Joel Edgerton gets 'Life'; Sienna Miller Targets 'American Sniper'; Ciaran Hinds Joins 'Agent 47'

* Anton Corbijn is putting together an awesome cast for Life, landing Joel Edgerton to join Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan. The film tracks the friendship between James Dean (Pattinson) and Magnum photographer Dennis Stock, the man behind many of Dean's most iconic images. Edgerton will play editor John Morris, who brokered the deal with Life magazine for the photos. [Variety]

* Bradley Cooper finally has a co-star for American Sniper, the adaptation of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's autobiography directed by Clint Eastwood. Sienna Miller (Factory Girl) is in talks to play Kyle's wife, who must watch over their family while he's overseas serving. Kyle was the most lethal sniper in military, scoring the most confirmed kills over his 10-year career. Miller beat out Evangeline Lily, Kate Mara, and Jaimie Alexander for the role, all of whom have upcoming franchise commitments in superhero movies. [TheWrap]

* The Hitman reboot, titled Agent 47, has just landed Ciaran Hinds (Munich) for an undisclosed role. Rupert Friend will play the bald and bar-coded assassin, joined by Zachary Quinto, Hannah Ware, Thomas Kretschmann and Dan Bakkedahl. Aleksander Bach is currently shooting the film in Berlin. All we know about Hinds' mysterious role is that it involves a major event involving a scientist. That suggests it could have something to do with the genetic engineering that gives Agent 47 the skills of the world's greatest criminals.  [THR]

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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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