The first trailer for James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown is here, with Dune star Timothée Chalamet taking center stage as Bob Dylan in the much-anticipated biopic.
The trailer sees Chalamet, who does his own singing for the role, get behind the mic to perform a rousing rendition of Bob Dylan’s 1960s classic ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.’ The spotlight is very much on the actor, as this is the first time fans are seeing footage of him as the singer, sporting one of his signature looks.
The official description 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 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 cast also features Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Dan Fogler as Albert Grossman, P.J. Byrne as Harold Leventhal, Norbert Leo Butz as Alan Lomax, Will Harrison as Bob Neuwirth and Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie.
Mangold is the latest director to take on Bob Dylan’s life story, following Todd Haynes’ 2007 biopic I’m Not There, in which six actors depicted different phases of the artist’s career. IGN’s review gave that musical drama film a 9/10, saying it is “a work of genuine brilliance” and one that is “as enigmatic as its subject.”
A Complete Unknown will premiere in the U.S. in December 2024 and in the United Kingdom and Ireland in January 2025.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.