*CARTWHEELS*

Breaking News from Screen Daily:

“The 65th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 5-15) has added a further eight titles to its Competition programme, ahead of the complete line-up next week.

The films, which originate from across Europe, Asia, the US and the Middle East, include the world premiere of Queen of the Desert, Werner Herzog’s biopic based on the life of British explorer Gertrude Bell.

Nicole Kidman plays the 19th century explorer, known as the female Lawrence of Arabia, and her co-stars include James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson (as TE Lawrence).

Queen of the Desert

USA

By Werner Herzog (Fata Morgana, Fitzcarraldo, Cave of Forgotten Dreams)
With Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis , Robert Pattinson

World premiere”

ZOMG!

Update:  Sorry was so excited forgot to post most important information.

Press release from Berlinale here

The 65th Berlin Film Festival will be held between 5 and 15 February 2015.  Check out more information at their site. The programme isn’t released until 27 January 2015, so stay tuned for dates and times.  And from memory last time Rob was at Berlinale for Bel Ami it was a Friday night (that’s if he is able to attend this one) I didn’t sleep for 24 hours and we were able to watch via live feed.

Update:  So while I was asleep all the media posts came out:

The Playlist

“The most notable is Werner Herzog‘s “Queen Of The Desert,” a starry biopic of Gertrude Bell which was shuffled off a fall premiere after post-production delays held up the film’s completion.”

The Film Stage

“With our most-anticipated film of the year leading the line-up, this year’s Berlin Film Festival has announced more titles to join the slate. Notably Werner Herzog’s first narrative feature in half-a-decade, Queen of the Desert, will be premiering there. The story of legendary cartographer Gertrude Bell features Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, James Franco, and Damian Lewis.”

They also gave us the first official still (no Rob though) of Nicole as Gertrude and Franco as Cadogan.

Deadline

“Werner Herzog’s epic Queen Of The Desert will also add star power at the Berlinale Palast with Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson. The film is the story of Gertrude Bell, the Lawrence of Arabia of female diplomats and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the 20th century. The remaining titles will be announced next week.”

Variety

“Among the additions are Panahi’s “Taxi,” Condon’s “Mr. Holmes,” starring Ian McKellen and Laura Linney, and Herzog’s “Queen of the Desert,” starring Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson. … Herzog’s credits include “Fitzcarraldo,” which won best director at Cannes, and “Grizzly Man,” which was named best documentary by the Directors Guild of America”.

They also used this still

Rope of Silicon

“It was just announced Werner Herzog‘s Queen of the Desert will have its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this year featuring a much anticipated performance from Nicole Kidman in the biopic of Gertrude Bellwhich, the traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attache for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century. Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis and James Franco co-star.”  [Maria: I’ll add this to “Most Anticipated” post]

The Hollywood Reporter

“Germany’s biggest film fest has announced a slew of new competition titles for its 65th edition, including Werner Herzog‘s Queen of the Desert,  … n Queen of the Desert, the one-time Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson plays Lawrence of Arabia, aka T.E. Lawrence, alongside star Nicole Kidman as explorer, writer, archeologist and British Intelligence officer Gertrude Bell. Queen of the Desert also features Homeland‘s Damian Lewis as Charles Doughty-Wylie, a married British officer who had an unconsummated affair with Bell, and James Franco as Henry Cadogan.”

IMDBPro has added under release dates:

The Guardian

“Werner Herzog will also bring his starry new drama Queen of the Desert to the festival, a biopic of adventurous civil servant Gertrude Bell. It’s one of the director’s periodic engagements with the Hollywood elite, following Rescue Dawn with Christian Bale and Bad Lieutenant with Nicolas Cage – the film stars James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson, with Nicole Kidman in the lead role.

Bell was variously an archeologist, spy, writer and government official who travelled extensively in the Middle East during the early 20th century, and who helped in the formation of Iraq. Herzog has previously worked in the Middle East before, in his nightmarish docu-poem Lessons of Darkness which followed a devastated Kuwait in the wake of the first Gulf war.”

Thompson on Hollywood

“Herzog will attend the Berlin premiere of “Queen of the Desert,” starring Nicole Kidman as British Intelligence officer and cartographer Gertrude Bell opposite Robert Pattinson as T.E. Lawrence (better known as Lawrence of Arabia) and James Franco as British army officer Henry Cadogan. Naomi Watts was reportedly originally cast in the role of Bell before it went to fellow Aussie Kidman. Damian Lewis costars.

Herzog penned and directed the $36 million epic, which wrapped in Spring 2014 (around the time when we hoped to see the film at his Telluride stomping grounds) and was shot in Morocco, Jordan and London. This is Herzog’s first narrative feature since 2009’s hilarious, acid entertainment “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” starring Nicolas Cage.”