Fans react to new Bob Dylan biopic trailer: “Timmy is coming for his Oscar”

24 July, 2024

Edward Norton and Timothée Chalamet

Fans have reacted to the new trailer for the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown – see what they had to say below.

The film does not have an official release date yet but is speculated to come out in the US in December and in the UK in January.

It stars Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, Elle Fanning as his girlfriend, Sylvie Russo, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, and Edward Norton as folk music legend Pete Seeger.

The new trailer sees Chalamet as Bob Dylan on stage, navigating the streets of New York, riding his motorbike, being swarmed by fans, and singing the classic ‘A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall’.

A synopsis of the Bob Dylan biopic reads: “Set in the influential New York music scene of the early 60s, A Complete Unknown follows 19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan’s (Timothée Chalamet) meteoric rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts – his songs and mystique becoming a worldwide sensation – culminating in his groundbreaking electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.” 

A Complete Unknown comes from film-maker James Mangold, who previously directed the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.

Fans have been reacting to A Complete Unknown’s trailer on Twitter, with some claiming that the release of this film might shake up the Oscars next year.

One user said: “This movie will drop in December. I hope it’ll be recognized for the Oscars. This movie right here from what we have seen is amazing. I am so here for this!”

Yet, others were critical of Chalamet’s acting skills. One user said: “I am never going to see this as anything but Timothee Chalamet doing Bob Dylan cosplay.”

Some were nonplussed by his singing as Dyland, while others branded it as “perfect” as “spot on”.

They wrote further down the thread: “Sometimes I will watch an actor playing a famous person and think that they transcended the part, actually became that person for the film, like Elvis. All I see here is Timothee Chalamet acting, if that makes sense.”

Others are hopeful that Mangold’s experience of making biopics will help out this film. One user said: “James Mangold’s no stranger to music biopics so this should be great.”

 

 

The Bob Dylan biopic only started filming in the spring of this year, and production was wrapped up in early July.

Originally, the role of Seeger was meant to be played by Benedict Cumberbatch. According to a Deadline Hollywood report, Cumberbatch left the project over scheduling conflicts. Edward Norton was then tapped to play Seeger.

Chalamet was announced to be Bob Dylan in 2020 – but it was confirmed by Mangold that Chalamet will sing in A Complete Unknown, with the Little Women actor having showcased his vocal abilities in Wonka. 

Last year the actor said he has heard a wealth of unreleased Bob Dylan music in preparation to play the iconic artist. As part of training to sing as Bob Dylan in the biopic, Chalamet worked with the team that assisted Austin Butler for Elvis.

In a recent interview with NME alongside his Dune: Part Two co-star Butler, Chalamet said he would have liked Butler’s version of Elvis Presley, to appear in A Complete Unknown.

“I wish you were in it,” Chalamet said to Butler during the interview. “I was wishing to create a sort of musical cinematic universe.”

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