Is Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan Biopic With Director James Mangold Still Happening?
Unless you've been living off the grid for the last couple of years, you've no doubt heard of Timothée Chalamet. The young actor who skyrocketed to fangirl levels of fame (seriously, just check out the Venice premiere for his latest film, "Bones and All" for proof) after starring in director Luca Guadagnino's "Call Me by Your Name" is definitely on his way to becoming a household name. He is one of the youngest people to ever be nominated in the Best Actor category at the Academy Awards — an honor he received for his portrayal of the precocious Elio (Elio, Elio, Elio ... ) in the aforementioned "Call Me by Your Name" — and he's since taken on roles in some of the biggest films to come out in the last few years.
Next year, Chalamet is set to reprise his role as Paul Atreides in "Dune: Part 2," as well as take on the role of a young Willy Wonka in Paul King's aptly titled "Wonka." This year sees only one Chalamet release — Gudadagnino's "Bones and All" — but the actor is seemingly never short on projects. There are, however, a few films that have gotten put on the back burner. The first is the possibility of a potential sequel to "Call Me by Your Name," a project that got sidelined after Armie Hammer, who stars in the film alongside Chalamet, became the subject of horrific sexual assault allegations early last year. The second is a film directed by James Mangold about everyone's favorite folk music muse, Bob Dylan, who Chalamet was set to portray.
While fans of "Call Me by Your Name" may never get a film continuation of Elio and Oliver's love story (though there is a book sequel), according to Chalamet, the Dylan film just might be ready to step back into the spotlight.
Times are a-changin'
At the start of 2020, director James Mangold, who is known for his work on films like "Ford vs. Ferrari" and "Walk the Line," was set to take on the story of how Bob Dylan made the polarizing transition from folk music to rock and roll. The film was tentatively titled, "Going Electric," and Chalamet had been cast in the Bob Dylan role. The project still has not come to fruition, but those who were really hoping to see this story hit the big screen may be in luck.
In a recent interview with Variety, Chalamet touched on the status of the project, saying, "I haven't stopped preparing, which has been one of the greatest gifts for me." Fans of Timmy T may remember that part of his prep for taking on the role of Dylan was getting to spend some time in Woodstock by himself at a local Airbnb a few years ago. He touched on his time there in a cover story for GQ, and from what it sounds like, he doesn't regret his research one bit. He tells Variety:
"It's been a wonderful experience getting to dive into that world, whether we get to make it or not. But without giving anything away — because I don't want to beat anyone to the punch, and obviously things have to come together officially — the winds that are blowing are blowing in a very positive direction."
His clever coyness at the end there seems to suggest that fans of Chalamet and Dylan can expect to finally get the movie of their collective dreams sometime in the near future, though nothing has been officially set in stone. Regardless, it seems like the times might just be a-changin' for the better in terms of the fate of this musical movie.