Rob To Star as Dennis Stock in Anton Corbijn’s 'Life'

From Screendaily

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.

From The Film Stage

First revealed earlier this summer, Life is a period piece whose drama is deeply rooted in the intertwining worlds of fame and photography, something the helmer is remarkably familiar with. As scripted by Luke Davies, its action centers on the relationship between James Dean and Life Magazine‘s Dennis Stock, the latter of whom had been tasked with capturing the up-and-coming actor less than a year before his rise to stardom and tragic death.

We’ve now got news from Screen Daily who will take the parts, as Robert Pattinson has signed on for Stock and Dane DeHaan will step into the iconic shoes of Dean. Production is already set for this February in Canada, where we will follow the duo on a road trip. This is another addition to Pattinson’s promising slate of films coming up, with David Michôd’s The Rover and David Cronenberg‘s Maps to the Stars, while DeHaan will be see in Kill Your Darlings and Metallica Through the Never this fall, ahead of his major turn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

From The Hollywood Reporter

Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan are teaming up to star in Life, the true story about the friendship between James Dean and Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock.

DeHaan will bring Dean to life while Pattinson will portray Stock in the movie being directed by Anton Corbijn.

Iain Canning, who produced the Oscar-winning drama The King's Speech and the acclaimed Michael Fassbender drama Shame, is producing Life with his See-Saw Films partner, Emile Sherman.

Stock was a young photographer working for the Magnum agency when he received an assignment that changed his life: to shoot a free-spirited actor named James Dean.

The gig became a personal journey for both as they traveled from L.A. to New York to Indiana. During the trip, Stock captured now-iconic images of the actor before he was launched to stardom with East of Eden (1955).

The movie, with a script by Luke Davies and a budget in the $10 million to $15 million range, is eyeing a shoot in early 2014.

Pattinson (WME, 3 Arts Entertainment, Sloane Offer) recently wrapped David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars as well as The Rover, the futuristic thriller that also stars Guy Pearce.

DeHaan’s career has exploded since his breakthrough in the found-footage sci-fi movie Chronicle. He has The Devil’s Knot, directed by Atom Egoyan, premiering in Toronto, and will also appear as Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

You can find some of the pictures of James Dean taken by Dennis Stock at Life.com.



From Life.com's article about Dean (mentions Stock)

In his wonderful 2005 book James Dean: Fifty Years Ago, Stock writes of trying to get the rapidly rising actor, whom he barely knew, to agree to let the photographer chronicle Dean’s return to both New York and Indiana from his new home in Los Angeles.

“The story, as I explained it [to Jimmy],” Stock wrote, “was to reveal the environments that affected and shaped the unique character of James Byron Dean. 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.”

The photographs that Stock produced during his time with Dean captured an introspective, intensely self-analyzing (and occasionally self-absorbed) artist — albeit one who could, at times, also be self-deprecating almost to the point of parody.

LIFE, meanwhile, ran a number of the pictures in its March 7, 1955, issue, under the headline, “Moody New Star.” East of Eden was about to open, and would make Dean a household name. Less than six months later, mere weeks before the release of Rebel Without a Cause, the phenomenally talented, category-defying actor would be dead — and would pass into legend.