'A Complete Unknown': Cast, Plot, and Everything We Know About the Timothée Chalamet-led Bob Dylan Biopic (2024)

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.

Editor's Note: This piece was updated on July 24, 2024.

7 Is There a Release Date for 'A Complete Unknown'?

A Complete Unknown will be released in December 2024, although a specific date has not yet been disclosed. The movie will be competing against a pretty crowded holiday slate which also includes Barry Jenkins' Mufasa: The Lion King, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Robert Eggers' Nosferatu, and Nightbitch starring Amy Adams.

6 Will 'A Complete Unknown' Be in Theaters?

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.

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."

4 Who Stars in 'A Complete Unknown'?

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 (Halt and Catch Fire) 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?

The official synopsis for A Complete Unknown from Searchlight Pictures 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.

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'?

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 co*cks, 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 Will 'A Complete Unknown' Film?

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.

Movies Like 'A Complete Unknown' You Can Watch Right Now

Walk the Line (2005) - If you want to check out director James Mangold's style before A Complete Unknown is released, check out the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line, which Mangold also directed. Joaquin Phoenix was met with critical acclaim for playing Johnny Cash, and Witherspoon nabbed an Oscar for playing Cash's wife June. Like Elvis, the movie follows the younger Cash up until his rise to fame and the ups and downs that notoriety brought into his life.

Walk The Line (2005)

PG-13

Biography

Documentary

Drama

Romance

Director

James Mangold

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix , Reese Witherspoon , Ginnifer Goodwin , Robert Patrick , Dallas Roberts , Dan John Miller

Main Genre

Biography

Writers

Johnny Cash , Patrick Carr , Gill Dennis , James Mangold

Release Date

September 13, 2005

Runtime

136

Tagline

Love is a burning thing.

Watch on Hulu

Elvis (2022) - With eight Oscar nominations and an all-star cast (we're looking at you, Tom Hanks), Elvis took over the box office when it premiered in 2022. The film follows Elvis's childhood through his rise to fame in the 1950s and the complicated relationship he had with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (played by Hanks). The film was directed by auteur Baz Luhrmann, whose other hits include 2013's The Great Gatsby and 2001's Moulin Rouge!

Elvis

PG-13

Biography

Musical

Drama

Director

Baz Luhrmann

Cast

Tom Hanks , Austin Butler , Olivia DeJonge , Helen Thomson

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

Baz Luhrmann , Sam Bromell , Craig Pearce

Release Date

June 24, 2022

Runtime

159 minutes

Rent on Prime Video

Rocketman (2019) - For something a bit more fantastical, try the Elton John-centered Rocketman, a dreamy trip through the piano man's career. While the imaginative nature of the film is different from that of Elvis and Walk the Line, Rocketman still packs a punch all its own. Like Chalamet did for A Complete Unknown, the film's star, Taron Egerton, did his own singing as Elton John. The film, which was executive produced by Elton John, was a box office hit and is a great look into the mind and music of one of the best musicians in the world.

Rocketman

R

Biography

Drama

Music

Director

Dexter Fletcher

Cast

Bryce Dallas Howard , Tate Donovan , Jamie Bell , Gemma Jones , Charlie Rowe , Stephen Graham , Jess Radomska , Taron Egerton , Richard Madden

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

Lee Hall

Release Date

May 31, 2019

Runtime

121 Minutes

Studio

Focus Features

Tagline

Based on a True Fantasy

Budget

$40 Million

Studio(s)

Paramount Pictures

Distributor(s)

Paramount Pictures

Watch on Paramount+