The movie stars Timothee Chalamet as the legendary songwriter and the cast attended the movie's premiere just blocks from where a young Dylan first made his mark.
In 1960s New York City, a 19-year-old from Minnesota arrived with five bucks in his pocket. In less than three years, he became one of the biggest musical stars of his day.
In "A Complete Unknown, we see the fascinating and flawed story behind his electric rise. In an award-worthy performance, Chalamet stars and sings as Dylan.
"Bob Dylan is an American legend, an American folk hero, and I hope we did this movie justice," Chalamet said.
For Chalamet, the New York premiere was more like a homecoming.
"Man, 15-blocks from here, I grew up and went to high school 45 blocks from here," Chalamet told entertainment reporter Joelle Garguilo. "So this is a dream come true."
However, the journey to bring Dylan's story to the screen was anything but simple.
"I was working on this for so long, and I put my my heart, my everything, into it, and it was sort of a relief to finally film it and get it off all of our plates, you know," Chalamet said.
The film features a stellar ensemble -- Elle Fanning as one of Dylan's exes, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, and Edward Norton as folk legend Pete Seeger.
"Even when I was coming up in New York in the early '90s, Pete Seeger was kind of, he was the exemplar of what it meant to be an artist and a humanist," Norton said. "I felt a lot of responsibility to his spirit and his family and his honor... the whole thing was just a privilege."
Director James Mangold shared a story of sitting down with Dylan.
"He talked about the loneliness of being a folk singer, that when you're all alone on stage, that part of his desire to ultimately have a band wasn't based on changing music history, but was just that it's lonely up there in a spotlight, all alone with the song you wrote, playing your own accompaniment, driving there alone, going home alone, that he yearned to have a band and friends," said Mangold.
If Chalamet got the chance to sit down with the legendary musician, he says, "I would just say thank you, thank you for all your music and your art, not even thank you for the opportunity, just thank you for everything you've already given to American culture, because we're all better off for it."
"A Complete Unknown" hits theaters Christmas Day. You're going to be hearing a lot about this movie and Timothee Chalamet's performance come award season time -- it's one of the best of the year.
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* More New York City news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube