‘A Complete Unknown' Update …

UPDATE: In regards to my original HULU piece, a publicist on the film is telling me that “at this point we can only confirm that this is a Searchlight film, release plans will be determined at a later date”.

EARLIER: “A Complete Unknown,” the Bob Dylan biopic from James Mangold, starts shooting this coming August in Montreal and New York, unless the writers strike impedes it.

The cast seems to be locked: Timothée Chalamet, Benedict Cumberbatch, Elle Fanning, Boyd Holbrook, and Monica Barbaro. Nick Offerman has also been offered the role of producer/musician Alan Lomax.

Daniel Richtman just posted the official sheet for “A Complete Unknown” and one particular detail strikes me as a bit odd. There’s the line “A Searchlight feature-length motion picture production intended for Hulu.”

Here’s the plot synopsis from that same source:

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN follows 19 year old Bob Dylan’s arrival to New York City in 1961 seeking to find his hero, an ailing Woody Guthrie. He is embraced by the New York folk scene (Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and others) who recognize his talent. He finds gigs in downtown clubs and soon becomes a sensation, under contract at Columbia Records. The film follows Dylan’s ascendance into a cultural phenomenon, his strong relationships in the folk music world and his ultimate transition away from folk music, forming a band, confusing his fans and disappointing the music community who first took him in.

The Woody Guthrie part is interesting. Of all the musical influences Dylan has had over the years, Guthrie was the essential one. Dylan did in fact end up meeting Guthrie on January 29, 1961, only five days after he arrived in New York from his hometown of Minnesota.

Guthrie could barely move or speak, let alone sing. Dylan played to his hero a new tune he had written called “Song to Woody”. It was met with the older man's approval and was eventually released on Dylan’s self-titled debut.

It’s one of the mythic stories in music history and I absolutely adore that it’ll be featured in “A Complete Unknown.”