Sarah Gadon to Reunite With Robert Pattinson For David Cronenberg’s “Map to the Stars”

April 18, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

sarah-gadon The “Cosmopolis” duo of Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon are reuniting, and will star together in their director David Cronenberg’s next feature, “Map to the Stars”, according to Deadline. John Cusack and Julianne Moore have also joined the cast of the LA-set thriller, replacing previously-rumored cast members Viggo Mortensen and Rachel Weisz.

Bruce Wagner wrote the script on the long-gestating project, which involves Hollywood characters like actors, agents and managers, but beyond that there’s very little plot details, though both Cronenberg and Pattinson have used words like weird and absurd to describe the tone of the piece. It will also be Canadian director Cronenberg’s first time shooting in the US, Los Angeles, specifically. No word yet on when filming might begin, but the film will be out to buyers next month at Cannes, and with such stars attached, it probably won’t take too long to get funded.

Gadon can surely be considered a Cronenberg regular by now, even more than Pattinson, with this being her third film with David Cronenberg (“Cosmopolis” and Michael Fassbender-Viggo Mortensen period drama “A Dangerous Method” came previously), and she’s also done a movie with his son, Brandon Cronenberg, “Antiviral.” She recently wrapped up filming on thriller “An Enemy” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Melanie Laurent historical drama “Belle” with British thesps Sam Claflin and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Robert Pattinson to play a young Lawrence of Arabia, joins Naomi Watts in Werner Herzog’s “Queen of the Desert”

August 14, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Robert Pattinson continues to distance himself from the teenage dreamboat Edward Cullen, with Variety now reporting the “Twilight” heartthrob has joined Naomi Watts in Werner Herzog’s indie drama “Queen of the Desert”, in which he’ll play a young Lawrence of Arabia.

Watts stars as writer Gertrude Bell in the flick that chronicles “Bell’s life as a writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political attache for the British Empire. One of the first women to graduate from Oxford at the turn of the 20th century, she traveled through the Middle East, defining the borders of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.” Pattinson’s supporting role will be that of T.E. Lawrence, a British army officer whose brilliant writing of his experiences in WWI, particularly in his best known “Seven Pillars of Wonder”, earned him international acclaim as Lawrence of Arabia and became the subject of the iconic 1962 film starring Peter O’Toole. Lawrence and Bell were good friends and helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in Jordan and Iraq in the 1910s. Filming is scheduled for late fall.

Pattinson is currently making the promo rounds gearing up for the US release of David Cronenberg’s Cannes premiere “Cosmopolis”, while his final appearance as Edward Cullen in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II” will roll out in November. After the Herzog film Pattinson is scheduled to head to Australia for David Michod’s futuristic thriller “The Rover” opposite Guy Pearce, and he’s also attached to Iraq War thriller “Mission: Blacklist”, about the hunt for Saddam Hussein.

Sarah Gadon gives Adam Brody “All the Wrong Reasons” in new indie drama

July 10, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Up and coming Canadian actress Sarah Gadon has been set to star opposite Adam Brody in indie drama “All the Wrong Reasons”, according to Variety. Gadon’s “Cosmopolis” co-star Emily Hampshire and Kevin Zegers have also joined the cast. The quartet will play “four friends as they wander around New York City over the course of one eventful day,” with filming set to begin under the direction of Gia Milani later this month in Halifax, Canada.

Gadon’s film career has been on the rise ever since being discovered by acclaimed director David Cronenberg, who cast her in his latest two films, “A Dangerous Method” opposite Michael Fassbender, and the upcoming “Cosmopolis” opposite Robert Pattinson. She also worked for Cronenberg’s son Brandon Cronenberg on his feature directorial debut, “Antiviral.” Both “Antiviral” and “Cosmopolis” premiered at Cannes earlier this year. She recently wrapped up filming on thriller “An Enemy” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Melanie Laurent, and is attached to historical drama “Belle” with British thesps Sam Claflin and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Claflin and Sarah Gadon to star in historical drama “Belle”

May 15, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

British rising stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sam Claflin, along with Canadian up and comer Sarah Gadon, will star in historical drama “Belle”, according to Variety. Miranda Richardson, Tom Wilkinson and Matthew Goode will also be part of the ensemble cast.

BAFTA-winning director Amma Asante will direct the film based on the true story about a mixed-race young woman raised as an aristocratic lady in Blighty at the end of the 18th Century. Mbatha-Raw will play the titular Belle while Gadon will play her cousin. The film is out to buyers this week at the Cannes Film Festival.

Mbatha-Raw, one of BAFTA’s Brits to Watch this year, is currently a regular on Fox series “Touch” and can be seen opposite Anton Yelchin in the upcoming “Odd Thomas.” Gadon will be twice represnted at Cannes this year as the star of David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” and Brandon Cronenberg’s “Antiviral.” Claflin was last seen in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and will soon be seen as the Prince in “Snow White and the Huntsman.”

Sarah Gadon and Melanie Laurent join Jake Gyllenhaal in psychological thriller “An Enemy”

May 14, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer psychological thriller “An Enemy” has added a trio of actresses, according to Deadline. Up and comers Melanie Laurent and Sarah Gadon are joining Isabella Rossellini in the Denis Villeneuve-directed film that will begin shooting next week in Toronto.

Gyllenhaal plays a history teacher living a quiet life with his girlfriend until he stumbles upon a physically identical man living nearby with a pregnant wife. He begins stalking his double until the couples’ lives become intertwined with deadly consequences. Javier Gullón adapted José Saramago’s novel “The Double”, though it appears the adaptation is loose at best.

Laurent broke out in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar nominated “Inglorious Basterds” and was most recently seen opposite Christopher Plummer’s Oscar-winning performance in “Beginners.” She just wrapped up shooting on magician heist thriller “Now You See Me” opposite Jesse Eisenberg and Dave Franco. Gadon was a little known Canadian TV actress until director David Cronenberg gave her a double-hitter of opportunity, first casting her as Michael Fassbender’s wife in “A Dangerous Method” then opposite Robert Pattinson in the Cannes-bound “Cosmopolis.” Gadon will also be in Cannes representing David’s son Brandon Cronenberg’s futuristic sci-fi thriller “Antiviral.”

Robert Pattinson in negotiations for David Michod’s “The Rover” with Guy Pearce

May 3, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Big news day for Robert Pattinson fans! He’s got a new movie, North American distribution for “Cosmopolis”, and now he can add perhaps his most interesting role choice to date to that list. Variety reports Pattinson is in negotiations to join Guy Pearce in “Animal Kingdom” director David Michod’s “The Rover.”

Michod directed 2010′s Australian feature “Animal Kingdom” to international acclaim, and has reunited with star Pearce on a film about a man who pursues a group of thieves through the Australian outback after they steal something valuable from his car. Pearce plays the man, while Pattinson would play one of the thieves. Filming is scheduled to begin this fall in Australia. Michod also wrote the script based on an idea he conceived with “Animal Kingdom” star Joel Edgerton.

Pattinson recently wrapped up the final “Twilight” installment “Breaking Dawn: Part II”, which will be released this November, and is headed to Cannes later this month for his starring role in David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis.” He was just recently confirmed to be starring in Iraq War drama “Mission: Blacklist” about the intelligence team that hunted down Saddam Hussein.

Robert Pattinson to hunt Saddam Hussein in “Mission: Blacklist”

May 3, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Forget Osama Bin Laden, Robert Pattinson is going old school. While plenty of filmmakers (including Kathryn Bigelow and Peter Berg) are racing to bring a dramatization of Navy SEALs hunting down the Al Qaeda leader to the big screen, Pattinson is going in a different direction and has committed to playing the man who spearheaded the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. In “Mission: Blacklist”, based on the novel by Eric Maddox.

Pattinson is attached to star in the film that will be out to buyers at Cannes, with Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire attached to direct from a script by Erik Jendresen. Pattinson will play Maddox, who accounted his own experience of being deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2003 to track down leads that can lead the US military to raids on High Value Targets within the Iraqi insurgency. Five months later, Saddam Hussein himself was in custody. “This movie is a gripping, edge of your seat thriller,” says producer Ross M. Dinerstein. “I have been inspired by Robert and Jean-Stéphane’s dedication to tell this story in the most authentic way possible, and I’m thrilled to add Hugo and Tim to our team.”

Pattinson set teenage girls’ hearts all aflutter after originating the role of Edward Cullen in the “Twilight” saga back in 2008, and has been doing his damnedest to get away from that teen idol reputation with his roles since. The final installment in the vampire trilogy will be released this November in “Breaking Dawn: Part II” and Pattinson is headed to Cannes later this month to premiere one of those anti-”Twilight” films, David Cronenberg’s “Cosomopolis.”

Full Cannes 2012 Lineup: “Twilight” invasion, Sarah Gadon on double Cronenberg duty and the return of Jessica Chastain

April 18, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards, General News Leave a comment

The official Cannes Film Festival lineup has finally been unveiled and looks like we can expect a more than usual number of up and coming young actors to head to the French Riviera next month. As expected, teen phenomenon “Twilight” will be well represented with stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart each headlining a Cannes-bound flick for the very first time. Pattinson stars in David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don DeLillo novel “Cosmopolis”, while Stewart plays a supporting role in Walter Salles’ long-gestating, highly anticipated adaptation of Jack Kerouac classic “On the Road.” Also perhaps hoping to shed that teen idol image and gain some serious acting cred at the festival is former “High School Musical” star Zac Efron, who stars in Lee Daniels’ “The Paperboy.” Daniels’ “Precious” played Un Certain Regard two years ago and went on to earn a boatload of Oscar nominations.

“Cosmopolis”, “On the Road” and “The Paperboy” will all play in competition and will be eligible for awards at the end of the festival. “On the Road” will also bring to Cannes promising young talents Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund, as well as a return for last year’s Best Actress winner Kirsten Dunst.

Meanwhile, Pattinson’s “Cosomopolis” co-star Sarah Gadon, also a first-timer, will represent not one but two Cronenbergs a the festival. In addition to “Cosmopolis”, she is also the star of David’s son Brandon Cronenberg’s first feature, the futuristic sci-fi thriller “Antiviral”, accepted into the Un Certain Regard lineup for this year. “Antiviral” co-stars “X-Men: First Class”‘s Caleb Landry Jones.

Also pulling double duty this year is returning vet Jessica Chastain, who wowed with her performance in the Palm d’Or winner “The Tree of Life” last year. She returns this year as an Oscar nominee touting two films, the animated “Madagascar 3″ and John Hillcoat’s Prohibition-era drama “Lawless” (previously titled “The Wettest County in the World”, and not to be confused with Terrence Malick’s next feature). “Lawless” also stars Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and recent “Chronicle” breakout star Dane DeHaan.

Other up and comers we’ll be keeping an eye on include Bella Heathcote in Andrew Dominik’s “Killing Them Softly”, Michael Shannon’s reunion with “Take Shelter” director Jeff Nichols on “Mud”, and Sundance breakout star Quvenzhané Wallis of “The Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

We here at Up and Comers will be at Cannes for the very first time this year too, so expect news, reviews and exclusives straight from the Croisette!

See the full line-up of films below.

Watch: Robert Pattinson is headed to Cannes, as confirmed in full length trailer for David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis”

April 18, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

We’ve probably all known this for quite a while, but the first full length trailer for David Cronenberg’s trippy adaptation of Don DeLillo novel “Cosmopolis” makes it official. “Twilight” heartthrob Robert Pattinson is heading to the Cannes Film Festival for the very first time as he stars as Eric Packer, a billionaire playboy whose quest to get a haircut is ran wildly off-course by mysterious assassins, sexual partners (none of which are his wife, played by Sarah Gadon), giant rats and several apparent suicide attempts. You know, the usual Manhattan rush hour traffic.

The trailer comes just hours before the official announcement of the final Cannes lineup will be announced by Thierry Frémaux, the Festival’s General Delegate. We already know Wes Anderson’s latest offering, “Moonrise Kingdom”, will open the festival, and it was also recently revealed that the late French director Claude Miller’s final film, “Therese D” starring Audrey Toutou, will close it.

Other strong Cannes contenders include Walter Salles’ “On the Road”, starring Pattinson’s “Twilight” paramour Kristen Stewart, and Lee Daniels’ “The Paperboy” starring Zac Efron. Looks like Cannes will really be drawing in the interest of that coveted youth demographic this year.

Watch the new “Cosmopolis” trailer below and check back soon for the full Cannes lineup.

Watch: Robert Pattinson shoots, swaggers and romps his way through David Cronenberg’s NSFW “Cosmopolis” teaser trailer

March 22, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Videos 7 Comments

The first teaser trailer for David Cronenberg‘s adaptation of Don Delillo’s “Cosmopolis” has been released today and there’s kink, crime and nudity; it would seem that Robert Pattinson sure is trying to break away from Edward Cullen.

As the British actor looks to shed his Twilight image, and the famed director aims to gain back some of the critical acclaim that rumours would suggest he has recently lost, we see Pattinson’s Eric Packer shoot himself in the hand, have sex in a limosine and ask us darkly to “show me something I don’t know”.

Actually, it looks like Pattinson is showing us something we don’t know.

“Cosmopolis” is rumoured to premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and also stars Sarah Gadon, Samantha Morton and Jay Baruchel. See the first teaser below.

Page 1 of 312 3 »

cosmopolis