*TWIRLS* remember when I wished that Rob could do a film with Charlie Hunnam.  Dreams made.  And I’ll chalk this up to karma since it spoilt my dreams of Rob and Bob.  A little sad that Benedict no longer attached, but it’s Charlie “Freakin” Hunnam. Hmmm I’m not sad about that.  And it looks like the film now has some financing, is slated to start shooting in summer (so I take it that’s our winter of course – June-August) and is being sold at Berlin.  According to the following:
The Wrap:
““Sons of Anarchy†alum Charlie Hunnam will replace Benedict Cumberbatch in James Gray‘s “Lost City of Z,†which also stars Robert Pattinson and Sienna Miller, it was announced Tuesday by MICA Entertainment, which has come on board to finance the film.
Cumberbatch was forced to drop out of the project due to Marvel’s “Doctor Strange,†and now rising movie star Hunnam will play Col. Percival Fawcett in the adaptation of David Grann’s acclaimed bestseller. …. Production is slated to start this summer.”
Variety:
“Production is expected to start this summer. The project is based on David Grann’s 2009 book of the same name.
…
Hunnam will portray Percy Fawcett, a British surveyor who disappeared in the 1920s while searching for a mythical city in the Amazon jungles of Brazil that he believed he discovered on a prior expedition.”
Deadline:
“Sierra/Affinity is handling international sales at Berlin’s EFM, with CAA handling the domestic sale.  Production is set to begin in the summer.”
As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m currently updating our “Films” pages, but you can bookmark our Lost City of Z film page to keep up to date on what’s happening all in one place.
Empire Online:
“Bubbling away in development for a while, the adaptation of David Grann’s popular book once boasted Brad Pitt as the star, but he’s now simply on board to produce via his Plan B company. Hunnam will play Percy Fawcett, who headed into Brazil’s Amazon jungles on a mapping quest in 1925. There, suffering from a nasty case of malaria, he claimed to have discovered a mythical city he called the Lost City of Z.
When his adventurer peers roundly mocked the idea as a fantasy or fraud, Fawcett gathered up his son and one other companion and headed back into the jungle to prove his point. And that’s the last anyone saw of all three… Robert Pattinson and Sienna Miller are also attached to star in the film, which will finally kick off shooting this summer.”
Favorite Photoshoot
While I loved both the Hollywood Reporter and Esquire shoots, there were a couple of outtakes from an unconfirmed shoot that surfaced that I especially loved. I refer to them as “Preppy Rob” because he’s wearing a Henley and jeans and looks, well, preppy. One of my favorite looks. I also included a couple of images from the Esquire shoot that grabbed me. So here are my selected favorites. I couldn’t ignore the HR shoot so I chose a favorite outtake as a background.
Favorite Premiere
This was easy peasy: The Sydney premiere of ‘The Rover’. It was such a treat to see the RPAU ladies interviewing Rob (and David) on the red carpet. And a brilliant job they did! They’ve worked so hard to make RPAU the classy, professional, respectful fan site that it is and their red carpet experience was well deserved.
Favorite TV Appearance
‘Late Night With Seth Myers’
Dear Rob: We’re patiently waiting for Big Tub and the Tabbycats’ first single.
  Â
Most Anticipated Movie Role
As much as I look forward to seeing Rob on the big screen again in “Life”, it’s not always guaranteed that we get his indie films screened in my area, which is a total bummer. For most anticipated role, I’m going with ‘The Lost City of ‘Z”. I’m also a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch and am excited at the prospect of he and Rob on the big screen screen together, not to mention the press junket! I’m hoping their combined star power will get the movie a wider release. Still keeping my fingers crossed for a confirmed production date.
Favorite Public Appearance
Rob’s appearance (with Guy Pearce) on Le Grande Journal during the Cannes promotion of ‘The Rover’. He just looked exceptionally handsome, and he and Guy seemed to have a great time watching Kylie Minogue’s performance.
Most Unexpected Rob Moment
Ok, I’m cheating here and going with two favorites. Without a doubt, I’m sure most of us would agree that Rob taking his turn at the ALS “Ice Bucket Challenge” was EPIC! Special thanks to Zac Efron for recording and sharing Rob’s challenge via his Twitter.
My second choice is actually from Rob and Guy’s interview with ABC’s Peter Travers during their press junket for ‘The Rover’. I can only speak for myself, but I never expected to see Rob curled into a fetal position. GOLD.
The Film Stage spoke to Dede Gardner one of the producers of Lost City of Z and this makes me nervous. Although Benedict Cumberbatch told Vertigo and myself back in May that this was going to be a difficult film to put together (ok typing that never gets old still can’t believe we met that gorgeous man)
“We will. As a last question, two of my favorites filmmakers you’ve worked with, James Gray and Terrence Malick, and I’ve heard updates on Lost City of Z. Is that a project still going forward?
I don’t know yet. I’m trying. It’s another one I’m trying. I really love James and really hope [this] summer.”
Fingers and everything else tightly crossed. Last we had heard filming was supposed to commence in April 2015.
Click on the link to read the full article.
Updated with extract from Indiewire:
“What’s going on with James Gray’s “The Lost City Of Z†other than having two stars attached in Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Pattinson? Well, like many ambitious indies out there, it’s seemingly struggling to get all its financing in place. But there is movement on the horizon. In various interviews with Vogue and The L.A. Times, Sienna Miller has stated that she’ll be joining Gray’s Amazonian mystery about a British explorer who ventured into the Amazon jungle in search of a fabled civilization, and never returned to his family.
Cumberbatch is set to play the lead Percival Fawcett, Pattinson is said to play Henry Costin, a bored British corporal who answers Fawcett’s advertisement for a jungle adventure abroad, and Miller would presumably play Fawcett’s wife as there aren’t many other main female characters in the book.”
From We’ve Got This Covered:
“As for when we’ll be seeing The Lost City of Z, producer Dede Gardner (part of Brad Pitt’s Plan B shingle) recently expressed optimism that shooting would commence sometime next summer. The production start date keeps getting pushed back as a budget is negotiated and more stars are locked into place, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that all involved can stick to the current plan and put The Lost City of Z out in time for it to contend for awards in the fall of 2016.”
Â
Merry Freakin Christmas! As we suspected and posted back in August, Rob is playing Henry Costin.
Â
Â
Not really much to report other than as follows:
Lost City of Z is now listed as “pre production” on IMDBPro as of 20 December 2014.
The film had a quick mention in HitFix article about the Producers Guild Visionary Award honouring Brad Pitt’s Plan B:
“Currently on the Plan B future slate: Angelina Jolie’s “By the Sea,” the long-gestating “Lost City of Z,” …”
We had posted about Sienna Miller’s involvement back in August, and according to Sienna latest interview with Vogue:
“Miller is also signed on for the upcoming Amazon mystery The Lost City of Z, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Pattinson …”
Read Full Article
I came across this interview of Benedict from the Philippine Daily Inquirer that has a quick mention of Lost City:
“I don’t suffer from being a workaholic,†he emphasized. Laughing, he said, “At heart, I am incredibly lazy. I love nothing better than to kick back, see friends and family and just go on a few more holidays. I did actually have quite a lot of time at the beginning of this year. I was going to be doing a film, ‘The Lost City of Z’ with (director) James Gray. That was put on hold because of problems with the location. Hopefully, it will start in spring next year.
“The Lost…†is James’ adaptation of David Grann’s bestseller. He will portray Lt. Colonel Percival “Percy†Fawcett, a British artillery officer, archaeologist and explorer who supposedly discovered a mythical city in Brazil’s Amazon jungles in 1925.”
He also mentions Comic-Con in Australia, and as you know, Vertigo and I were fortunate enough to attend and meet Benedict. Maybe one day I’ll post my photo with him, but for now I’m just going to say Benedict couldn’t stress to us enough what a logistical nightmare this film was going to be. At the time we met him in May, he said that they were hoping to film in June/July. He also devastated us because he said “just because Rob has agreed to do the film doesn’t mean Rob’s going to do the film”.  In hindsight I think he was just preparing us for the possibility that this film might take a long time to get off the ground. So this is why I’m posting the above info, just to keep us in the loop.Â
Variety earlier this month also mentioned:
“He is currently shooting “The Hollow Crown†for the BBC and Neal Street Productions, in which he plays Richard III for director Dominic Cooper, and alongside Judi Dench.
Next he will shoot “Lost City of Z,†based on David Grann’s novel for director James Gray, where he will play British explorer Percy Fawcett, who set out to discover the City of Z in the Amazon in the 1920s.”
Fingers crossed.
Â