David Cronenberg's long-gestating Don DeLillo adaptation is finally coming together properly now, with the news from production company Clapfilmes that Juliette Binoche and Mathieu Amalric have signed on for **Cosmopolis, joining the already-cast Robert Pattinson and Paul Giamatti.
Cronenberg's version of DeLillo's modern-day Ulysses will see Pattinson as the protagonist Eric Packer, a just-married billionaire in the process of cheating on his wife and losing his fortune, in the course of 24 hours in which he's trying to get across a choked New York for a haircut. Giamatti is one of the weirdos that's stalking him.
There are no details yet on the roles earmarked for Binoche and Amalric, although we might possibly predict that Amalric will be the other stalker: the credible one, as opposed Giamatti's "pastry assassin." But then again they could be the other way round.
Binoche meanwhile, would be great for the role of Packer's wife, (frequently encountered in increasingly odd circumstances) if not for the fact that Pattinson would be playing her husband. So we're guessing that she'll be one of the many women that cross Packer's path during his fateful day.
Previously on Cosmopolis, Pattinson's role was earmarked for Colin Farrell, before he departed for pastures other. At that time Marion Cotillard was also aboard, but she too now seems to have dropped from the official call sheet, although there's no confirmation from Clap of the various reports that Keira Knightly might be stepping into her vacant shoes.
Questions aside though, we're looking forward to Cosmopolis, and the idea of Cronenberg working with Pattinson is, to say the least, intriguing.
Shooting starts in Toronto in May.