Robert Pattinson has two big films playing at Cannes this year. Personally, I’m most looking forward to The Rover, which co-stars Guy Pearce and is directed by Animal Kingdom helmer David Michod. The first clip for that one premiered yesterday and quite frankly, it looks excellent. His other movie though, David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars, is definitely worth keeping an eye out for as well.
With a star studded cast that will see Pattinson alongside John Cusack, Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams and Sarah Gadon, there’s definitely good reason to be excited for this one. The plot revolves around a Hollywood dynasty and the film looks to offer an interesting look into the lives of the rich and famous. Plus, the script comes from Bruce Wagner, an author known for his “acerbic view of the Hollywood entertainment industry.”
All the pieces are in place here for Maps to the Stars to be a thoroughly entertaining look behind the scenes of fame and fortune, and what those things can do to people. I’m just not entirely sure what to make of it yet. A new trailer was released today and the footage it shows makes it a bit hard to nail down the tone that it’s going for. The whole thing comes off as a bit strange and off-kilter at points. Then again, this is a David Cronenberg film, so I guess that’s to be expected.
That being said, I’m definitely looking forward to Maps to the Stars. For one, it will be great to see Robert Pattinson working with Cronenberg again as the last time the two paired up, we got Cosmopolis. Though that was far from a perfect film, it allowed Pattinson a real opportunity to “graduate” from the Twilight world and really flex his acting chops. It started to get critics to see that he’s a bonafide leading man and I imagine that this film will only reinforce that fact. Combined with The Rover, I have no doubt that the actor will start to see more meaty material coming his way in the near future.
The other thing that has me really excited here is that with Cosmopolis, Cronenberg had the chance to dabble with some social satire, and the results were mostly effective. Maps to the Stars looks like it will give him another opportunity to do the same and I’m interested to see what him and Wagner have come up with. Especially since he’ll be taking on Hollywood.
However it turns out, Maps to the Stars is certainly another ambitious project for the director and I’m very curious to see those first reviews from Cannes.
Check out the new trailer below and let us know what you make of it.