Timothée Chalamet says he wants Austin Butler’s Elvis to appear in the Bob Dylan biopic he’s starring in.
Speaking with NME, Butler said he “can’t wait” to see Chalamet play Dylan in the new biopic, A Complete Unknown, that’s being directed by Logan’s James Mangold.
“I wish you were in it!” Chalamet responded. “There’s an Elvis character in the Johnny Cash biopic [Walk The Line]. It’s really brief, it’s very brief, but I was kind of wishing we could create a musical cinematic universe.”
Butler played The King of Rock and Roll in the 2022 Elvis biopic, which was directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Butler’s performance was nominated for Best Actor at the 95th Academy Awards, while the movie also starred Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Kelvin Harrision Jr., and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
What do we know about A Complete Unknown?
Production on A Complete Unknown is expected to begin this summer after filming was delayed in 2023 because of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike. Benedict Cumberbatch was initially going to star in the movie alongside Chalamet; however, he departed the film in January 2024 and was replaced by Edward Norton.
Chalamet has been attached to play Dylan in A Complete Unknown since 2020. The screenplay for the movie was written by Jay Cocks.
Speaking with GQ Magazine in October 2023, Chalamet said, “I’ve basically been working with [Butler’s] entire Elvis team for my Dylan prep. There’s a wonderful dialect coach named Tim Monich. Vocal coach named Eric Vetro. Movement coach named Polly Bennett. I just saw the way he committed to it all, and realized I needed to step it up.”
A release date for A Complete Unknown has not yet been set. Chalamet and Butler, meanwhile, both star in Dune: Part Two, which is currently playing in United States theaters.
