Well, we’re in the unlikely position that the world’s premiere art-film festival may be mobbed by screaming Twihards, as Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are actors in the main competition. The former is a bored billionaire (pictured right, with Sarah Gadon playing his wife) in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, the latter is On The Road, Walter Salles’s adaptation of the Jack Kerouac novel.
The two films are part of the North American indie wave hitting the beaches of Cannes, from Wes Anderson’s opener Moonrise Kingdom to Brad Pitt in Andrew Dominik’s Killing Me Softly. Zac Efron is in Lee Daniels’s The Paperboy, along with Matthew McConaughey, who also stars in Jeff Nichols’s Mud. Meanwhile, this year’s Sundance sensation, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, is in the funkier Un Certain Regard competition, along with Brandon “son of” Cronenberg and his Antiviral. The film is about a man “who harvests viruses from sick celebrities and then sells them”. Like father, like son…
Cannes would not be Cannes without the art-house big hitters and, as in 2009, Michael Haneke and Jacques Audiard face each other for the Palme d’Or. Bets are on that Haneke’s Amour will lose out to Audiard’s Rust & Bone, which features Marion Cotillard, and killer whales. Other films are from Abbas Kiarostami, Matteo Garrone and Ulrich Seidl. But no women directors made the competition cit, much to the irritation of many on Twitter.
Journalist (J): The film, produced by Paulo Branco Portuguese, will compete for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The list chosen to tender, selected by the jury, was released this morning in Paris and includes the movie Cosmopolis, directed by David Cronenberg and produced by Paulo Branco. The film has been touted as one of the movies of the year and his debut is generating great expectations. The main actor is Robert Pattinson, star of movies of the Twilight saga, which has built an army of fans around the world.
I: Paulo, good evening. This is the 11th movie that you produce and has been selected to the competition in Cannes – the most important film festival in Europe. From what we saw in the trailer and from the little we know, this is not an European movie. Is this your most important movie?
PB: Well, as a producer I like to think all movies are important, but this one is special, of course. It’s a movie where, for the first time, I worked the way they do on the other side of the Atlantic. It was filmed in Toronto with one of the best directors in the world, David Cronenberg, that was kind enough to listen and accept my proposal, and with great Hollywood actors. And it’s the first time I work on a movie this big and with this budget.
I:We’re talking about a major production?
PB: We’re talking about a medium American production, about 15M Euros. A French-Canadian movie. We had as much support from France as from Canada. Although, it is a budget that indie producers are not used to, especially with the freedom I had to produce this movie: choosing the director, David Cronenberg, and the actors (along with Cronenberg). It was an unique experience. I am proud (for the movie) to be in Cannes now; to be aknowledged. Every movie in Cannes, in competition, they’re not just “another movie”. It’s always something special, someone who has been and follows the festival, can understand.
I:The cast and crew of this movie is impressive. Famous director, David Cronenberg. The main actors are, I should say, even more famous (Juliette Binoche and Robert Pattinson, from the Twilight Saga). I want to know if there’s anything planned for the release of the movie in Portugal in May with them?
PB:Precisely. It was created some sort of empathy with Don de Lillo, David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson, that since the beginning, when I talked about the idea of doing a small promo tour in Europe to promote the movie, starting in Portugal, they immediately accepted. They’ll be here right after Cannes for the Portuguese premiere of the movie. I think it’s an unique event, for a movie premiere, in Portugal. And an example of professionalism and devotion from the people that worked in this film. For Pattinson, this project is essential. He watched the movie and personally told me that it was, maybe, the project that he was most proud of and wanted to support it wherever it was necessary. Don DeLillo, one of the biggest writers in the world, when saw the movie… (Interviewer interrupts Paulo Branco)
The last question is hard to understand, Paulo Branco talks about Cannes, promoting and selling movies at the festival.
The European Film Market at the 62nd Berlinale was buzzing for Franco-American production The We and the I by Michel Gondry, pre-sold by the Parisian company Kinology. The new film by the director of Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind was filmed last year in New York in the Bronx, and follows high school students on the bus home on the last day of the school year. The film is a sort of study of group dynamics and the evolution of relationships as the bus gradually becomes emptier, and has been acquired in Berlin for several small territories, according toGrégoire Melin, who will unveil footage from the film a few weeks before Cannes, where he will also be counting on Cosmopolis by David Cronenberg, already pre-sold practically everywhere in the world.
The Uma Thurman and Robert Pattinson vehicle Bel Ami, adapted from Guy de Maupassant’s short story, will be ready for Cannes or Venice. Rights have already been sold to Studio Canal Plus for France and Germany. Optimum has UK rights.
The International Film Festival in Venice runs from August 31 to September 10 and the selection is announced in July. In case the film would not be presented at Cannes, it is legitimate to think that they will be offered the choice of Venice. Remains to see whether the conditions for selection are the same as for Cannes, ie no diffusion in a country other than the original one. If so, expect to see the film’s release date pushed back again. We will know more next April, the month in which the films will be officially announced for the selection at Cannes.
Robert Pattinson
c/o Curtis Brown Group Ltd.
Haymarket House
5th Floor, 28-29
Haymarket
London, SW1Y 4SP
England
or
Robert Pattinson
c/o Endeavor Agency
Stephanie Ritz
9601 Wilshire Blvd. Floor 3
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
USA
Calendar
March 2026
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Partners
DISCLAIMER
Thinking of Rob is not affiliated with Robert Pattinson or his management in any way.
There is no copyright infringement intended on this blog. If you are the original owner of any media used and would like it removed, we will be happy to do so, please contact us.
Copyright and Trademark Notice
All original content on this site, including any manipulations or enhancements, is the sole copyright of ThinkingofRob™ and ToR™.
Thinking of Rob 