First Look at Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan in James Dean Biopic, 'Life'

Anton Corbijn has only helmed two feature films, Joy Division biopic Control and the Euro-style hit man drama, The American; and both were defined by Sam Riley and George Clooney's leading male performances. Corbijn was at Sundance for John Le Carre adaptation A Most Wanted Man, which features one of the final completed works by Philip Seymour Hoffman (review here), but before that film comes out he's already hard at work on his next project. Corbijn has begun shooting on Life, a James Dean biopic starring Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan, and the first image has just arrived.

Pattinson stars as Dean, with DeHaan as Magnum photographer Dennis Stock, and the story chronicles the friendship they developed in 1955 while on a cross-country photo shoot for Life Magazine. Stock would take some of the most famous images of Dean, helping to build the young actor into Hollywood royalty. Corbijn spoke to EW about the process of working with DeHaan and Pattinson on this project...

Corbijn: "When I see Rob I see an inner turmoil that is great for the role. And Dane is really interesting. He has a beautiful face, but it's a face to grasp. It's hard to see how Dane reads [onscreen] sometimes, and the same goes for James Dean."

Corbijn's ability to get the best from his actors means we could be looking at something great from DeHaan and Pattinson. Still too early for a release date but maybe we'll see it by the end of the year or early next.