Bob Dylan Goes Electric in New Trailer for ‘A Complete Unknown,’ Plus First Look at Johnny Cash, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and More
Three months after the initial trailer shocked folk fans everywhere, Searchlight Pictures has released a new full-length trailer for A Complete Unknown, the forthcoming Bob Dylan biopic staring Timothée Chalamet. Today’s extended preview teases the broader themes of the film, expanding the orbit around the folk star with first looks at the actors portraying Dylan’s contemporaries from the ‘60s Greenwich Village scene and plotting milestones in his storied career.
In an interview with IndieWire, director James Mangold (who also helmed Ford v. Ferrari, Cop Land and Walk the Line) spoke to the scope of the highly-anticipated film, sharing, “The reason Bob has been so supportive of us making it, is it’s about […] a very specific moment. In this case, it might sound Altman-esque, but it’s a kind of ensemble piece about this moment in time, the early ’60s in New York, and this 17-year-old kid with $16 in his pockets hitchhikes his way to New York to meet Woody Guthrie who is in the hospital and is dying of a nerve disease.”
Beyond a deeper view of Chalamet’s Dylan, the trailer also reveals some members of the broader ensemble, including Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash and Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, filling the role originally held by Benedict Cumberbatch. The landscape will be filled out with further folk legends not yet seen on camera, such as Nick Offerman’s portrayal of Alan Lomax and Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie.
A Complete Unknown was originally titled as Going Electric, and to that end the new trailer focuses heavily on the air of controversy around Dylan’s decision to embrace his new sound with The Band at 1965’s unforgettable Newport Folk Festival. The film will reportedly trace his origins through this pivotal moment, with a thematic fixation on the “upheaval in the folk community” that followed Dylan’s rise to fame.
A Complete Unknown will be released on Christmas, with no prior preview screenings planned. Watch the new trailer for the biopic below.
