Variety carries a detailed report about the official release date for Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, which is set for June 12. Along with the streaming release, it will have, “awards-qualifying theatrical engagements in New York and Los Angeles.” At the same time, Netflix has arranged theatrical showings in 20 cities, set for the night before the official streaming release, and it includes cities around the world from Washington D.C. and other major American cities to London, Paris, Bologna (Italy), and Sydney (Australia).
According to a previous Netflix announcement, the documentary, “captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the joyous music that Dylan performed during the fall of that year.” The company also describes the film as, “part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream”, and a, “one-of-a-kind experience from master filmmaker Martin Scorsese.”
The ‘cast list’ or people interviewed on film has not been fully announced, but it is known to include Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, and Sam Shepard (who wrote a book about the experience).
Scorsese, one of the original cameramen on the Woodstock documentary, already won a Grammy for a Dylan documentary – No Direction Home from 2005.
The fans will also have a chance to get an accompanying CD box set, which for the moment has an undisclosed number of included CDs, although Dylan’s web store indicates two discs of rehearsals from S.I.R., another CD of rehearsals at the Seacrest Motel in Massachusetts (all from October 1975), the five complete November/December shows from Massachusetts and Quebec (each getting two discs apiece), and, finally, a 14th CD consisting of “rare performances.” In the meantime, the website’s pre-order page has been taken down.
