The people behind Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown are planning a Syd Barrett movie

27 Dec 2024, 12:15 · louder

By Classic Rock
published 27 December 2024

Could Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett and The Mamas & The Papa’s Cass Elliot be getting the big screen treatment?

(Image credit: Gotham/GC Images/Gems/Redferns)

One of the people behind the brand new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown is working on a movie about Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett.

Speaking on the podcast The Town With Matthew Belloni, producer Peter Jaysen – whose company, Veritas Entertainment, was involved in securing the rights to Dylan’s musical archive and life story for the film – revealed that both Barrett and late The Mamas & The Papas singer Cass Elliot are in line for the big screen treatment.

“Due to our involvement with Bob doing A Complete Unknown, we’ve been fortunate enough that right now we’re working on, with Wash Westmoreland, the great writer-director, a Syd Barrett movie, one of the founders of Pink Floyd.

Jaysen added: “We have had multiple Zooms with the estate of Mama Cass Elliot and met with her daughter, Owen, and are close to acquiring the rights to her book, My Mama Cass.”

While he didn’t give specific details or release dates for either project, both Barrett and Elliott would be ripe for the biopic treatment. Barrett founded Pink Floyd 1965, before drug and mental health issues forced him to leave the band and eventually live out of the spotlight in Cambridge until his death in 2006. Elliot, aka Mama Cass, rose to fame as one quarter of The Mamas & The Papas, but died in 1974 at the age of 32.

A Complete Unknown opened in the US on Christmas Day to positive reviews, with star Timothée Chalamet reportedly in contention for an Oscar for his portrayal of Dylan. Chalamet apparently spent five years training himself to sing like Dylan for the movie.

The real Dylan has given the movie his blessing, posting on X: "There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!). Timothee Chalamet is starring in the lead role. Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me. The film’s taken from Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric – a book that came out in 2015. It’s a fantastic retelling of events from the early ‘60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport. After you’ve seen the movie read the book."

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A Complete Unknown is just one of several music biopics to arrive in the next couple of years, including Bruce Springsteen movie Deliver Me, which stars The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen and focuses on the making of his 1982 album Nebraska, and Sam Mendes’ untitled four-part biopic of The Beatles, with a separate movie dedicated to each member.

A Complete Unknown is in US cinemas now. It opens in the UK on January 17.

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN | Final Trailer | Searchlight Pictures - YouTube

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Classic Rock is the online home of the world's best rock'n'roll magazine. We bring you breaking news, exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes features, as well as unrivalled access to the biggest names in rock music; from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple, Guns N’ Roses to the Rolling Stones, AC/DC to the Sex Pistols, and everything in between. Our expert writers bring you the very best on established and emerging bands plus everything you need to know about the mightiest new music releases.

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