Before the recent surge in biopic productions was the Johnny Cash-centric Walk The Line, which Russell Crowe ed up on. Created by James Mangold in 2005, the film saw Joaquin Phoenix as the music legend. Walk The Line is remarkably accurate thanks to Cash's son, who worked on the film as an executive producer and tackled his lifelong relationship with June Carter, not to mention his troubles with addiction. Considered one of the greatest biopics of all time, Walk The Line was unafraid to focus on the tragedy in the musician's life. 5j1d5k

Director James Mangold addresses why Joaquin Phoenix was not considered to reprise his role as Johnny Cash in his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. The 2024 film traces the journey of a 19-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) as he arrives in New York City in the early 1960s, kickstarting his meteoric rise to fame and his transformation into a musical giant. However, in 2005, Mangold directed Walk the Line, depicting the life of country music legend Johnny Cash, who Phoenix portrayed. Cash appears in A Complete Unknown, but Narcos actor Boyd Holbrook takes on the role.

A Complete Unknown director James Mangold has explained why it was so important to include Johnny Cash as a central figure in his new Bob Dylan biopic. Based on the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric!, Mangold’s latest biographical drama features Dune’s Timothée Chalamet as a young Dylan throughout his early career as a folk singer, and charts the controversy that arose from his eventual switch to electric guitars. Having previously covered the life of Cash in his 2005 biopic Walk the Line, Mangold has now cast his frequent collaborator Boyd Holbrook as his latest onscreen Man in Black.

Though Walk The Line is an impressive biopic, some audience might walk away from the movie wondering just how accurate it was. Johnny Cash was a true legend, not only for his songwriting and singing but also for his love of June Carter, his wife of 35 years. The couple was one of the most successful in country music, but it came at a price. Their love story became an award-winning film in 2005 with Reese Witherspoon portraying June Carter and Joaquin Phoenix starring as Johnny Cash.

The release of Elvis, the new biopic from Baz Luhrmann, which focuses on one of the most important figures in the history of music, is a testament to the power of this particular movie genre. It ably weaves together the story of Elvis’ life, while never losing sight of the power of its central drama.

It's been more than 15 years since the biopic of the legendary Johnny Cash Walk the Line earned acclaim from critics and country music fans alike, and now those very same viewers have an extended edition full of additional material to enjoy available on HBO Max for the first time. Topping out at just over two-and-a-half hours, the latest edition of the Academy Award-winning film features 22 minutes of additional material. Across both deleted scenes from the DVD release and never-before-seen new material, there are several changes between the original and extended versions of this powerful life story.