Production is under way on James Mangold’s Bob Dylan film, now called A Complete Unknown, with photos from the set showing lead actor Timothée Chalamet getting into character. The images of Chalamet in a ratty getup, carrying a battered guitar case, circulated on social media ahead of the official first-look images that usually come later. Pitchfork has emailed Searchlight Pictures representatives for more info; in the meantime, check out the images on X and at People.
The Dylan-approved film, originally called Going Electric, reportedly documents Dylan’s early years in New York and includes portrayals of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Joan Baez, as well as the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where Dylan “went electric.” Chalamet will do his own singing, as Mangold revealed last year, adding that the film is “not really a Bob Dylan biopic.” In an interview with GQ last year, Chalamet said he had been working with Austin Butler’s Elvis team to capture Dylan’s voice and movement. “I just saw the way he committed to it all,” he said of Butler, “and realized I needed to step it up.”
Other stars include Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Nick Offerman as Alan Lomax, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, and Edward Norton as Pete Seeger. Mangold’s last film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, came out last June.