Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” opens December 25th

Timothée Chalamet's highly anticipated role as young Bob Dylan in the upcoming biopic A complete unknown gets an A-list release date. Searchlight Pictures announced Tuesday (August 6) that the anticipated film from director James Mangold (Logan) will be released in theaters on December 25th.

This Christmas release date falls right in the middle of what is known as Oscar bait season, when a number of prestige films considered Oscar-worthy are released in theaters across the country, with the hope that any excitement or box office boom will spill over into the Oscar nominations when they are announced on January 17, 2025.

The film shows the dune Star, who sings Dylan's songs in a story set in New York in the early 1960s, when, according to a description of the screenplay by Mangold and Jay Cocks (Criminal organizations of New York), “an enigmatic 19-year-old from Minnesota arrives in the West Village with his guitar and his revolutionary talent, intent on changing the course of American music.”

It continues: “As he forges his closest relationships on his road to fame, he becomes uneasy with the folk movement and, unable to define himself, makes a controversial decision that reverberates culturally around the world.” In addition to Chalemet as Dylan, the film stars Edward Norton as folk legend Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Dylan's early muse and friend Sylvie Russo, Monica Barbaro as fellow folk artist Joan Baez and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash.

Oscar-nominated Chalemet earned early praise for his portrayal of the mysterious folk-rock icon in the first trailer, which dropped in late July. In it, he sings Dylan's “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall” in the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's signature nasal voice and visits some of the singer's favorite New York haunts, including Cafe Wha? and Gerde's Folk City.

Watch the trailer for A complete unknown below.