The Classic Rock Cinematic Universe is getting a new member, and the casting choice is nothing short of perfect. On Monday evening, Deadline reported that Timothée Chalamet is set to take on the role of Bob Dylan in an upcoming biopic, currently titled Going Electric. The film is still in early stages, but it comes at a time when legacy music biopics are a hot award season trend (not unlike young Chalamet himself, to be fair).
The Dylan-centric film is set to be directed by James Mangold, whose most recent project, Ford v Ferrari, has scored some key nominations (three at the Baftas, plus a Golden Globe nod for Christian Bale). Chalamet is continuing his hot streak, landing Going Electric after a colossal couple of years. In 2020 alone, he’ll also star in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, as well as Denis Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated adaptation of Dune.
But back to this Classic Rock Cinematic Universe – Chalamet will join the ever-growing list of leading men who've fronted rock biopics. Considering that Rami Malek’s turn as Freddie Mercury landed him an Oscar, and Taron Egerton’s Elton John performance locked in a Golden Globe, the biopic treatment is now a more popular route to silverwear than ever. Austin Butler is slated to star in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis film due out in 2021, so that music biopic train shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
Going Electric will follow Dylan through his seismic transition from folk music hero to the controversial moment when walked on stage and plugged in a Fender Stratocaster at Newport Folk Festival in 1965. It was perhaps the most divisive moment of his career (and in music as a whole), with his new electric sound alienating a swathe of his folk music fans. The New York Times reported at the time that Dylan “was roundly booed by folk-song purists, who considered this innovation the worst sort of heresy.” There were even rumours that the audience tried to cut the sound to the stage. It's unclear at this point if Chalamet will do his own singing, but there are reports that the young actor is learning to play the guitar.
Perhaps most surprising, though, is that the famously media-shy Bob Dylan has given the film his full blessing. Dylan will serve as an executive producer on the film, which likely won’t see a release until 2021 at the absolute earliest – especially considering Chalamet’s busy schedule. But until then, just imagine what Chalamet’s version of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” could sound like.
Justin Kirkland is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers culture, food, and the South. Along with Esquire, his work has appeared in NYLON, Vulture, and USA Today.
