Whole Lotta RPatz

I may never buy a bottle of cologne in my life, but I could watch Pattinson’s new ad for Dior Homme over and over. Directed by Romain Gavras, who made waves with his incendiary science fiction video forM.I.A.‘s “Born Free,” the black-and-white ad finds Pattinson in cool mode and hanging with models. Thanks in large part to the classic and still-enthralling track from Led Zeppelin, it’s not one of those laughable, self-serious perfume ads that celebrities sometimes embarrass themselves with, and demonstrates just enough personality and masculinity that Pattinson does seem like a movie star rather than just another handsome face.

RPatz Down with Dane’s Dean

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pattinson has lined up Life, an intriguing new docudrama from talented director Anton Corbijn (Control, The American). He’ll play Life Magazine photographer Dennis Stock, while Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, and soon to appear as Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Mansequel) takes on the role of icon James Dean, whom Stock shot with his camera on a cross-country trip they took together before Dean starred in East of Eden (1955). With its buzzworthy subject matter and accomplished director, it’s just the sort of project an actor in Pattinson’s position should be taking on.

RPatz Overload

Pattinson has a slew of other new projects in various stages of production, including Maps of the Stars, his second film for the great David Cronenberg, who got critics to take the actor seriously with Cosmopolis. The latest one is a Hollywood satire written by Bruce Wagner (Wild Palms), who’s made a career of such things.

Pattinson is also starring in The Rover, a futuristic outback revenge drama that David Michod directed and co-wrote with Joel Edgerton. Guy Pearce stars as a violent, broken man tracking down the gang that stole his car with the unwilling help of a naive gang member (Pattinson). Michod’s gritty, suspenseful feature debut, Animal Kingdom, proved he has just the right touch for this kind of story.

Looking toward 2014 and beyond, Pattinson will star in Mission: Blacklist, based on military interrogatorEric Maddox‘s memoir about the capture of Saddam Hussein. He’s also co-starring with Nicole Kidmanin Queen of the Desert, the great Werner Herzog‘s biopic about explorer and British political attache Gertrude Bell. Pattinson will play T.E. Lawrence, the Brit Army liaison previously incarnated by Peter O’Toole in David Lean‘s classic Lawrence of Arabia. It’s a bold choice for Pattinson, as comparisons will be inevitable, but again, he’s working with a renowned director who should do right by him.

After that, he’s set to star opposite Carey Mulligan in the thriller Hold on to Me for another acclaimed director, James Marsh (Man on Wire, Shadow Dancer).  It seems like Pattinson sees the big picture, and is wisely parlaying his worldwide fame into a genuine acting career.”

Thanks Susie – I might have missed this if not for you.