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Hollywood is having a music biopic moment. In the last five years, we've seen various musical artists get the biopic treatment in movies, such as Elvis, Bob Marley: One Love, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and Back to Black.
There's also plenty more on the horizon with upcoming biopics chronicling the careers of artists such as Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Madonna, The Bee Gees, and Robbie Williams.
Easily one of the most anticipated movies on the ever-expanding slate of musical biopics is A Complete Unknown starring Academy Award nominee Timothée Chalamet as the iconic singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.
9 Is There a Release Date for 'A Complete Unknown'?
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A Complete Unknown will be released on Christmas Day 2025. Christmas and the weeks leading up to it have always been a crowded time for film, and this year will be no different. Movies opening on the same day as A Complete Unknown include Robert Eggers' Nosferatu, the Nicole Kidman-led erotic thriller Babygirl, and the Barry Jenkins-penned sports biopic The Fire Inside.
8 Will 'A Complete Unknown' Be in Theaters?
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Yes, A Complete Unknown will receive an exclusive theatrical release when it premieres in December. While there were rumors that the biopic would receive a direct-to-Hulu release, those claims turned out to be unfounded. However, the biopic will eventually be made available on the streaming service at some point in early 2025.
7 What Is 'A Complete Unknown' Rated?
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A Complete Unknown has been rated "R for language" by the MPA. While many musical biopics have aimed for a PG-13 rating, such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Elvis, there have also been quite a few that have also received an R-rating, including Rocketman and Straight Outta Compton.
6 How Long Is 'A Complete Unknown'?
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A Complete Unknown has a runtime of 141 minutes (or 2 hours and 21 minutes).
5 Is There a Trailer for 'A Complete Unknown'?
Searchlight Pictures released the first teaser trailer for A Complete Unknown on July 24, 2024. The trailer begins with Pete Seeger introducing Bob Dylan on stage who begins to perform "A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall." The trailer then cuts to a montage showing Dylan's relationships with Suze Rotolo (renamed in the film to Sylvie Russo) and Joan Baez. The trailer ends with the melody to "Like a Rolling Stone."
The full trailer for A Complete Unknown was released by Searchlight Pictures on October 8, 2024. The trailer begins with Dylan meeting Sylvie Russo, as "Girl from the North Country" plays in the background. The trailer then shows Dylan's rise to fame and his ensuing romantic affair and partnership with Joan Baez. The last portion of the trailer is set to "Like a Rolling Stone," showing Dylan's pivot to playing the electric guitar and the turmoil this decision created within the music industry.
4 Who Stars in 'A Complete Unknown'?
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Timothée Chalamet |
Bob Dylan |
|
Edward Norton |
Pete Seeger |
|
Elle Fanning |
Sylvie Russo |
|
Monica Barbaro |
Joan Baez |
|
Boyd Holbrook |
Johnny Cash |
|
Scoot McNairy |
Woody Guthrie |
|
Dan Fogler |
Albert Grossman |
|
Norbert Leo Butz |
Alan Lomax |
|
Eriko Hatsune |
Toshi Seeger |
|
Big Bill Morganfield |
Jesse Moffette |
|
Will Harrison |
Bob Neuwirth |
|
Charlie Tahan |
Al Kooper |
|
P.J. Byrne |
Harold Leventhal |
|
Michael Chernus |
Dave Van Ronk |
|
Eli Brown |
Mike Bloomfield |
|
Ryan Harris Brown |
Mark Spoelstra |
Academy Award nominee Timothèe Chalamet stars as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Chalamet has been attached to the project since January 2020, and since then his stardom has only grown stronger. After receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Call Me By Your Name, Chalamet has starred in plenty of high-profile movies, including Lady Bird, Little Women, Don't Look Up, Bones & All, The French Dispatch, Beautiful Boy, and The King. Perhaps his two most popular roles are playing Paul Atreides in both of Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies and starring in the titular role in Paul King's Wonka.
Academy Award nominee Edward Norton will also star in the biopic as Pete Seeger, a folk musician who helped mold Dylan into the incredible artist he became. Norton worked in the industry for the past three decades with plenty of credits to his name, including Fight Club, Primal Fear, American History X, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Incredible Hulk, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Moonrise Kingdom, and The People vs. Larry Flynt. Fellow Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch was previously cast in the role but left due to scheduling conflicts.
The movie will also star Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, a character who is based on Dylan's former partner, Suze Rotolo. Fanning is best known for her role as Catherine in the hit Hulu show The Great. Other notable projects Fanning has starred in include the Maleficent movies, Super 8, Somewhere, The Girl from Plainville, and 20th Century Women. She also previously worked with Chalamet in the controversial film A Rainy Day in New York.
Rounding out the main quartet of actors is Monica Barbaro as folk music artist Joan Baez, another love interest in Dylan's life. Barbaro got her start playing Assistant State's Attorney Anna Valdez in Chicago P.D. and Chicago Justice, as well as playing Cora Vasquez in the short-lived Netflix series The Good Cop. However, her role as Phoenix in the 2022 mega blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, propelled her career to new levels. She currently stars alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Netflix action-comedy series FUBAR.
Filling out the ensemble for A Complete Unknown is Boyd Holbrook (Logan) as Johnny Cash, Norbert Leo Butz (Bloodline) as Alan Lomax, Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Albert Grossman, Scoot McNairy (Speak No Evil) as Woody Guthrie, P.J. Byrne (The Boys) as Harold Leventhal, Will Harrison (Daisy Jones & the Six) as Bob Neuwirth, Eriko Hatsune (Emperor) as Toshi Seeger, and Charlie Tahan (Ozark) as Al Kooper.
3 What Is 'A Complete Unknown' About?
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The official synopsis for A Complete Unknown from Searchlight Pictures reads:
New York, early 1960s. Against the backdrop of a vibrant music scene and tumultuous cultural upheaval, an enigmatic 19-year-old from Minnesota arrives in the West Village with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music. As he forms his most intimate relationships during his rise to fame, he grows restless with the folk movement and, refusing to be defined, makes a controversial choice that culturally reverberates worldwide. Timothée Chalamet stars and sings as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, the electric true story behind the rise of one of the most iconic singer-songwriters in history.
The film will center around Bob Dylan's big break into the music industry as a folk artist who took the risk of playing electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Chalamet says he will do his own singing in the film, which he also took on in Wonka.
The other known characters in the film hint at other possible plot scenarios. Norton's role as Pete Seeger points to a possible storyline that explores Seeger's friendship with Dylan, or possibly Seeger's alleged disapproval of Dylan's electric set at the folk festival. The presence of Holbrook as Johnny Cash is another great character in the life of Bob Dylan, as the two met in 1964 and continued their correspondence for decades afterward. They even once collaborated on a song, "Girl From the North Country," a classic that continues to find new life and audiences today and was featured in the Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook. Including Fanning and Barbaro's characters in the movie suggests several possible love interest plot lines for the film. If Fanning's Sylvie Russo is really paying homage to Suze Rotolo, we can expect some love and loss, as she dated Dylan from 1961 to 1964, right before his big break. While Rotolo went on to marry someone else, her relationship with the folk musician is forever cemented in the cover of his hit album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
2 Who Is Making 'A Complete Unknown'?
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As previously mentioned, the film is being directed by the masterful James Mangold, who is no stranger to directing music-centered projects. He wrote and directed the 2005 film, Walk The Line, centered around the life of Johnny Cash. The film led to Reese Witherspoon winning an Academy Award for her portrayal of Cash's wife, June. Like Walk the Line, Mangold's projects have a habit of being Oscar-worthy, as he's also directed Girl, Interrupted, 3:10 to Yuma, Logan, and Ford v, Ferrari, all of which were nominated or won their own Oscars.
Mangold is also listed as a producer on the film, alongside Fred Berger (La La Land), Alex Heineman (Non-Stop), Peter Jaysen (The Mosquito Coast), Bob Bookman (The Mosquito Coast), Alan Gasmer (Vikings), and Jeff Rosen. Chalamet is also a producer on the movie, marking his second time with the credit after Bones & All.
Writing the film alongside Mangold is Jay Cocks, whose credits include the screenplay for Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. Francois Audouy serves as the production designer on the film and has worked closely with Mangold in the past on movies like Logan and Ford v. Ferrari. His other credits include hits like Jurassic World, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and most recently, the Ben Affleck-directed Nike flick, Air.
1 When Did 'A Complete Unknown' Film?
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Back in April 2023, Mangold told Collider that filming for A Complete Unknown was set to commence in August 2023. However, with the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, filming was delayed indefinitely.
Production on the biopic finally kicked off in March 2024, and an array of set photos made their way online showing Chalamet in character as Dylan.
Mangold confirmed that the production had started a few days later, tweeting his own images from the set.
Production on A Complete Unknown finally wrapped in early July 2024, and the teaser trailer was released a mere few weeks later.
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A Complete Unknown
A Complete Unknown: Set in the vibrant New York music scene of the early 1960s, the film follows the journey of 19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan. It captures his rapid ascent from a budding folk singer to a prominent figure in concert halls and on the charts, highlighting his impact on the music world.
Release Date December 25, 2024
Main Genre Biography
Studio(s) Searchlight Pictures , The Picture Company , Automatik Entertainment
Distributor(s) Searchlight Pictures
Character(s) Bob Dylan , Pete Seeger , Sylvie Russo , Joan Baez , Alan Lomax , Johnny Cash , Harold Levanthal , Woody Guthrie , Albert Grossman , Bob Neuwirth , Al Kooper , Stage Manager
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English (US) ·