By Tracy Rosenfield 

HollywoodNews.com: Though Robert Pattinson has yet to be nominated for an Oscar, his latest project, “Water for Elephants” is chock full of Oscar contenders. 

The credits list reads like a who’s who of recent Oscar winners and nominations:  Reese Witherspoon (“Walk the Line”), Christoph Waltz (“Inglorious Basterds”), Hal Holbrook (“Into the Wild”, ironically with Kristen Stewart), director Francis Lawrence, screenwriter Richard LaGravenese (“The Fisher King”), production designers Jack Fisk and Jim Erickson (“Their Will be Blood”), costume designer Jacqueline West (“Quills” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (“Brokeback Mountain”). 

Being surrounded by this much Oscar potential, is Robert Pattinson more likely to receive a nomination, or perhaps be a part of an Oscar-nominated picture?  Pattinson has stated that he picks parts based on when he can really get a feel for the character he’s portraying (i.e. not for Oscar potential) and then completely immerse himself in the role.  But when everyone around you is striving for that level of work, will it bring a new level intensity for Pattinson? 

No one will be betting until the reviews start to come in, but regardless of the number of Oscar winners and nominees, this is the first film where Robert has literally surrounded himself with some of the best of the best in the business.  “Water for Elephants” might just have what it takes to get a few nods.

Robert Pattinson:

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS’

Oscar Pedigree

by Joan Lister | May 6, 2010 | // ShareThis| 10 Comments   

Robert Pattinson as Tyler Hawkins in Allen Coulter’s Remember Me

Robert Pattinson will be surrounded by Oscar winners and nominees both in front and behind the cameras in his upcoming project Water for Elephants, directed by Francis Lawrence (whose last feature was Will Smith’s I Am Legend) and based on Sara Gruen’s novel.

Pattinson’s co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz are both Oscar winners. Witherspoon won a Best Actress Oscar for James Mangold’s Walk the Line (2005), while Waltz was this year’s Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

Hal Holbrook, who’ll be playing the aged version of Pattinson’s character — a young traveling-circus veterinary during the Depression years — received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Sean Penn’s Into the Wild two years ago.

Additionally, Water for Elephants screenwriter Richard LaGravenese was nominated for his work on Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King (1991); production designer Jack Fisk (Sissy Spacek’s husband) and set decorator Jim Erickson shared a nomination for There Will Be Blood (2007); and costume designer Jacqueline West has been up for two Oscars: Quills (2000) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

Rodrigo Prieto was the Oscar-nominated cinematographer of Brokeback Mountain. And finally, one of Water for Elephants‘ three producers, Gil Netter, was shortlisted as one of the producers of this year’s Best Picture nominee The Blind Side.

Photo: Remember Me (Myles Aronowitz / Summit Entertainment)

Robert Pattinson to Turn into

Hal Holbrook in

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

by Joan Lister | May 6, 2010 | // ShareThis| Leave a Comment   


Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin in Allen Coulter’s Remember Me, which has grossed more than $50m worldwide (top); Hal Holbrook, Emile Hirsch in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (bottom)

Hal Holbrook will play the old Robert Pattinson in Francis Lawrence’s Water for Elephants, Pattinson’s next film project (along with Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn). Lawrence announced Holbrook’s casting on his Twitter page.

Others in the love triangle/circus drama adapted by Richard LaGravenese from Sara Gruen’s novel are Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz.

Veteran Holbrook, 85, whose wife Dixie Carter (of Designing Women) has recently passed away, was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Sean Penn’s Into the Wild two years ago. (Coincidentally, Penn was originally slated for the role that has ultimately gone to Waltz, while Kristen Stewart, Pattinson’s co-star in the Twilight Saga series, had a supporting role in the film.)

Holbrook was also considered as a potential Best Actor Oscar contender earlier this year, but perhaps because Scott Teems‘ That Evening Sun was so little seen Holbrook’s performance as a determined Tennessee farmer was (unfortunately) ignored by critics’ groups, the Academy, and other award-giving organizations.

In Water for Elephants, Pattinson plays a young veterinary student who abandons college following the death of his parents. He then joins a circus where he’s befriended by a performer (Witherspoon) and is hated by her psychotic husband (Waltz).

Photos: Remember Me (Myles Aronowitz / Summit Entertainment); Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage)

Robert Pattinson

The popular 2006 novel by Sara Gruen is about to hit the big screen. The story centers on Jacob Jankowski and his experiences dropping out of college to join a traveling circus. 

The lead role of Jacob is expected to go to Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, and word is that he’s just agreed to join the cast. He will play the Cornell student who leaves school after both his parents die in a car accident. He then becomes a veteriniarn for The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a traveling circus that he stows away with. 

Reese Witherspoon will also star in the film as Marlena, and Sean Penn is expected to sign on as August, her husband and animal trainer. 

This love story, set during the Great Depression, will be directed by Francis Lawrence, and production from Fox 2000 is expected to begin in June. 

source:  The Celebrity Cafe.com