On 05.30.23, I tackled “the elephant in the room” when it came to the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown”.
If you’re going to be making a film based on Bob Dylan’s life then you should probably hire a top-notch filmmaker to do it justice, no? So, and I really mean this sincerely, James Mangold? Really?
Don’t get me wrong, Mangold has made a few strong movies in his career, notably “Ford v Ferrari” and “Logan,” but I’m hesitant to believe that he’s the right man for the job here. What we’ll likely be getting from him is a safe, well-made film. Nothing more, nothing less. Is thar enough to do Dylan justice? I sure hope so.
Well, it turns out that Dylan actually approves of the film. Mangold revealed in Josh Horowitz’s Sad. Happy. Confused. podcast that Dylan even personally annotated the script for ‘A Complete Unknown’ and has been very supportive of the film:
I’ve spent several, wonderfully charming, days in Bob’s company. It was one on one talking to him. I have a script that’s personally annotated by him. He loves movies. The first time I sat down with Bob one of the first things he said to me was “I love Copland.”
Mangold goes on to say the film is almost “Altman-esque, an ensemble piece” that will involve a mosaic of artists such as Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash and Pete Seeger.
Last month, a publicist on the film told commented on the rumors of “A Complete Unknown” going to HULU, telling me “at this point we can only confirm that this is a Searchlight film, release plans will be determined at a later date”.
“A Complete Unknown” starts shooting this coming August in Montreal and New York, unless the writers/actors 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. 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.