Dane seems lovely.  He talks about Rob and “Life” at about 1.32.  I like how he confirms that they will shoot the movie in February 2014.  Fingers crossed nothing gets in the way of that.  I can see another bromance happening.

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According to MTV Movies Blog:

“[T]he idea of a big screen retelling of the story behind the famous photos is reason enough to look forward to “Life.”

 Stock got his start it Life magazine as an apprentice in 1947 and won a contest for young photographers there in 1951, the same year that Dean got his start in television. The young actor wouldn’t break out until four year later, in 1955 when Elia Kazan’s adaptation of “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck.

When Stock met Dean at a party thrown by the actor’s “Rebel Without a Cause” director Nicholas Ray before the release of “East of Eden,” the photographer didn’t know he was an actor until after they spoke at some length. Stock told the Sarasota Herlad-Tribune that Deans’s appearance didn’t hint at this star quality. “He was not a neat dresser per se,” he said. “He looked tired, but he was pleasant and interesting.”

Shortly after Stock was made aware of Dean’s life as a movie star, he caught a preview of “East of Eden,” and he immediately knew that his new friend was going to be big. It was a short time after that Stock got the idea for a “visual biography” that would follow Dean back to his boyhood home in Fairmount, Indiana and then to New York City, where his career started.

“The story, as I explained it [to Jimmy] was to reveal the environments that affected and shaped the unique character of James Byron Dean,” Stock wrote in his book “James Dean: Fifty Years Ago.” “We felt a trip to his hometown, Fairmount, Indiana, and to New York, the place of his professional beginnings, would best reveal those influences…. I would solicit an assignment guarantee to cover expenses. The obvious magazine to approach was LIFE…. It took only a week for LIFE to approve the assignment.”

After a trip to his uncle’s farm in Fairmount, Dean posed in the rain in Times Square, smoking a cigarette with his collar turned up. It would be on the most iconic photographs ever taken of the 24-year-old actor. The pair took several pictures around the city, including one of Dean lying in a casket, an eerie reminder of the tragic car accident that would take his life less than six months later.

Read more about the photographs at LIFE

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According to Karl Quinn, National Film Editor for Fairfax Media:

“Pattinson has been cast as Dennis Stock, a photographer with the legendary Magnum agency who shot Dean for Life magazine in 1955. Dean himself will be played by Dane DeHaan.

According to a statement from See-Saw, Dennis Stock was ”26, old before his time, and already tied down to family life” when he met James Dean, whose fame was built on the back of starring roles in Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden (both 1955) and Giant (1956) before his death in a car accident at 24. The road trip the pair took together ”would change Stock’s life and provide the world with some of the most iconic images of the age.

… the film is expected to have a budget in the $10-$15 million range”

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Woo hoooooooooooooo.  According to ScreenDaily:

“EXCLUSIVE: Robert Pattinson will star as Magnum photographer Dennis Stock and Dane DeHaan will play James Dean in Anton Corbijn’s Life. FilmNation handles international sales and will introduce the script to buyers in Toronto.

See-Saw Films’ Iain Canning and Emile Sherman produce with Christina Piovesan of First Generation Films, marking a post-The King’s Speech reunion between See-Saw and FilmNation. CAA holds US rights.

Luke Davies wrote the screenplay to Life, which chronicles the friendship that ensued when the straight-laced Stock embarked on a road trip with Dean in 1955 for a Life magazine commission.

Filming is scheduled to commence production in February 2014 on location in Canada.

“As an internationally celebrated photographer, Anton Corbijn is the perfect filmmaker to direct Life,” said Canning and Sherman. “Finding the right actor to play James Dean was a big responsibility, but Dane’s body of work has proved what a chameleon he is and what he will contribute to the role.

“Casting Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan brings together two of the most exciting young actors of their generation.”

“We were fortunate to work with Anton on A Most Wanted Man and are thrilled to be a part of his next film,” said FilmNation CEO Glen Basner. “His incredible talent combined with the chemistry between Dane and Robert will bring to life the fascinating story of the fast friendship formed at a very pivotal time in Dean’s life.

“The project also marks our re-teaming with See-Saw Films whose impressive track record continuously keeps them a top-player in international film production.”

Pattinson will next be see in David Michôd’s The Rover and starred in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis as well as the Twilight franchise. He recently wrapped on Cronenberg’s Maps To The Stars .

DeHaan broke out in the sci-fi hit Chronicle and also stars in Toronto entries Devil’s Knot, Metallica Through The Never and Kill Your Darlings.  His credits include The Place Beyond The Pines.