In recent years, Bob Dylan’s work has come to the screen in films like Martin Scorsese’s documentary No Direction Home, Todd Haynes’ innovative biopic I’m Not There. and the bizarre, star-laden ensemble Masked and Anonymous (written by and starring Dylan himself). There’s also said to be, in the works, a narrative feature to star Brad Pitt, based off his 1986 song, Brownsville Girl. Today, RT Features reveals that they’ve secured the rights to another Dylan-based narrative, inspired by his 1975 album, Blood on the Tracks.
Album highlights include Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue,” (often likened to “Brownsville Girl” for its non-linear storytelling), “Idiot Wind,” “Simple Twist of Fate,” “Shelter from the Storm” and “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” (a Western ballad that, soon after the album’s release, was turned into an unproduced screenplay by Where the Buffalo Roam scribe John Kaye).
Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 16th greatest album of all time, Blood on the Tracks was released during Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue,” a tour that itself became a 1978 film, Renaldo & Clara, directed by Dylan and written by the artist alongside Sam Shepard.
“As longtime admirers of one of the greatest albums in the history of music, we feel privileged to be making this film,” says Rodrigo Teixeira, who will produce the new film alongside Fernando Loureiro. “Our goal is to work with a filmmaker who can create a classic drama with characters and an environment that capture the feelings that the album inspires in all fans.”
A search is currently underway for a director on the project.
