Yes, Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan biopic is still happening, probably

Sure, society may be collapsing, but Timothée Chalamet is one of the most in-demand young actors working today. The 26-year-old has the range to play Dune hero Paul Atreides, a cannibal, and, uh, a singing and dancing Willy Wonka. Following his Oscar nomination for 2017's Call Me By Your Name, Chalamet has maintained quite a packed schedule, but if you’ve been waiting for his long-gestating Bob Dylan biopic, you’ll have to be a little more patient. In a new interview with Variety, the actor says that Going Electric is still in the works.

“I haven’t stopped preparing, which has been one of the greatest gifts for me,” Chalamet says. “It’s been a wonderful experience getting to dive into that world, whether we get to make it or not. But 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.”

As previously reported by GQ, Chalamet already spent the summer of 2020 deep in research for the role and asked Inside Llewyn Davis co-director Joel Coen for tips even earlier than that. Going Electric was publicly confirmed in January 2020. Besides the presumed pandemic delays and Chalamet’s busy schedule, director James Mangold has been wrapping up the fifth installment in the Indiana Jones series, to be released next year.

While Mangold has been known in recent years for projects like Logan and Ford V Ferrari, Going Electric won’t be his first time directing a musician biopic. He previously directed the Johnny Cash film Walk The Line, which netted Reese Witherspoon an Oscar for her performance as June Carter.