Photo: REX USA/David Fisher/Rex.
Robert Pattinson may be trading in his fangs for a fedora, if a new report from a U.K. tabloid turns out to be true. According to The Daily Star, the 28-year-old actor is on Disney's short list to replace Harrison Ford as the crusading archaeologist Indiana Jones, in the Mouse House's planned franchise reboot.
Earlier, we reported that Bradley Cooper was the studio's first choice, but a source tells the The Daily Star that "Rob is top of the initial list because he has showed his acting stripes away from Twilight."
Pattinson certainly has been making an effort to distance himself from the franchise that made him a star, by taking on a series of gritty roles in offbeat films. He recently turned heads at Cannes with a pair of bold turns in David Michôd's The Rover and David Cronenberg's Maps To The Stars.
What the report fails to mention is whether or not Pattinson actually wants to play the iconic character. Signing on as Indiana Jones would likely mean a multi-movie commitment, which would leave Pattinson less time to take on the more challenging work he's been leaning toward as of late. The press-shy star would also have to commit to the same kind of grueling international publicity tours he thought he'd left behind after the final Twilight film. We can assume this means the likelihood of Pattinson hopping aboard another major Hollywood tentpole just as he's beginning to gain his bearings as a "serious" actor is highly unlikely.
We'll have more on this story as it develops. (The Daily Star)