The Todd Haynes “biopic” on Bob Dylan, with a working title of “I’m Not There,” and talked about for something approaching two years now, is going ahead, with filming possibly to start this summer, according to Production Weekly.

The concept behind the film all along has apparently been to tell Dylan’s life story by using a variety of different actors, including actors of different sexes and races, each personifying a different aspect of the multi-faceted singer, songwriter and lingerie ad model.

At various times, press stories have reported that everyone from Beyonce Knowles to Oprah Winfrey was going to be playing a different “Bob Dylan” in this film. The bizarre names being floated were certainly good for some ink, and perhaps that strategy continues, with Production Weekly now reporting that the cast will include Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell, Richard Gere, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and “Haynes regular Julianne Moore.” Filming is supposedly to take place later this year in (appropriately enough, I think) Romania.

Odd thing is, previous reports have always indicated that Dylan would be portrayed by a black actor (or actress, if that word is still permissible) at some stage of the film. Something about conveying his “inner blackness.” Indeed, when I took note of a previous press report on this movie in a post back in March of last year the idea was supposedly to use all black actors.

Yet, unless I’m mistaken, the above list from Production Weekly is very pale indeed, even including more than one red-head, I believe (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).

So what’s going on? A big white-wash on the Todd Haynes biopic? Did Beyonce have too much trouble playing the harmonica?

Well, it may be amusing to contemplate all this, but as alluded to, these kinds of pre-production press leaks are probably less than perfect indications of what the finished product will be. And that’s assuming there ever is a finished product.

Aside from the strange cast suggestions, the other constant in press stories about this film has been the assertion that Bob Dylan himself has given Haynes full authorization and free reign to use whatever Dylan music he wants and basically go to town. It certainly kind of figures that the biographical film that Dylan would authorize would be one so—shall we say—off-center that it would be almost impossible for any audience to see it as a strictly factual telling of Dylan’s life story. I don’t think Dylan’s the kind of guy who would have faith in someone’s ability to fairly convey his biography in something like a two-hour film—or any kind of film. He was probably quite happy with Haynes’ idea to create something so far out that nobody would even be tempted to try and pin down the border between artistic license and reality. I just wonder if he realized it would take so long.

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