconic Dylan voice? It’s a whole other story. I just cringe thinking about the possibility of Chalamet singing “Like A Rolling Stone” or “Visions of Johanna.”
Mangold recently confirmed that production on “A Complete Unknown” will begin this August in New York City. It’s a long-gestation passion project of his that has been ruminating in the woodworks for a few years now.
In fact, even Mangold being part of this project has me worried. Dylan was an unpredictable artist who couldn’t really be pinpointed down by anyone. He kept shape-shifting, like a chameleon, in every interview he gave. He wasn’t a straight-shooter like Johnny Cash, for which Mangold directed a biopic of in 2005 (“I Walk the Line”).
I’d rather have a more adventurous filmmaker tackling Dylan’s story, but it seems as though we’ll have to settle with Mangold, who is also working on ‘Star Wars’ and DC’s ‘Swamp Thing’ — not to mention his ‘Indiana Jones 5’ being released this summer.
“A Complete Unknown” is said to take place during the singer’s beginnings in the 1960 folk scene in New York City’s Greenwich Village up until Dylan’s 1966 motorcycle crash. A 6-year stretch that had the musician quite literally changing the world with his lyrics.