Few actors carry quite the mystique of James Dean, a celebrity heartthrob who became singularly defined by his most famous film, Rebel Without a Cause. He lived fast and died young, and perhaps that's the reason why Hollywood remains so obsessed with him. A couple of months ago we learned that Anton Corbijn (The American) was planning to direct Life, a Dean biopic that centered on the early part of his career, and now it's starting to come together with two big time stars coming aboard.
The latest deal to emerge out of Toronto has Dane DeHaan and Robert Pattinson joining the film which focuses on "the true story about the friendship between James Dean and Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock." In what will probably come as a surprise to R-Patz fans, he'll be taking on the role of Stock while it will be DeHaan as Dean. The story penned by Luke Davies centers on Stock, who was commissioned by Life magazine to travel the country taking photos of the rising star. He would go on to take some of the most iconic images of Dean as the two became closer professional and personally.
Filming is set to begin early next year. Before then you can catch DeHaan as writer Lucien Carr in Kill Your Darlings, and before he plays Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 he can be seen in The Devil's Knot by director Atom Egoyan. Pattinson has a numberof interesting projects on the way, including David Michod's The Rover and David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars. [THR]
