James Gray's 'The Lost City of Z' adds Sienna Miller

As buzz has started to build around Bradley Cooper's performance in American Sniper, so has the conversation surrounding his co-star, Sienna Miller. She's having quite the busy awards season, actually, as she also has a role in Foxcatcher. While it would be nice to see her do more than play somebody's wife, Miller is looking to keep busy in 2015, and part of that may be a role in James Gray's long-developing The Lost City of Z. 

In a recent Vogue profile, Miller is revealed to have a role in The Lost City of Z, joining the previously cast Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Pattinson. The film is based on David Grann's book about British explorer Percy Fawcett (Cumberbatch), who in 1925 journeyed into the Amazonian jungle to locate a fabled lost civilization, but was never seen again. Dozens of explorers reportedly died in the years since trying to find Fawcett and the city he was so obsessed over. Pattinson is to play British corporal Henry Costin, while Miller's role is unclear....although it's likely to be as Fawcett's wife.

Filming could begin next summer if Brad Pitt's Plan B production arm can get everything together.

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Robert Pattinson Joins Benedict Cumberbatch in 'The Lost City of Z'

The American Film Market is in full swing and that means a good number of movies are out looking to secure enough financing to move forward. One of the bigger projects being shopped around is James Gray's adaptation of The Lost City of Z, which made itself easily bankable by adding Benedict Cumberbatch a few weeks ago, and now another A-lister has come aboard who should help make the decision to invest all the easier.

Screen Daily reports that Robert Pattinson has joined the Brad Pitt-produced film, which is based on David Grann's bestselling book on British explorer Percy Fawcett. Fawcett, who presumably will be played by Cumberbatch, was a former soldier who became obsessed with the Amazon and the idea of a lost civilization. His numerous expeditions led to many near-death experiences, until he and his son vanished and were never heard from again in their final self-funded adventure.

It's unclear what role Pattinson will play, but this marks another impressive notch on his belt. He's still set to star as T.E. Lawrence in Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, and will be seen next year in David Michod's The Rover.

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Benedict Cumberbatch Heads to James Gray's 'The Lost City of Z'

So maybe there was another reason Benedict Cumberbatch left Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak? A reason that had nothing to do with Star Wars? The speculation over the last few days is that he left the project because he was on the verge of being confirmed by Lucasfilm for a major role in the next Star Wars film, but now it appears Cumberbatch had something completely different in mind, like joining James Gray's long-developing The Lost City of Z.

Deadline reports that Cumberbatch will star in the adaptation of David Grann's novel, which has been sitting on Gray's back burner for a couple of years. Brad Pitt had been set to star, but it all came apart over behind-the-scenes issues. Pitt will continue to produce though his Plan B banner, but it will his Twelve Years A Slave co-star taking on the lead role now. The true story centers on Percy Fawcett, a soldier/explorer obsessed with the Brazilian Amazon, who claimed to have discovered the mythical "lost city of Z". After being scorned by his peers, Fawcett braved the jungle one more time with his son and another, only to never be heard from again.

No word on when this would shoot or fit into Cumberbatch's schedule. He's currently slated to star as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, and will be seen later this year in Twelve Years A Slave, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Fifth Estate, and August: Osage County.

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