Rob To Play Young" Lawrence Of Arabia" In HERZOG Indie

Variety_JLD  XCLU: Robert Pattinson to play young Lawrence of Arabia in Werner Herzog's QUEEN OF THE DESERT:http://www.showblitz.com/2012/08/robert-pattinson-to-play-young-lawrence-of-arabia-in-herzog-indie.html

TheInSneider QUEEN OF THE DESERT stars NAOMI WATTS as English writer/spy Gertrude Bell. A supporting character, T.E. Lawrence was a close friend of hers.

*This news is confirmed, and yet another example of Pattinson smartly eschewing blockbuster fare in favor of promising indies.

Just days before COSMOPOLIS opens in limited release, starRobert Pattinson has joined the cast of Werner Herzog’s indie QUEEN OF THE DESERT, which will star Naomi Watts as English writer Gertrude Bell. 

Pic will chronicle Bell’s life as a writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political attache for the British Empire. 

Pattinson is attached to play T.E. Lawrence, a British Army officer whose writing earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, on whom David Lean’s classic 1962 epic is based.

THR Robert Pattinson is attached to play Lawrence of Arabia in Queen of the Desert,Werner Herzog’s biopic of Gertrude Bell. 

NAOMI WATTS IS STARRING AS BELL DESCRIBED AS THE FEMALE LAWRENCE OF ARABIA FOR THE IMPACT THE ENGLISH WOMAN HAD IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND HER WORK IN ESTABLISHING WHAT WOULD BECOME THE MODERN FRAMEWORK FOR JORDAN AND IRAQ. SHE WAS AN EXPLORER, WRITER, ARCHEOLOGIST AND  POLITICAL ATTACHE AND DURING WORLD WAR I, WORKED FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE.

Pattinson will play T.E. Lawrence, the archeologist-turned-British Army officer who played key roles in Middle Eastern revolutions in the same time period and became close friends with Bell. Peter O'Tooleportrayed the explorer in the 1962 classic.

Herzog wrote the screenplay. Nick Raslan is producing withCassian Elwes.

 A fall shoot in Jordan and England is being eyed. 

The move keeps Pattinson firmly in the world of independent film. One of the world’s most recognizable stars, the actor is this week promoting Cosmopolis, his drama directed by David Cronenberg. He is set to star with Guy Pearce in the post-apocalyptic indie The Rover as well as Mission: Blacklist, an indie thriller about Saddam Hussein’s capture.