Robert Pattinson to play Eric Maddox in 'Mission: Blacklist'
Actor Robert Pattinson onstage during the 2011 MTV Movie Awards at Universal Studios' Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City in California. (June 5, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
The star of the soon-to-end "Twilight" franchise is set to play Eric Maddox, the U.S. solider who helped capture Saddam Hussein, in the upcoming thriller, "Mission: Blacklist," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is based on Maddox's lengthily titled book, "Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein -- As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture." Maddox served as an interrogator with the 12-man team that tracked the onetime Iraq president to his so-called spider-hole in Tikrit on Dec. 13, 2003.
"Mission: Blacklist" would mark a major change of pace for Pattinson, whose roles outside "Twilight" have been mostly suave or sensitive types. His previous films include the 9/11-themed "Remember Me" and the Depression-era drama, "Water For Elephants," neither of which were major hits. Coming up, he'll play a 19th-century Frenchman in "Bel Ami" and a decadent playboy in David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis."
Pattinson will help promote "Cosmopolis" at this month's Cannes Film Festival, where the makers of "Mission: Blacklist" are expected to shop their movie around for a buyer. Jean-Stephane Sauvaire is set to direct.
