Timothée Chalamet to Star as Bob Dylan in New Film Capturing the ‘Dylan Goes Electric’ Era

When casting an actor in a key role, it’s important to make the correct choice — and this week’s news that Timothée Chalamet has reportedly signed on to portray Bob Dylan in a new movie has built up some serious buzz around the project.

Announced on Monday, Searchlight Pictures is in agreement with director James Mangold to work on the film, which is expected to focus on Dylan’s legendary switch from folk music to a plugged-in, electric sound on 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home.

Via Deadline:

When Dylan instead embraced rock ‘n’ roll and traded his acoustic guitar for an amp and an electric guitar, it created a huge outcry. And it cemented the status of rock music. Jeff Rosen, his longtime manager, is working on Dylan’s behalf actively with Searchlight and Mangold on the film, which the studio said is untitled but has been referred to around town as Going Electric.

Chalamet’s name being attached to the project gives Going Electric a big part of its buzz, as the 24-year-old actor has made a name for himself in recent years in star-making turns in Call Me By Your Name and, currently, a role in Little Women.

Deadline adds that while it’s unclear whether Chalamet will sing in the film, he is said to be taking guitar lessons in preparation for the role as Bob Dylan.

This news comes at a great time for big Hollywood music biopics, what with the massive success of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman in recent months, not to mention Taron Egerton’s big Golden Globes win over the weekend for his role depicting Sir Elton John. There’s also one in the works about Elvis Presley, too.

Stay tuned …