Chlöe Bailey, Olivia Colman, Woody Harrelson, and Tosin Cole Cast in Bob Dylan Jukebox Musical Film
Wilson Chapman
Chlöe Bailey, Woody Harrelson, Olivia Colman, and Tosin Cole have joined the cast of “Girl from the North Country,” an upcoming musical film featuring the songs of Bob Dylan. The film is based on the stage musical written by playwright Conor McPherson, who is set to write and direct the feature adaptation.
The original stage musical is set in Duluth, Minnesota during 1934, in the thick of the Great Depression, and focuses on a group of travelers whose lives intersect during their stay at a guesthouse. Harrelson will play the guesthouse proprietor Nick Lane, and Colman plays his wife Elizabeth, who is suffering from dementia. Bailey plays their adopted daughter Marianne, and Cole plays her love interest, escaped convict Joe Scott. Songs from Dylan featured in the musical include “Forever Young,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming,” “Make You Feel My Love,” and “Like a Rolling Stone.”
Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin of Blueprint Pictures will produce the film. CAA Media Finance will handle domestic sales of the title, and Rocket Science is set to launch international sales at the Berlin Film Festival.
“Having Bob Dylan’s trust to create a story using his incomparable songs is a huge privilege which has brought nothing but joy to my world,” McPherson said in an official statement. “But working with this incredible cast to bring these characters to life is almost beyond imagining. I’m also especially thrilled to be working with Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, and the whole Blueprint team who have given cinema audiences some of the greatest movies of recent times.”
The original show premiered in London’s Old Vic theater in 2017 before transferring to the West End later that year. The musical opened on Broadway in 2020, and after having its run cut short due to the pandemic, resumed performances in October 2021 and ran until June 2022. That year it was nominated for seven Tony awards, including Best Musical, and won the award for Best Orchestrations.
Bailey is represented by CAA. Cole is represented by CAA, Curtis Brown Group, Sherpa Management, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Colman is repped by CAA, United Agents, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Harrelson is represented by 7 Deuce Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham. McPherson is repped by Curtis Brown Group.
