News of the Week: First Look At Timotheé Chalamet As Bob Dylan

As the old saying goes, March is in like a lion and heading out like a lamb – hopefully. A lot of news has been hitting the internet in recent weeks after the Oscars, and it’s all exciting stuff. This week sees The NeverEnding Story getting a reboot movie series, Timotheé Chalamet tackling Bob Dylan, Dune: Part Two box office updates, and more.

As always, Atom Insider brings you a few hand-picked stories we think you’ll like. Ready? Let’s dive in.

The NeverEnding Story Is Getting Rebooted As A New Franchise

After years of speculation that Disney was going to reboot it, then another studio, then Disney again, the beloved children’s series The NeverEnding Story is finally being rebooted and plans are grand. The remake is planned to be a new movie franchise, born out of a partnership between Michael Ende Productions and the respected See-Saw Films. The original 1984 movie was adapted from the 1979 book by the German author Michael Ende, and the Ende estate has apparently been fielding from various production companies to reboot the series for years.

The original story saw the quiet, bookish Bastian chased into a bookstore by bullies. As he bides his time hiding from them, he discovers a magical book. At first, he’s simply absorbed by the story of the young warrior, Atreyu, and his quest to save the magical fantasy realm of Fantasia* from a great destructive force known as The Nothing. However, as Bastian reads, he learns he’s become part of the story and his decisions, and his decisions alone, can save Fantasia from being unmade.

Says co-producer Iain Canning:

“The story is both timely and timeless, and really has an opportunity to be told in a fresh way. And part of the specialness of the book is that you can go back to it at different ages in your life and find different levels of meaning. So how wonderful that we have this opportunity to do a fresh perspective that will have new layers and meanings. We just believe that every generation deserves their own journey into Fantastica.”*

*The magical realm was called Fantasia in the movies; the book called it Fantastica.

The First Image Of Timotheé Chalamet As Bob Dylan Has Emerged

The James Mangold-directed Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown is underway on production, and the first image has emerged of Timothée Chalamet as the legendary singer-songwriter. The biopic, which does not yet have a release date, is set to follow Dylan’s emergence as a formative voice in the folk music scene after moving to New York City from Minnesota in the 1960s.

Details about the film have been fairly scarce, but the reported cast is stacked: Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Nick Offerman as Alan Lomax, and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, with. Edward Norton replacing Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of Pete Seeger. Cumberbatch’s departure came after a production delay.

Unlike a few recent musician-focused biopics, A Complete Unknown won’t follow the full arc of Dylan’s life or decades of his fame. Instead, it will focus on a very narrow time period, according to Mangold. Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast last year, Mangold explained this:

“The best true-life movies are never cradle to grave but they’re about a very specific moment. It’s a kind of ensemble piece about this moment in time, the early ’60s in New York, and this 17-year-old kid with $16 in his pockets hitchhikes his way to New York to meet Woody Guthrie who is in the hospital and is dying of a nerve disease. He sings Woody a song that he wrote for him and befriends Pete Seeger, who is like a son to Woody, and Pete sets him up with gigs at local clubs and there you meet Joan Baez and all these other people who are part of this world.”

Dune: Part Two Has Already Beat The First Dune’s Total Global Box Office Haul

In an update that’s not all that surprising, but still great, Dune: Part Two has officially surpassed the global box office haul of the first movie. Despite being released during the Covid pandemic in theaters and on streaming at the same time, Dune nonetheless managed an impressive $434 million total haul. With the first movie gaining momentum on streaming during the pandemic and the hype for Dune: Part Two hitting high levels, it was expected the sequel would quickly surpass the first movie at the box office.

Indeed, it has. Currently, Dune: Part Two sits at $510 million for the global box office. With a production budget of $190 million and an estimated $100 million to produce, the sequel has more than made up its hefty budget and justified the cost. After just 10 days in theaters, Part Two surpassed the entire domestic haul of the first movie. While the year is still young, it’s currently the highest-grossing movie of 2024. Its surge is being spurred by great word of mouth and premium ticket sales – plenty of people are seeing Dune: Part Two in IMAX. It also helps that Part Two is simply a great movie, a true sci-fi spectacle that could be argued is the Star Wars for this generation. While it likely won’t hit the rarefied $1 billion mark, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Dune: Part Two to top out at $700-$850 million.

Get tickets for Dune: Part Two

Teen Titans Live-Action Movie In Development At DC

DC Studios has been cooking since James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as co-studio heads. Led by the creative direction of Gunn, the DCU is looking to reboot itself yet again, this time hopefully in a way that truly works. Now, the newly reassembled DCU has announced one more exciting project is in development: a live-action Teen Titans movie. Reportedly, writer Ana Nogueira has been tapped to pen the script. Clearly, the studio is high up on her potential after the reports four months ago that she’s also developing the script for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The new Teen Titans movie is not one that was included in the first wave of new projects announced by Gunn and Safran when they took over.

The Teen Titans are exactly what the title implies – a group of teenage superheroes led by Batman protégé Robin. Other regular members include Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, Wonder Girl, and Cyborg. The superhero group has previously been adapted from the comic books into two different animated series, and one live-action series. Currently, the second animated series, Teen Titans Go! is still going strong, airing new episodes on Cartoon Network.