The success of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman has lit the touchpaper for studios to announce whatever musical biopics they can rush into pre-production. So while we impatiently wait for the day that the MC Hammer movie is announced, Deadline is reporting that another musical icon is to be given the big-screen treatment in the form of wunderkind actor Timothée Chalamet, who’s set to play Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s untitled film.
It’s little surprise that Chalamet would be interested in the role too, with Rami Malek winning an Oscar for the much maligned Queen biopic, and Taron Egerton currently doing the award’s rounds for his Elton John performance, it appears that playing a rock God is a fast track to the Kodak Theatre stage.
Deadline says that Dylan is working closely with James Mangold and Fox Searchlight on the film, which is rumoured to have the working title of Going Electric, referring to the period of his career in which he swapped the acoustic guitar for an amp and electric guitar, which apparently caused a bit of a stir. On which, it’s rumoured that Chalamet is taking guitar lessons so that he can fully immerse himself in the role.
Mangold’s Le Mans ’66 aka Ford v Ferrari has just crossed the $100 million mark in the US, and this will be his second musical biopic after the hugely successful Walk the Line. He has performed a rewrite on a script originally penned by Gangs of New York‘s Jay Cocks.
Chalamet feels like the perfect fit for a young Dylan, but is the folk star someone who strikes a chord or excitement or a bum-note when it comes to a potential big-screen outing? Please let us know what you think using the comments section below, or head over to our Twitter page to continue the discussion…
