KNIGHTLEY: I think you could function anywhere. But I think when you get to the big ones, it becomes much more difficult to make it such a personal experience. I enjoy making films like A Dangerous Method more because you get so close with the people you’re working with. You rely on everybody on a very personal level, as a team. Bigger films are more difficult because the number of people is so huge. But the thing about working with you is that there’s always a definitive answer—they’re very much your films and you make the decisions. I find it quite difficult on studio films because there are so many different executives and things like that that you have to go through, so very often getting that definitive opinion is actually quite difficult. I always find it much easier when there’s one person whose vision you’re following, as opposed to many people.
CRONENBERG: Well, a benign dictatorship, I think, is what it’s supposed to be on a film set. But Rob Pattinson, who stars in the film I just shot, Cosmopolis, was commenting on that, too. He was saying that because he’s done these Twilight movies, he was sort of astonished that I could just make a decision right there on the set and that was it. But for me, that’s business as usual, of course.
After the rather staid costume drama of “A Dangerous Method,” a film that failed to embrace the kink promised in the premise of an sado-masochistic affair between Jung and a former patient, many started to wonder: had David Cronenberg gone soft? The filmmaker has been steadily moving into more mainstream territory, but generally managed to keep a little of the transgressiveness that made his name with films from “The Brood” to “Crash.” But with the Keira Knightley/Michael Fassbender drama? Not so much.
Well it appears that that was only a short-term issue: the teaser trailer for Cronenberg’s next, the Don DeLillo adaptation “Cosmopolis,” has arrived, and it looks like classic Cronenberg stuff. Following a twentysomething billionaire, who fears he’s going to be murdered, as he travels through Manhattan in a limo on the worst traffic day in record, the film’s been getting more attention than the filmmaker’s used to, seeing as it stars “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson, who, for certain demographics, is one of the biggest hearthrobs to hit the big screen in a long time. But that attention doesn’t seem to have made Cronenberg water things down — the brief, French-subtitled clip (which seems a little reminiscent of “Enter The Void” in its neon-inflected marketing) has sex, violence, body horror and bizarre images.
To those critics who see Cosmopolis as a “last-chance-saloon” opportunity for Robert Pattinson to prove himself, acclaimed director David Cronenberg recently gave them some choice soundbites to chew on.
With acutely polarized reviews of Bel Ami still arriving online daily, and likely to continue until after June 8, (the U.S release date recently announced by Magnolia Pictures for the Maupassant adapted period drama), many critics have taken a slash-and-burn approach to their assessment of the Brit actor. However, on a recent visit to Ontario’s famed Queens University, director Cronenberg added his formidable opinion to the ongoing debate about his latest leading man’s abilities.
The veteran director—creator of such provocative cinematic gems as Scanners, The Fly, A History of Violence, Dead Ringers, and more recently, A Dangerous Method—directed Pattinson in the forthcoming Cosmopolis. Based on Don Delillo’s dark novel about a young billionaire’s eventful limo journey into the underbelly of Manhattan, the film showcases the actor in nearly every scene. Co-stars Paul Giamatti and Mathieu Almaric say Pattinson is good in the film. Actually, make that great. And they’re not alone. Cronenberg—unsurprisingly, since he personally cast Pattinson—agrees.
His film Cosmopolis, based on the novel by Don Delillo, is in post-production. It stars Robert Pattinson as a Manhattan millionaire.
The film was shot in Toronto, a favourite shooting location of Cronenberg’s.
“I’ve never shot a foot of film in the U.S., even though a lot of my movies are set there,” he said.
Toronto also provided a refuge for Pattinson’s international celebrity, he said.
“When we were shooting on the streets, [Pattinson] had a lot of fans crowding around, but he could go to bars and clubs in his street clothes and people didn’t recognize him,” he said.
Here’s a great article about Cronenberg, Cosmopolis and the casting of Robert Pattinson from Criminal Complex
What is it with grim literary giants partnering with champion directors these days? Yesterday it was Ridley Scott and Cormac McCarthy. Today comes news of David Cronenberg tackling the tangled material of Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis. Cronenberg did his career a real solid when he broke from the “grand guignol of sexual perversion” genre and into the “crime” genre, and there’s little doubt he’ll do justice to Cosmopolis‘ vision of twisted Manhattan.
I lost no faith in this vision even after learning that the lead in Cosmopolis will be Robert Pattinson. Edward Cullen will lose his sparkle when under Cronenberg’s seamy hand.
Why am I so certain? Like any good gambler, I’m going to the track record.
While promoting “Goon,” a film he stars in and co-wrote, Jay Baruchel shared his experiences working for a short period of time on the Manhattan set of “Cosmopolis.” Unfortunately for the Pattinson fans out there, according to Baruchel, Cronenberg’s next movie might be too strange for them.
“An exceedingly strange movie,” Baruchel said, describing “Cosmopolis.” “All the Team Edward girls won’t be seeing this one, I don’t think.”
For Baruchel, working with Cronenberg — who made a name for himself with horror films — was a dream come true.”Basically, it was that Cronenberg is a hero of mine. I’m a Canadian boy. I love horror. That’s all I want to do,” Baruchel said. “If you’re a Canadian horror fan, Cronenberg’s the Holy Grail.”
The opportunity for Baruchel came about in a rather mundane way, but his reaction to it was anything but. “I was in Manhattan last year, keeping my lady company, and they called up and were like, ‘Hey, do you want to do two days on this new Cronenberg?’ I said, ‘Yep!’ ‘Wait, wait. We’ll send you the script.’ I couldn’t care less; what I’m playing is a means to an end. I just want to go and film-nerd-out about ‘Videodrome’ with him for two days.”
The actual experience of working with Cronenberg did not disappoint. “Not only did I get to go and be a fly on the wall for two days and watch one of my heroes do his thing, I actually had the pleasure being directed by him,” Baruchel said. “Coolest thing ever.”
Eric Packer is about to embark upon the worst car ride of his life. Thankfully, Robert Pattinson — the actor who plays Packer in “Cosmopolis” — doesn’t share his character’s fate.
Pattinson fans came out in full force to elect “Cosmopolis” the winner of the MTV Movie Brawl 2012, a weeks-long tournament that pitted several of 2012’s biggest releases against one another to determine which film is the must-see cinematic event of the year. After tense battles against titans like “Bel Ami,” “The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn: Part 2,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Hunger Games,” it’s Pattinson’s upcoming indie thriller that took home the grand prize.
It’s a surprising result for many onlookers, given that “Cosmopolis” has yet to release a trailer and only has a tentative release date of 2012. But Rob’s fans rallied behind their man, opting to support his future in “Cosmopolis” over his past in “Twilight” — a commanding decision from a massive fanbase that demands attention, to say the least. In fact, the movement was so strong that it even caught “Cosmopolis” director David Cronenberg’s eye even before the film won the brawl for it all. Shortly after the victory was announced, Cronenberg got on the phone with MTV News to talk about what “Cosmopolis” winning the MTV Movie Brawl means for the film, Pattinson’s performance, when fans can expect to see a trailer and much more.
MTV: David, thanks for talking with us! Have you been filled in on what’s happened with “Cosmopolis” over here? David Cronenberg: You know, I’ve been following it! I’m shocked! I’m shocked and amazed and really tickled. It proves that movie fans are unpredictable and really interesting and really passionate. It’s fantastic. I would have never, ever imagined that this would happen.
Cosmopolis
Synopsis: Based on the novel by American authorDon DeLillo, it centers on Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), a young multi-billionaire making an epic, ultimately doomed limo ride across New York City.
What You Need to Know:David Cronenberg is enjoying an unparalleled level of critical and commercial acceptance after decades hovering on the fringe. At the outset, “Cosmopolis” seems to fall in line with the mannered, critic-friendly films of the recent Cronenberg era. It is, after all, an adaptation of a critically revered and best-selling novel and stars hunky heartthrob-of-the-moment Robert Pattinson. But on closer inspection, the movie seems more atypical and dangerous (a good thing, since “A Dangerous Method” felt far too safe for a filmmaker known for exploding heads and genital mutilation), taking place primarily in a stretch limousine as it crawls through New York City (not exactly a cinematic conceit). A number of Cronenberg’s favorite thematic tics are explored, too, including man’s relationship with modern technology, the messiness of murder and sexual obsession. So while it might be sold as another buttoned-up late era Cronenberg think piece, we’re hoping it’s going to be ruder, looser, and more like the days of yore, even if it has to be without the exploding heads and genital mutilation.
Release Date: With press for “A Dangerous Method” occupying much of Cronenberg’s time in the fall of 2011, our guess is the fall film festival circuit will be the earliest we see the picture.
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