Former rock photographer turned acclaimed director Anton Corbijn focuses his lens on the life story of a fellow snapper: Magnum’s Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson), and specifically his friendship with his great subject, James Dean (Dane DeHaan). Stock shot the now-iconic Life magazine images of Dean prior to the release of East of Eden (1955).

Autumn“

Glamour Magazine UK:

“9 Queen of the Desert

We’ve not seen any of this movie yet but Nicole Kidman’s role as early 20th century traveller, writer and archaeologist Gertrude Bell is the sort of part that gets nominated for Oscars. She’s in exalted company, with James Franco playing aristocrat Henry Cadogan, Robert Pattinson as T.E. Lawrence and Damian Lewis as Bell’s lover Charles Doughty-Wylie. No news on the release date yet but keep your eyes peeled.”

FlavorPill (11 Films to Get Excited About):

“Queen of the Desert

Werner Herzog has made a career out of exploring humankind’s peripheries, the moments when people descend to their lowest or aspire to the species highest possible nature, pushing themselves beyond the ordinary pale of their peers. For his upcoming Queen of the Desert, the idiosyncratic filmmaker teamed with Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, and Damian Lewis to give the life of adventurer Gertrude Bell (kind of the female version of the famous Lawrence of Arabia) the Herzog treatment. It worked with Dieter Dengler.”

HeyUGuys (The Must See Films of  2015 Which are Still A Secret Films)

“8.  Queen of the Desert

The truly great and universally acclaimed Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn) returns to narrative directorial duties for his forthcoming biographical drama.

Penning his own screenplay, the film stars James Franco, Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson and Damien Lewis; quite a line-up right? It’ll document the chronicles of Gertrude Bell’s life as a traveller, explorer, archeologist, writer and political attache for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.

With such a skilled filmmaker at the helm and a brilliantly dense cast relaying the life and legacy of Bell, this looks set to be a hallmark release in 2015.”

The Stranger (Knowing Where to Look – The Movies To Look Forward to in 2015):

“Queen of the Desert (TBD)—Together at last: Werner Herzog and James Franco.”

Pop Culture (Underrated Cinematographers Poised to Make it Big in 2015)

“But Christensen’s big coming out party will most likely be her first collaboration with director Anton Corbijn (Control, A Most Wanted Man) on Life. … Corbijn’s Life will follow a week in the life of photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) who’s been assigned by Life magazine to shoot portraits of James Dean (Dane DeHaan).  Corbijn, himself, is a famous portrait photographer, so it’s a great match with Christensen. They both favor lengthier takes where the whole frame can be absorbed, either in stillness, or by close zooms in-camera. The advice Christensen received from Vinterberg? “It doesn’t have to be realistic, but it has to be real.” Sounds like life, man.

Hollywood Elsewhere (Spitballing 2015 Best Picture Winner):

“Anton Corbijn‘s Life (no distributor) is based on the friendship of Life photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) and James Dean (Dane DeHaan). Costarring Ben Kingsley, Joel Edgerton.”

The Dudes Movie Review (2015 Movies to Get Excited For):

“Queen of the Desert – Werner Herzog takes on the real life story of Gertrude Bell, whose experiences in the middle east rival those of T.E. Lawrence. Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, and James Franco star. Release Date: To Be Confirmed”

and

“LIFE – Dane DeHaan plays James Dean in a film about the method actor’s time with a photographer for Life magazine(played by Robert Pattinson). Director Anton Corbijn proved that he had a deft touch for dealing with real life subjects when he made Control, a film about Joy Division’s Ian Curtis. Release Date: 25 September (UK)”

IntotheScreen (France – The Films I Look Forward to the Most)

“10. Life of Anton Corbijn: the story of a photographer who must carry out a report on James Dean. ” (Translation by Google)

The Observants (101 Movies to Look Forward to in 2015):

“7.  Queen of the Desert

Werner Herzog (Auirre Der Zorn Gottes, Grizzly Man, Nosferatu)?
With? James Franco, Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson …
Why? New work by Werner Herzog, therefore! Queen of the Desert, his first work of fiction since the wonderfully bizarre My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done and revolves around the adventures of Gertrude Bell, a ontdekkingsreizster, writer, archeologist and political attaché Great Britain during the beginning of the twentieth century. Nicole Kidman will play the role himself, while young violence assist her in the form of James Franco and Robert Pattinson.
When? Unknown

64.  Life

Of? Anton Corbijn (A Most Wanted Man, Control)
With? Robert Pattinson, Dane DeHaan, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
Why? With Life follows Dutch photographer / director Anton Corbijn strong spy thriller A Most Wanted Man on. The film follows the friendship between Life photographer Dennis Stock and Hollywood icon James Dean during the early 50s Robert Pattinson plays Stock, while Dane DeHaan (from include The Place Beyond the Pines) takes on the role of Dean. The filming of this biopic beginning of the year already completed, causing a release in 2015 is as good as certain.
When? Unknown“

67. Lost City of Z (Maria:  I think they are as hopeful as us)

Of? James Gray (The Immigrant, We Own the Night)
With? Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Pattinson
Why? The Lost City of Z is James Gray’s successor on the different reactions received The Immigrant last year. His latest is a true adventure film about the British explorer Percy Fawcett, who in 1925 went to Brazil together with his son, looking for the legendary city of El Dorado. But instead of returning with gold bake the pair disappeared for good. Benedict Cumberbatch step into the shoes of Fawcett, while Robert Pattinson plays a role, though it is not clear whether it is that of the son [Maria:  research is important – we know he’s Henry Costin not the son). Pattinson recently showed that the recordings for the umpteenth time that he was delayed and the wait is tired. The commencement is now scheduled in January.”

94. The Childhood of A Leader (Maria:  Fingers crossed)

Of? Brady Corbet (directing debut)
With? Robert Pattinson, Tim Roth, Stacy Martin, Bérénice Bejo
Why? Brady Corbet is one of our favorite noble strangers here at The observants. Outside flawless starring roles in movies like Simon Killer and Funny Games US to see the actor too often in supporting roles creepy. But thanks to its collaboration with famous directors he apparently made nice contacts, because the cast for his directorial debut contains more than intriguing names. Robert Pattinson is the surprise of them, but after his performances in films such as The Rover and Maps to the Stars, no one can deny that the Twilight -star can really act. The title tells us the time being the only thing we know about the film, we take a look at the childhood of a post-WW1 leader. Or The Childhood Of A Leader successful dish will be we do not know yet, but all the ingredients are there already.
When? Unknown.:

I think I’ve uncovered a secret Rob fanboy ha! (Translation by Google)

Historias (Bastardias) Extraordinarias

Listed under September

“The Kitchen Sink” Robbie Pickering gives way to one of the most anticipated tapes September (Maria:  For those wondering The Kitchen Sink directed by Robbie Pickering is also being released in September 2015). Under the premise that a Life magazine photographer assigned to take pictures of James Dean, we are confident that Anton Corbijn will get the right performance at Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan.” (Translation by Google)

Smoking Barrels (Hungary – “Coming Soon”)

“Life was apparently the work of Oscar perfect recipe follows: take a famous but forgotten true story and a little spice to the American taste. Consequently, one would think it is that the film is a dull, dry ‘experience’ for you, but the more and more opportunity and honor won by Anton Corbijn, as well as the key role in shaping and extremely talented Dane DeHaan name of such a story is almost a guarantee of success. (For more actors: Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson and Ben Kingsley) Frog – 95% (danialves – 80%)“

(Transation by Google)

The Daily Beast (2015’s Most Anticipated Movies)

“11. Maps to the Stars

The great filmmaker David Cronenberg has reunited with his Cosmopolis star Robert Pattinson for this searing portrait of Hollywood’s dark, narcissistic underbelly. It follows the Weiss Family, an archetypal Tinseltown clan led by Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack), a TV psychologist and self-help guru, and includes his 13-year-old child star son Benjie (Evan Bird), who went to rehab at 9; their scarred, pyromaniac daughter Agatha (Mia Wasikowska) who takes a job as an assistant to a fading star (Julianne Moore) and falls for a limo driver/aspiring actor named Jerome (Pattinson); and Olivia (Olivia Williams), a hands-on stage mom to Benjie. Moore won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her performance.”

“64.  Life

Not to be confused with the 1999 Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence race relations comedy of the same name, this drama is directed by Anton Corbijn (Control), and centers on Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) who’s assigned to trail and photograph reclusive movie star James Dean (Dane DeHaan). The film also stars Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, Kristen Hager, and Kelly McCreary.”

The Playlist (100 Most Anticipated Films):

“8. “Queen of the Desert”
Director: Werner Herzog (“Grizzly Man,” “Fitzcarraldo“)
Cast: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis
Synopsis: A biopic of Gertrude Bell, a British explorer, archaeologist, writer, political attaché and general adventuress who played a major role in establishing the modern state of Iraq.
What You Need To Know: Last summer, we predicted we’d see ‘Queen’ at one of the fall film festivals, but that was overly optimistic, as the film ran into “technical issues” in advance of Telluride and TIFF. We’re still waiting with bated breath though, for Herzog’s starriest and biggest pic to date, which he also wrote. Producer Cassian Elwes has tweeted raves about it, and Herzog himself even told us just how great Nicole Kidman is in the lead role. While it missed out on awards consideration this year, it just might find some traction in 2015. It’s got all the earmarks of a fantastic, Middle Eastern epic, and the female lead makes it all the more original. The true story biopic is a genre Herzog has nailed before, eliciting memorable performances from his leads, so we can’t wait to see what he will do with this cast and this grand a story.
Release Date: TBD 2015

19. “Life”
Director: Anton Corbijn (“A Most Wanted Man,” “The American”)
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Dane DeHaan, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
Synopsis: Photographer Dennis Stock accepts a new assignment for Life Magazine to take pictures of rising star James Dean. The two became close friends as a result.
What You Need To Know: Everything about this picture sounds promising except its shoddy title (we’re half-hoping it gets nixed last minute for something, anything, else). We’ve been fans of Corbijn’s work ever since his 2007 debut “Control,” in which he already proved his mettle with the tricky biopic genre. Now, after his continuously excellent, if slightly more subdued, work in “The American” and last year’s “A Most Wanted Man,” Corbijn is set to tackle the biopic again. What gives us even more hope this time around is that this is a world Corbijn knows all too well, since he started off his own career as a music photographer. And he’s got a great cast to boot, with Pattinson already successfully shedding his post-“Twilight” glitter for “The Rover” and “Maps to the Stars.” We’d also be lying if we said we weren’t curious to see how DeHaan is going to pull off Dean.
Release Date: September 25th in the UK, but we’re not sure on an official date Stateside. Expect a Cannes premiere.  “

“Also special pour one out mention for Olivier Assayas’ “Idol’s Eye” starring Robert De Niro, Robert Pattinson and Rachel Weisz. The project was canceled right as it was about to shoot which is a huge bummer because it would have easily cracked our top 15. Maybe it’ll come together in some shape or form down the line one day.”  Fingers crossed.

It also mentions Harmony Korine’s The Trap but Rob still hasn’t been confirmed for this Korine film even though he did allude to a gangster film during Cannes I think.  But if you go and watch Rob’s interview at TIFF with Scene Creek he says he is apparently doing a film with Harmony but “he’s still waiting on what that is” (it’s at about 3.19) so maybe it’s something else Harmony decided to write for him.  I guess we will know some time soon since it’s supposed to film mid 2015.

Thompson on Hollywood (45 Films We’re Looking Forward to):

Included under:

Festival hopefuls:  ““Queen of the Desert” (dir. Werner Herzog)
Herzog’s first narrative feature since 2009’s entertaining “Bad Lieutenant,” this rich-looking period biopic stars Nicole Kidman, who plays influential cartographer Gertrude Bell opposite Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis and James Franco.”

What We’ve Seen & Recommend:  “Maps to the Stars” (dir. David Cronenberg, February 27)
Julianne Moore is hysterically good as a deluded, washed-up, pill-swilling Hollywood has-been in Cronenberg’s angry, messy, sick but often brilliant tragicomedy. The arrival of a schizophrenic burn victim (played by Mia Wasikowska) turns this world of this world of Tinseltown dreamers upside down, featuring solid performances from John Cusack, Olivia Williams and Robert Pattinson”

Ioncinema (Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films #64 Queen of the Desert):

“64.  Queen of the Desert