Like his Twilight co-stars, Robert Pattinson has a big challenge ahead of him, as he aims to prove that he can keep up a solid work slate after his turn in the Stephenie Meyer adaptations comes to an end. He’s tried his hand at a few non-Cullen roles (this year will see him in romantic drama Water for Elephants), but he’s just locked down what looks to be his most intriguing part yet: the lead in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis.
Adapted from Don DeLillo’s novel, the story finds Pattinson as Eric Packer, a financial whizz who plays fast and loose with the international money markets. A particular bet against the Yen sees him targeted by some enemies, and the majority of the film takes place across 24 hours as Packer cheats on his wife and tries to avoid mysterious stalkers in a near-future city.
Previous reports had Colin Farrell, Marion Cotillard and Paul Giamatti in the roles of Packer, his wife and one of the men tracking him down, but Pattinson’s casting throws those three into doubt. It’s possible that Cronenberg and Farrell didn’t manage to make a deal or scheduling got in the way (the actor has the Total Recall remake in his diary, after all), but for now it would seem that Farrell is no longer involved and Pattinson is Cronenberg’s main man. We’re sure some will be disappointed by the news, but then Pattinson does have the sort of following that can help the director get the thing made.
Cronenberg wrote the script and has been trying to get Cosmopolis moving for a couple of years now, though he opted to make Sigmund Freud tale A Dangerous Method with Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender instead during 2010, and we can expect that one to arrive in the coming months, though there’s no announced release date just yet.
Meanwhile, what do we think of this pairing? And more terrifyingly, if Pattinson does good work with Cronenberg, what are all the Twilight haters going to do with themselves?