According to @ScreeeDaily at the AFM (page 13), Rob is going to star with Benedict Cumberbatch in James Gray’s “Lost City of Z”.

 

via

According to IMDbPro:

More info from ComingSoon.Net about the film:

“The nonfiction book, a New York Times best seller, was published in 2009 and is officially described as follows:

In 1925, Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world’s largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humankind. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions helped inspire Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions around the globe, Fawcett embarked with his twenty-one-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilization—which he dubbed “Z”—existed. Then he and his expedition vanished.”

And according to Deadline:

“Plan B‘s Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Anthony Katagas (who worked with Cumberbatch on 12 Years A Slave) will produce. Plan B has been developing the project for several years, and it initially seemed like Pitt would be heading into the jungles.”

 We will of course update as more info comes to light.

Updated:  From The Playlist

“Screen Daily reveals in their print issue from the floor of AFM, that Robert Pattinson is also on board the movie, that Panorama Media is financing and selling rights for as well. The movie is being produced by Brad Pitt’s shingle Plan B (he was going to star in a previous iteration of the film before it fell apart at Paramount) and is an adaptation of David Grann’s book tell the story of English soldier-turned-explorer Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, whose obsession with the Amazon and belief that an ancient civilization resided there led him on many expeditions where he narrowly escaped death. After financing eventually dried up, Fawcett self-funded one last adventure into the Amazon with his son, from which neither returned. We presume Cumberbatch will play Fawcett, and while there’s no word yet on Pattinson’s role, perhaps he’ll play the son?

As for the tone of the picture, Gray had said to us he’s aiming for the epic scale of David Lean but with a “slightly more hallucinogenic feel. Because [the protagonist] went to the jungle and sorta went mad.” So yes, fingers crossed this gets rolling in 2014.

Meanwhile, in case you were worried, Pattinson is still attached to Werner Herzog’s “Queen Of The Desert.” Recent trade reports about the movie notably didn’t have his name among the cast of Nicole Kidman, James Franco (yes, he’s confirmed now according to Screen Daily) and Damian Lewis, but rest assured he’ll be there. And 2014 spent working with Herzog and Gray? Nicely done, RPatz.”

And the Playlist’s  article on James Gray:

“And there are several options. On top of the thriller “The Gray Man” which is still gestating, the two that look the most promising that are both ready to go are “The Lost City Of Z” which now has Benedict Cumberbatch attached and a sci-fi project revealed today to be titled, “To The Stars.” Penned by Gray andEthan Goss – who has written extensively for the TV series “Fringe” – we received lots of details about “To The Stars” last time we spoke to the filmmaker. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint and I have a lot of projects on the go because it seems like the films have a life on to their own,” Gray said, alluding to the commercial failure of most of his earlier films, but their enduring and long-lasting shelf life. “That’s what saves me,” he said, characteristically self-deprecating. “Actors seem to like the work and people at the studios seem to remember the films more fondly then they were first initially reviewed.”

While Gray told Omelete this week that his sci-fi project may shoot in mid-2014, in our interview he suggested it could be either that or “The Lost City Of Z.” In fact, he said he’ll know this November come the American Film Market if Benedict Cumberbatch’s name will be enough to earn a green light or if he’ll have to get another actor on board. Gray called the project “enormous” citing several million dollars for the marine budget alone (it’s set inside the Amazon jungle and travels down that enormous river). “I hope it’s not my ‘Fitzcarraldo,’ ” Gray said, referencing Werner Herzog’s own Amazon-jungle epic. As for “The Lost City of Z” he describes it as David Lean but with a “slightly more hallucinogenic feel. Because [the protagonist] went to the jungle and sorta went mad.”

“The film will be a combination of different inspirations,” he said. “When we go into the jungle the movie will hopefully find its own language, but it is an epic movie and it’s very much in the early ‘60s, 65mm epic movie style, but I have a feeling it will get a little bit more hallucinatory then that. I have huge hopes and dreams for it.”

How does that become as personal and emotional as all Gray’s films are? “That’s actually the easiest part of adapting this book – it either strikes you or doesn’t,” he said, describing the lead as an outsider. “This is a character that did everything he could to fit in and in the end he didn’t, but certainly [he] discovered something amazing. And that core struggle of his moves me very much and attracts me.”

Den of Geek

This extract from an article about Benedict Cumberbatch:

“Any film of Turing’s story should have “Oscars” written all over it, but there’s plenty to be excited about in the latter too.  Fawcett was one of the figures who inspired George Lucas to create Indiana Jones, and James Gray’s film will chronicle the explorer’s foolhardy hunt for the city of El Dorado – depending on the tone, there could be some potential for a real historical adventure movie here”.

click on link for full story.

Variety:

Megan Ellison made a serious splash last year as a major Hollywood player with “Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Master” through her Annapurna Pictures.

She’s remained on the radar this year thanks to “Spring Breakers,” Spike Jonze’s “Her,” David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” and Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher.”

A less-noticed component of Annapurna has been Panorama Media.

Launched at Cannes last year to move into the foreign sales arena, it’s enabled Ellison to use foreign pre-sales to cover part of the production costs and be a player in the increasingly vital international market.

Panorama, headed by industry vets Marc Butan and Kim Fox, comes to AFM with “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” ” Jessica Chastain’s “The Zookeeper’s Wife” and James Gray’s “Lost City of Z,” starring Robert Pattinson and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Butan said Panorama started with a skeleton staff of three.

“We formally launched in Cannes last year before we really up to speed, but Megan and Annapurna had such a fantastic slate already.”

The execs say they’re laser-focused on adjusting to evolving markets.

“The marketplace always changes so 12 months later, it’s always going to be different,” Butan said. “The softness in Europe is making life difficult in every market, whether its consolidation, TV or the economy.”

Fox said the evolution of digital platforms has not gained at a fast enough clip to make up for the decline in DVD. “Zookeeper’s Wife” is shooting next year and advance sales have been made in 90% of world markets and “Lost City of Z” is shooting this summer. And Panorama will be starting sales on John Hillcoat’s crime thriller “999.”

Panorama officially launched in April 2012, with backing from Annapurna as a production, financing, and international sales entity based in Los Angeles. “Panorama’s mandate is to produce, finance and arrange for worldwide distribution on a slate of filmmaker-driven projects with broad commercial appeal,” it said at the time.

*CARTWHEELS*

Read more about the book “Lost City of Z” from David Grann’s website here