First Look at Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan in James Dean Biopic, 'Life'

Anton Corbijn has only helmed two feature films, Joy Division biopic Control and the Euro-style hit man drama, The American; and both were defined by Sam Riley and George Clooney's leading male performances. Corbijn was at Sundance for John Le Carre adaptation A Most Wanted Man, which features one of the final completed works by Philip Seymour Hoffman (review here), but before that film comes out he's already hard at work on his next project. Corbijn has begun shooting on Life, a James Dean biopic starring Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan, and the first image has just arrived.

Pattinson stars as Dean, with DeHaan as Magnum photographer Dennis Stock, and the story chronicles the friendship they developed in 1955 while on a cross-country photo shoot for Life Magazine. Stock would take some of the most famous images of Dean, helping to build the young actor into Hollywood royalty. Corbijn spoke to EW about the process of working with DeHaan and Pattinson on this project...

Corbijn: "When I see Rob I see an inner turmoil that is great for the role. And Dane is really interesting. He has a beautiful face, but it's a face to grasp. It's hard to see how Dane reads [onscreen] sometimes, and the same goes for James Dean."

Corbijn's ability to get the best from his actors means we could be looking at something great from DeHaan and Pattinson. Still too early for a release date but maybe we'll see it by the end of the year or early next.

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Dane DeHaan and Robert Pattinson Join James Dean Biopic 'Life'

Few actors carry quite the mystique of James Dean, a celebrity heartthrob who became singularly defined by his most famous film, Rebel Without a Cause. He lived fast and died young, and perhaps that's the reason why Hollywood remains so obsessed with him. A couple of months ago we learned that Anton Corbijn (The American) was planning to direct Life, a Dean biopic that centered on the early part of his career, and now it's starting to come together with two big time stars coming aboard.

The latest deal to emerge out of Toronto has Dane DeHaan and Robert Pattinson joining the film which focuses on "the true story about the friendship between James Dean and Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock." In what will probably come as a surprise to R-Patz fans, he'll be taking on the role of Stock while it will be DeHaan as Dean. The story penned by Luke Davies centers on Stock, who was commissioned by Life magazine to travel the country taking photos of the rising star. He would go on to take some of the most iconic images of Dean as the two became closer professional and personally.

Filming is set to begin early next year. Before then you can catch DeHaan as writer Lucien Carr in Kill Your Darlings, and before he plays Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 he can be seen in The Devil's Knot by director Atom Egoyan. Pattinson has a numberof interesting projects on the way, including David Michod's The Rover and David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars. [THR]

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