Robert Pattinson to Play Lawrence of Arabia

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Robert Pattinson isn't letting the recent scandal slow down his career.

VIDEO: Robert Pattinson's First Post-Scandal Interview

Variety reports that the actor, whose latest film Cosmopolisopens in limited release on Friday, is now attached to play British Army officer T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in the upcoming indie flick, Queen of the Desert.

Naomi Watts stars in the movie as English writer Gertrude Bell, who helped define the borders of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The film chronicles Bell's life as an archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political attache for Great Britain.

Lawrence and Bell became close friends as they worked in the Middle East, establishing the Hashemite dynasties in Jordan and Iraq.

T.E. Lawrence was famously played by Peter O'Toole in David Lean's 1962 classic based on the life of the man whose writing made him a household name.