Timothee Chalamet-starrer Bob Dylan biopic not happening right now, says cinematographer

Oscar nominated cinematographer Phedon Papamichael has said production on the biopic of Bob Dylan, starring Timothee Chalamet as the legendary musician, is currently not on the cards in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Director James Mangold is set to direct the untitled musical biopic which will chart the Nobel Prize winner's switch from folk to rock music.

Asked about the Dylan movie, Papamichael told Collider, "Not right now. I don't think it's dead, but it's a tough one to pull off in a COVID-era because it's all in small clubs with lots of extras in period costumes, so you've got lots of hair and makeup. So our next project is 'Indiana Jones 5', actually. Mangold’s doing that." 

The director of photography previously worked with Mangold on the 2019 sports drama "Ford v Ferrari" . His recently released project is the Netflix legal period drama "The Trial of the Chicago 7". Talking about working on these two films, Papamichael said the biopic would have been his third consecutive film set in the 1960s. 

"They're both '60s movies. I can't remember what I did before this. Oh, we were going to do Bob Dylan with Mangold. That didn't happen, with Timothee Chalamet about going electric in the '60's, and it would have been my third '60's movie in a row," he said.

"Ford v Ferrari" revolves around the feud between Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari as they both competed to win Le Mans World Championship in France in 1966. "The Trial of the Chicago 7", written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, is based on the infamous 1969 trial of seven men charged by the federal government with conspiracy, arising from the counterculture protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

The trial transfixed the nation and sparked a conversation intended to undermine the US government.