Robert Pattinson attached to Play T.E. Lawrence In Werner Herzog's Indie "Queen of the Desert"

UPDATED: Added THR Article

Robert Pattinson attached to Play T.E. Lawrence In Werner Herzog's Indie "Queen of the Desert"

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!

The Hollywood Reporter Talks about A fall shoot in Jordan and England being eyed



From The Hollywood Reporter

The "Twilight" actor will play T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia.

Robert Pattinson is attached to play Lawrence of Arabia in Queen of the Desert, Werner Herzog’s biopic of Gertrude Bell.

Naomi Watts is starring as Bell, described as the female Lawrence of Arabia for the impact the English woman had in the Middle East and her work in establishing what would become the modern framework for Jordan and Iraq. She was an explorer, writer, archeologist and political attache and during World War I, worked for British Intelligence.

Pattinson will play T.E. Lawrence, the archeologist-turned-British Army officer who played key roles in Middle Eastern revolutions in the same time period and became close friends with Bell. Peter O'Toole portrayed the explorer in the 1962 classic.

Herzog wrote the screenplay. Nick Raslan is producing with Cassian Elwes.

A fall shoot in Jordan and England is being eyed.

The move keeps Pattinson firmly in the world of independent film. One of the world’s most recognizable stars, the actor is this week promoting Cosmopolis, his drama directed by David Cronenberg. He is set to star with Guy Pearce in the post-apocalyptic indie The Rover as well as Mission: Blacklist, an indie thriller about Saddam Hussein’s capture.
From Variety

Just days before "Cosmopolis" opens in limited release, star Robert Pattinson has joined the cast of Werner Herzog's indie "Queen of the Desert," which will star Naomi Watts as English writer Gertrude Bell.

Pic will chronicle Bell's life as a writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political attache for the British Empire. One of the first women to graduate from Oxford at the turn of the 20th century, she traveled through the Middle East, defining the borders of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Pattinson is attached to play T.E. Lawrence, a British Army officer whose writing earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, on whom David Lean's classic 1962 epic is based. Lawrence was a good friend to Bell over the years, as the duo helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in Jordan and Iraq.

Cassian Elwes and Nick Raslan (Herzog's "Rescue Dawn") are producing the pic, which is aiming to start production in late fall

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Colin Farrell sends good wishes to Robert Pattinson for Cosmopolis

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

From MTV:

Earlier this week, Robert Pattinson fans rejoiced at the news that their "Twilight" hunk will continue to appear on the big screen after "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" is released in 2012.

Pattinson's first post-"Twilight" movie will be "Cosmopolis," an adaptation of the novel by Don DeLillo, to be directed by David Cronenberg.

Pattinson will play "financial wunderkind" Eric Packer, who risks his entire fortune to bet against Japan's yen on a tumultuous day. The character's chancy move puts him in mortal danger. The flick is said to be "a drama that is a study of capitalism in a slightly futuristic metropolis."

While fans are happy about Pattinson's new project, the role initially went out to Colin Farrell. MTV News caught up with Farrell recently while he promoted his upcoming drama "The Way Back," a film set during World War II about a group of prisoners who escape the Siberian Gulag and must walk over 4,000 miles to freedom. Farrell said he didn't end up doing "Cosmopolis" due to timing and scheduling issues "for everyone involved."

"Myself and David [Cronenberg], we had good conversations between he and I," Farrell said. "I would love to work with him at some stage, I really would. I really wanted to do that [film]."

And what does he think of Pattinson replacing him?

"It's a wonderful script. I wish him all the luck in the world with it," he said.

Tink: That was so sweet and supportive :)

YouTube added:

ETCanada Confirms Robert Pattinson to star in Cosmopolis

This news has already been reported but how exciting is it to continue getting more confirmation for Robert Pattinson's next role?!

ETCanada tweeted:



Oh man...this is my Eric Packer...



Which Rob is YOUR Eric Packer?! Pick your Packer!

POSSIBLE SCRIPT SPOILERS AFTER THE CUT

Click HERE to read the rest

Robert Pattinson's next role after Breaking Dawn filming

This just in!!!

From @NikkiFinke:

EXCLUSIVE: Robert Pattinson has booked his first major lead for when he completes The Twilight Saga. Pattinson will star in Cosmopolis, the Don DeLillo novel adaptation that David Cronenberg wrote and will direct. Pattinson, who just starred with Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz in Fox 2000's Francis Lawrence-directed adaptation of the Elizabeth Gruen novel Water For Elephants, will play Eric Packer. A financial wunderkind, Packer risks his entire fortune to bet against the yen on a tumultuous day. His deed puts him in the crosshairs for assassination in a drama that is a study of capitalism in a slightly futuristic metropolis. Most of the scenes in the book take place in the limousine that transports Packer from place to place. Marion Cotillard and Paul Giamatti are also reportedly doing the film.

As Pattinson and his Twilight Saga castmates plan their careers after the series is completed--Bill Condon is directing the final film right now, Pattinson is following a path based on strong filmmakers and tasteful source material. He took the role because he is a big fan of Cronenberg's work and an admirer of DeLillo's books. He's repped by WME and 3 Arts.

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Tink: I'm trying to calm down but I can't! So what do you guys THINK?! Do you SEE who else will be in this movie?! Rob....a financial wunderkind?! WHOA! This is BEYOND amazing news :)))

Pick up a copy and book club it up!

USA


UK


UPDATE

Gossip Cop is saying it's not quite a done deal YET but it's looking good:

Robert Pattinson has reportedly signed on to star in David Cronenberg’s upcoming adaptation of Cosmopolis.

It’s not a done deal quite yet. A source in Pattinson’s camp tells Gossip Cop they’re in “negotiations.” Barring a hitch in the talks, Cosmopolis will be Pattinson’s next major role.

The movie, based on a novel by Don DeLillo, follows a young financial whiz named Eric Packer as he journeys across a major city by limo during one tumultuous day.

Marion Cotillard and Paul Giamatti are reportedly attached to the project.

Tink: Keep hope alive for the financial wunderkind!



Character description from the Borders.com...thanks Nel!

Eric Packer, age 28, is a billionaire asset manager, and on this day he is a man with two missions: to pursue a destructive bet against the yen and to get a haircut across town. This nationally bestselling masterpiece is from "our greatest contemporary novelist" ("Details").It is an April day in the year 2000 and an era is about to end. The booming times of market optimism -- when the culture boiled with money and corporations seemed more vital and influential than governments -- are poised to crash. Eric Packer, a billionaire asset manager at age twenty-eight, emerges from his penthouse triplex and settles into his lavishly customized white stretch limousine. Today he is a man with two missions: to pursue a cataclysmic bet against the yen and to get a haircut across town. Stalled in traffic by a presidential motorcade, a music idol's funeral, and a violent political demonstration, Eric receives a string of visitors -- experts on security, technology, currency, finance, and a few sexual partners -- as the limo sputters toward an increasingly uncertain future.

Tink: ............. o.O

More info from indiewire.com...thanks fab!

We have to admit, our first words upon hearing this were: “What the shit?” Haters gonna hate, but like it or not, Robert Pattinson is in a position to get things green lit, as he is taking over for Colin Farrell in David Cronenberg‘s “Cosmopolis.”

Based on Don DeLillo‘s book of the same name, the film follows 24 hours in the life of a newly married billionaire Eric Packer (Pattinson) as he cheats on his wife, is pursued by a stalker, gets attacked by a protester and gradually loses his entire fortune over the course of a single day. The adaptation was penned by Cronenberg himself and cast is currently rounded out by Marion Cotillard who will play Pattinson’s wife and Paul Giamatti as one of the two men stalking the billionaire. Let’s just slow this down for a second: Robert Pattinson and Marion Cotillard are going to play a married couple? Please.

So why has Farrell bailed? Well, with the actor signed recently signed on to star in the “Total Recall” reboot that is scheduled to go in front of cameras this spring, roughly around the same time as Cronenberg’s film and we figure the bigger paycheck won out. The current plan is for Pattinson to finish his work on “Twilight: Breaking Dawn” with Bill Condon and move right on over to Cronenberg’s film.

Well, we suppose we’re glad “Cosmopolis” is still getting made but we think the Pattinson casting is totally, totally wrong. But maybe he’ll prove us wrong…..right?

Tink: RIGHT! They'll see... ;)

From MarcMalkin on eonline:

The book takes place over the span of just one day with Packer crisscrossing through New York City in a high-tech limo to get a haircut at his father's favorite barber shop.

"He has sex with two women, his art consultant and a bodyguard," reads a review in Publisher's Weekly. "He is hit in the face with a pie by a protester. He knows he is being stalked, and the novel stages a final convergence between the ex-tycoon and his stalker."

Oh, he also shoots someone as the limo driver has to navigate around a presidential motorcade, an attack by anarchists and a rapper's funeral. Packer has several meetings in the limo with folks like his doctor and some finance men.

Did I mention this is a very big step away from Pattinson's vampire alter-ego?

And from HollywoodReporter

Robert Pattinson has signed to star in Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg's adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel, stepping into the shoes that were to be worn by Colin Farrell.

Paul Giamatti and Marion Cotillard are already on board the film, which is eyeing a mid-May start in Toronto.

The project centers on a 28-year-old financial wizard and billionaire, to be played by Pattinson, as he traverses Manhattan in his stretch limo. His goal is to get a haircut at Anthony's, his father's barber, but on this day his driver has to navigate a presidential visit, an attack by anarchists and a rapper's funeral. Stuck in traffic, he anxiously monitors the value of the yen on the limo's computer, his fortune in the balance.

Martin Katz is also producing Cosmopolis. Renee Tab is exec producing.

Farrell was attached to play the lead but segued to Columbia's remake of Total Recall, which also shoots in the spring.

Cronenberg is producing with Paulo Branco of Alfama Films.

Pattinson is repped by WME and 3 Arts.

Rob May Be Trading His Fangs For A Tommy Gun

Harvey Weinstein has been talking. He does that a lot, but this particular chatter is interesting to many of you readers because it concerns one Robert Pattinson. Us Magazine spoke with Weinstein, who revealed that RPattz is one of a number of choices to play the role of Joe Gallo in a big screen adaptation of Tom Folsom’s book, “The Mad Ones: Crazy Joe Gallo and the Revolution at the Edge of the Underworld.”

Folsom’s top pick for the role is Leonardo DiCaprio according to Weinstein, but the studio head has a special place in his heart for the “Twilight” star. “Rob Pattinson, I made him kiss girls in Cannes. He’s the most charming, wonderful young man,” Weinstein told Us. “He really cared about the charity, and that’s not an easy thing to do. That’s a sweet, sweetheart thing to do. And then we got two bids.”

For those of you who don’t know, Joey Gallo was one of the more cultured members of the Mafia during the 1960s/70s. He was often out partying with the glitterati of the time, writing poetry… generally bringing attention to himself in ways that members of organized crime families probably shouldn’t. He was also an incredibly violent, accomplished gangster who unsurprisingly met his end in dinnertime gangland shooting.

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