Archive for the ‘The Rover’ Category
The David Michod-helmed drama sells to eOne in the United Kingdom, Canada and Benelux, among other markets.
TORONTO — The Robert Pattinson starrer The Rover is getting gobbled up in a number of key territories.
The David Michod-helmed drama, which also stars Guy Pearce, has been sold in the U.K., Canada and Benelux territories to eOne, Scandinavia to Nordisk, Latin America to Sun Distribution, the Middle East to Italia Film and Eastern Europe (excluding Russia) to Revolutionary Releasing. Village Roadshow already picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.
FilmNation acquired the majority of worldwide sales rights to The Rover during the Cannes Film Festival in May and will continue to present the film to buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival. FilmNation also is handling U.S. sales with UTA.
Michôd, who became an in-demand director after the success of his debut Animal Kingdom, also wrote The Rover, which begins shooting in the winter and is based on a story he conceived with actor Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby).
Set in a dystopian future, the story centers on a hardened loner, Eric (Pearce), who travels the desolate towns and roads of the Australian outback. When a brutal gang of thieves steals his car and his only remaining possession, they leave behind the wounded Rey (Pattinson). Forcing Rey to help track the gang, Eric will go to any lengths to take back the one thing that matters to him.
“We’ve had a great response from buyers so far,” FilmNation’s Glen Basner said. “David has emerged as an innovative filmmaker, generating much anticipation for his next film among both distributors and audiences worldwide.”
David Linde will produce The Rover for Lava Bear Films, while Liz Watts will produce for Porchlight Films with Michôd.
From The Playlist:
To say that Robert Pattinson has been filling his post-“Twilight” calendar with ambitious films would be an understatement. This weekend brings his trippy David Cronenberg odyssey “Cosmopolis,” and over the past few weeks and months, the actor has signed on to a handful of interesting films, including “Mission: Blacklist” about the hunt for Saddam Hussein, Werner Herzog’s historical tale “Queen of the Desert” and “Animal Kingdom” director David Michôd’s “The Rover.” And it’s the latter about which the actor has shared some tantalizing details.
Catching up with Pattinson as he did press rounds for “Cosmopolis,” he filled us in on what we might expect from Michôd’s follow-up to his crime drama “Animal Kingdom.” Set to shoot next year, “The Rover” boasts some pretty big ideas behind its deceptively simple set up. “It’s a kind of a western,” Pattinson explained. “It’s very existential. It’s really interesting. I couldn’t really explain to you what it’s about but it’s sort of about how much pain can the world take and how much disgust and cruelty before love dies. I think that’s kind of what it’s about.” (Cronenberg, who was in the room, chimed in with: ” That sounds pretty heavy!”)
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From The Herald Sun:
The actor, who has a mass worldwide fan base thanks to The Twilight Saga films, will play a thief in the Outback in Animal Kingdom director David Michod’s futuristic western The Rover.
Guy Pearce has also been confirmed for the shoot, which will start in South Australia in late January next year.
Michod and producer Liz Watts scouted locations across SA, including the Flinders Ranges, earlier this month.
Flinders Ranges Mayor Peter Slattery said it would be a treat if Pattinson were in the region during the seven-week on-location shoot. Another two weeks will be shot at the Adelaide Studios.
“I daresay it would induce a bit of excitement in the area,” he said. “The spin-off effect is that the attention on them cross-promotes the area that we’re in. We certainly would be most enthused about him coming.”
Pattinson will have the choice of SA’s best Outback hospitality, from Wilpena Pound, luxury homestead Arkaba Station and Rawnsley Park Luxury Eco Villas to iconic tourist destination the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna.
The South Australian Film Corp has invested $450,000 in the project, which was approved in the latest round of Screen Australia funding.
The Rover’s overall funding budget is $12,250,000.
Press release:
Screen Australia has announced almost $20 million investment in a diverse slate of feature films, adult television drama projects and children’s television series. The investment in 12 projects will trigger $100 million in production.
Features approved include The Rover, a futuristic Western from the producer and writer/director of Animal Kingdom, Liz Watts and David Michôd. Michôd will join Watts and David Linde (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as a producer. The film’s cast includes world-class acting talents Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce.
Screen Australia’s Chief Executive Ruth Harley said, “These four highly engaging and diverse Australian stories have huge potential. The Rover is a powerful well-crafted script from a talented team with an impressive cast. Anna Broinowski’s Aim High in Creation is a distinctive, ambitious film with a humorous and entertaining story. Felony has international breakout potential and Healing promises to be a highly emotional and moving story on screen.”
THE ROVER
Porchlight Films Pty Ltd in association with Lava Bear Films LLC
Producers Liz Watts, David Linde, David Michôd
Writer/Director David Michôd
International Sales FilmNation
Australian Distributor Village Roadshow
Synopsis The Australian desert in a dangerous and damaged near future. Eric has left everything, everyone and every semblance of human kindness behind him. And then he has his last possession stolen by a gang of dangerous criminals. Eric sets off on a ruthless mission to track them down, forced along the way to enlist the help of Rey, the naïve and injured junior member of the gang, who was left behind in the bloody chaos of the gang’s most recent robbery.
From THR:
Robert Pattinson’s new starring role was given the greenlight.
Screen Australia said it will provide production financing for a previously announced Australian feature film project,The Rover, from Animal Kingdom writer-director David Michod. The Twilight star and Guy Pearce are both attached.
Set in the Australian desert, the futuristic western tells the story of Eric, who has left everything, everyone and every semblance of human kindness behind him, as he’s forced to join an injured gang member, Rey, to hunt down Rey’s gang after they steal the last of Eric’s possessions.
The Rover is produced by Porchlight Films in association with Los Angeles-based Lava Bear Films, with Liz Watts, David Linde and Michod producing. Film Nation will handle international sales, and Roadshow Films will be the Australian distributor.
The Rover is one of four features, four adult TV dramas and four kids TV series to receive $20 million of production funding from agency Screen Australia, triggering more than $100 million worth of production here.
Press release Source/Via
According to if.au The Rover is set to start shooting in January 2013 and to wrap around March.
The Rover
Updated: 11/07/2012
Status: In Development
Category: Feature
Teaser: A man pursues a gang who stole his car through the wild and rough Australian outback of the near future.
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Director : David Michod
Producer : David Linde, Liz Watts
Line Producer : Libby Sharpe
Writer: David Michod
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Guy Pearce
Location: South Australia
Production Company : Lava Bear Films, Porchlight Films
Start Shoot: Proposed- January 24th, 2013
Wrap Shoot: Proposed- late March, 2013
source | Via | Via | Via
The limo in which travels the powerful trader (played by Robert Pattinson), on an apocalyptic morning in New York, – where he sees from time to time the world he thought he possessed, slipping through his fingers – felt for a long time like a coffin for the actor, who though he would never get out of.
“Cronenberg disguised me with sunglasses. You have no idea how unsettling it is for an actor to be deprived of their eyes. Then the limo became the center of the film, where all the actors would appear in, one by one. Like Juliette Binoche, for example, who I never thought I would meet one day. That is when, I finally felt liked I existed. It might have been the first time.”
When he auditioned for The Rover, the next David Michod (the Austrlian director of Animal Kingdom, one of the most remarkable police movie of the decade): “I waited for seven hours, but I made it. They chose me and it’s going to be a great movie.” When he said that, he held his head high with the pride of someone who landed the role using his teeth, aware that nothing will be offered to him on a plate.
Source | Via | Via
From Deadline
Cannes, May 21, 2012 – FilmNation Entertainment has acquired the majority of worldwide rights to The Rover from Animal Kingdom writer-director David Michôd (Hesher). Michôd has written the script based on a story he conceived with Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby).
This deal marks FilmNation’s migration into the acquisition space after ramping up their film investments and development slate. In addition to a full-fledged international sales arm, the banner now effectively develops, finances, and produces projects in-house as well as acquiring filmmaker driven content.
The Rover is set in the Australian desert in a dangerous and dysfunctional near future. Eric has left everything and every semblance of human kindness behind him. When his last possession, his car, is stolen by a gang of dangerous criminals, Eric sets off to track them down and is forced along the way to enlist the help of Reynolds, the naïve simpleton member of the gang left behind in the bloody chaos of the gang’s most recent escape.
Read more after the jump
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From if.com (Australia):
Producer Liz Watts is calling David Michod’s new film The Rover “a dirty and dangerous near-future western set in the Australian desert”.
She confirmed what the Internet is buzzing about: that Guy Pearce and Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson are in discussions to play, respectively, a man in pursuit of the people who stole his car and the brother of one of the thieves in Michod’s follow-up to Animal Kingdom.
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From Gossip Cop:
It’s been a big 24 hours forRobert Pattinson.
Gossip Cop has confirmed that the Twilight star has joined The Rover, a film that follows one man’s pursuit through the Australian Outback of the men who stole his car.
His rep confirms the casting to Gossip Cop.
Pattinson will play a character named Reynolds in director David Michod’s movie, which is set in the near future.
Late Wednesday, it was announced that Pattinson will star in Mission: Blacklist.
From Deadline:
Robert Pattinson has been cast as one of the leads in David Michod’s The Rover. The film chronicles a man who relentless pursues a gang who stole his car through the wild and rough Australian outback of the near future. Pattinson, best known for playing Edward in the Twilight franchise, will play Reynolds, the brother of one of the thieves who is left behind when an encounter with the police goes very wrong. Guy Pearce co-stars in the film as the man in search of his car. David Linde’s Lava Bear and Liz Watts’ Porchlight are producing the film. Pattinson was just attached to star in Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Mission Blacklist, and he also toplines the David Cronenberg-directed Cosmopolis that is in competition at this month’s Cannes Film Festival. David Michod is repped by UTA, Australian Agent Jane Cameron at Cameron Cresswell and attorney Alan Wertheimer. UTA Independent Film Group is representing The Rover for sale. Pattinson is repped by WME, 3 Arts, and Curtis Brown.
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Thinking of Rob 