Timothée Chalamet Still Wants To Play The World’s Best Songwriter

Timothée Chalamet says he's still attached to play Bob Dylan in the upcoming biopic Going Electric.

By Gareth Skarka | Published

In an interview with Variety, Timothée Chalamet said that the long-developing Bob Dylan biopic, Going Electric, is still happening. The Dune star confirmed that he’s still attached and has not stopped preparing in the two years since the film was announced as under development. Directed by Logan and Indiana Jones 5 helmer James Mangold, the project was set up at Fox Searchlight.

Little was revealed about the film itself, though it’s expected to follow Dylan’s rise to fame with the title referring to when the legendary musician switched from folk music to rock.

Timothee Chalamet admits that the project could still fall through, though he’s stayed prepared for it anyway, suggesting that things are now looking very good for Going Electric moving forward. From the interview: “Without giving anything away — because I don’t want to beat anyone to the punch, and obviously things have to come together officially — the winds that are blowing are blowing in a very positive direction.”

Playing a legendary, iconic star like Bob Dylan will be something new for Timothée Chalamet, but it will not be his first experience with music. Prior to his rise to fame, Chalamet used to rap while attending the famed LaGuardia High School in New York, using the name Lil Timmy Tim. An uncovered video of him rapping about statistics class while wearing a backwards baseball cap has been watched 10 million times on YouTube.

Chalamet has also been cast as a young Willy Wonka in Wonka, a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel, set to release in Christmas of 2023, which will feature several musical numbers including Chalamet singing and dancing. Chalamet trained hard for the musical, “That was something I was very excited to jump into right away,” he says. 

timothee chalamet
Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet in Bones and All (2022)

Timothée Chalamet’s current film is Bones and All, where Chalamet and Taylor Russell play Lee and Maren, teenage misfits in the 1980s, who find each other in a roadside convenience store as they’re both drifting across the Midwest. As they travel together, they feed on strangers they meet along the way. Luca Guadagnino directs the film with a screenplay from David Kajganich, based on the novel of the same name by Camille DeAngelis. 

Bones and All definitely appears to be headed for Oscar contention. It has already impressed at the Venice Film Festival, winning a Silver Lion for Best Direction. and it received a ten-minute standing ovation. The last time Luca Guadagnino and Timothee Chalamet teamed up, it was for the stunning love story Call Me By Your Name, which netted a Best Adapted Screenplay win, a Best Actor nomination for Chalamet, a Best Motion Picture nomination, and a nomination for Best Original Song. 

Bones and All also has Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on the score, and co-stars Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, and Jessica Harper

Dune: Part 2 is undoubtedly the most anticipated film on Timothée Chalamet’s dance card. Dune: Part 2 will pick up immediately after the first film and adapt the second half of the beloved Frank Herbert novel. Denis Villeneuve returns to direct and Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, and Stellan Skarsgard all return to reprise their roles.

Dune: Part 2 will also feature some new faces, with Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, Lea Seydoux, and Austin Butler all taking on major roles. We’ll get to see the sequel when it hits theaters on November 17, 2023.