Movie news feeds have been preoccupied over the last couple of weeks with news of two of the year’s bigger films – Prometheus and The Hunger Games.
Meanwhile, the trailer for what looks to be one of the year’s more interesting films has snuck out almost unnoticed. This is Cosmopolis, based on Don DeLillo’s novel, which has been adapted by David Cronenberg and stars Robert Pattinson, in what will be one of his post-Twilight roles.
DeLillo, Cronenberg and Pattinson seems a pretty intriguing combination to me. I read the book when it came out – it’s very slim, but as you’d expect from a writer like Don DeLillo, it felt like every word counted. It’s set over one day, and most of the action takes place in the back of a limo as a billionaire asset-manager heads across Manhattan to get a haircut.
Of course, it’s not quite as simple as it sounds. I’ll be fascinated to see what Croneberg makes of it. I didn’t mind A Dangerous Method – it was fun to see Cronenberg play around with the tropes of costume dramas – but I’m very vibed at the idea of the director doing what from the trailer looks to be a pretty slick, unsettling contemporary drama. And there’s cars, right? Remember the last time Cronenberg did stuff with cars…
It’s going to be interesting, too, to see how Pattinson fares, outside his Twilight comfort zone. He wasn’t really pushed in Bel Ami, and I’ve yet to really see whether or not he’s got the chops for a lasting career. You’d think, one way or another, Cronenberg would be the making of him.
Anyway, I suspect it’ll be in this year’s Cannes Film Festival – it’s scheduled to open in France at the end of May – so let’s hope it gets over to UK cinemas soon after.