More from Rob's Interview with USA Today - talks about future projects

On Nov. 18, he'll reprise his role as vampire/new father Edward Cullen opposite Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn— Part 2, the final installment in Stephenie Meyer's behemoth series.

But before that, he'll appear in a surreal role as a Wall Street banker in David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis (due in August), which earned a standing ovation for its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

"I used to think it was a good thing to have a safety net," says Pattinson, 26, of his starmaking Twilight role. "To know you're always safe is not real. It's got to matter."

So after Breaking Dawn, Pattinson will launch into a busy slate of projects that are starting to take shape.

"I have five things going — actually six," he says. "I'm pretty sure I know which one is going to be first."

That would be Mission: Blacklist (2013), based on the true story of the interrogator credited with locating Saddam Hussein after the fall of his regime. After that, Pattinson will head to Australia with Guy Pearce to shoot The Rover, a thriller set in the post-apocalyptic future. It will be directed by David Michod (who wrote and directed 2010's critically acclaimed Aussie film Animal Kingdom).

Like his role in Cosmopolis, this movie doesn't quite fit into a box.

"It's really complicated to explain," Pattinson says, laughing. "I seem to like choosing movies lately that are difficult to promote."

USA Today

Hollywood's 'Young Royalty' in Cannes - New Quotes from Rob

ETA: Added more new quotes from Rob (source/source)

But at the 65th annual Cannes Film Festival, a number of young Hollywood stars are attempting to do just that. By striking out on their own, they hope to move their careers beyond mega franchises and toward more mature roles in bolder films.
Robert Pattinson ("Twilight"), Kristen Stewart (also "Twilight"), Shia LaBeouf ("Transformers," ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull") and Zac Efron ("High School Musical") all have films in competition at the French Riviera festival.
In David Cronenberg's Don DeLillo adaptation "Cosmopolis," which is to premiere at Cannes on Friday, Pattinson stars as a Manhattan billionaire on a crosstown odyssey.

"It's changed the way I see myself," Pattinson said in an interview ahead of his festival arrival.

"I'm kind of getting older," the 26-year-old actor says. "People aren't thinking of me as a kid anymore, so I've got to stop behaving like one."

With the next "Twilight" installment, part two of "Breaking Dawn," due out this November, Pattinson has also lined up parts in David Michod's "The Rover" (a role he says he fought harder for than any in years) and the military thriller "Mission: Black List." Like "Cosmopolis," they're films without the surrounding hoopla of blockbusters.

"When you do a big franchise movie, there's a ton of pressure on you that's really nothing to do with the job at all," says Pattinson. "You have to adapt to an entirely different world, rather than just try to get better at acting and do better within your movies. As soon as you become famous, your movies and your life become one and the same in the eyes of the public in a lot of ways."

Certainly, most actors would eagerly jump at the chance to star in well-paying, hugely promoted movies. But iconic roles begun as teenagers can choke promising acting careers. Stewart, Pattinson's 22-year-old "Twilight" co-star, is also expanding into new territory at Cannes with Walter Salles' anticipated adaptation of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." It was to premiere Wednesday.

(...)

"There's no point in being scared of just trying," says Pattinson. "The worst that can happen is just failure, right?"

From USAToday (click to read full article)

Shia LaBeouf, Robert Pattinson, Zac Efron, Kristen Stewart.

The young guns are gunning for the Cannes Film Festival 2012 -- and they are demanding respect.

This year's festival slate features a veritable Who's Who in Young Hollywood. Each has flexed some serious box office muscle in their young careers, now they are hoping to show some acting chops. Each is in competition with their respective films.

(...)

Before he finishes off the Twilight series this year, Pattinson too is still looking for a meaty dramatic role which might come true in Cosmopolis. The film features some racy scenes in the back of Pattinson's banker character's limousine (where most of the movie takes place).

He has sex with Juliette Binoche and even has a prostate exam while trying to seduce another woman -- this is a David Cronenberg film after all.

But not the Rob Pattinson we all know.

"I don't like people thinking that they know me," says Pattinson. "You do all you can to surprise people. And hopefully some people will find that interesting."

His Twilight co-star, and longtime girlfriend, Kristen Stewart will also show a new side in the Walter Salles' film On the Road. Pattinson has seen the movie and calls it "amazing."

(...)

After Cannes 2012, we're going to see many of these stars in a different light.

Via | Via

FilmNation Acquires Most Of World for ‘The Rover’

We posted the news about Rob joining the cast of 'The Rover' here.

Cannes, May 21, 2012 – FilmNation Entertainment has acquired the majority of worldwide rights to The Rover from Animal Kingdom writer-director David Michôd (Hesher). Michôd has written the script based on a story he conceived with Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby).

This deal marks FilmNation’s migration into the acquisition space after ramping up their film investments and development slate. In addition to a full-fledged international sales arm, the banner now effectively develops, finances, and produces projects in-house as well as acquiring filmmaker driven content.

The Rover is set in the Australian desert in a dangerous and dysfunctional near future. Eric has left everything and every semblance of human kindness behind him. When his last possession, his car, is stolen by a gang of dangerous criminals, Eric sets off to track them down and is forced along the way to enlist the help of Reynolds, the naïve simpleton member of the gang left behind in the bloody chaos of the gang’s most recent escape.

David Linde will produce for Lava Bear Films, while Liz Watts will produce for Porchlight Films. Tory Metzger, President of Lava Bear, will oversee the production for the company. The film will also be produced in association with Blue Tongue Films, the directors collective of which Michôd is a member. Production will begin late 2012 in Australia.

FilmNation Entertainment’s Glen Basner said: “I loved Animal Kingdom and am thrilled to collaborate with such an exciting talent as David Michod. This film represents another big step for FilmNation as we continue to invest in high caliber films. The Rover is going to be one kick ass flick.”

Writer-director David Michôd said: “It’s a pretty clearly encouraging indicator for me with a new project when people of serious smarts and taste want to be involved and be involved early. I really feel like I’ve received that tick of approval in a big way today from the good folk at FilmNation.”

Added producer David Linde: “David Michôd has an incredibly unique voice and style that has already been acclaimed around the world. The Rover continues this style of combining powerful imagery with a story that draws you in from the opening scene. We are very pleased that FilmNation has joined us as our partner in both the US and other places around the globe.”

Producer Liz Watts said: “We are looking forward to working with David once again on The Rover – an international story of iconic proportions, imbued with the distinctiveness of David’s direction and storytelling with an Australian background not seen before. It’s fantastic to be partnering with FilmNation on the film, and together with Lava Bear we are all looking forward to getting into production.”

Territories excluded in the deal are: UK, Latin America, Australia & NZ, Benelux, Scandinavia, Greece, Indonesia, Middle East, Poland, Croatia/Slovenia, Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary, Serbia and Turkey.

FilmNation will represent the U.S. sales with UTA Independent Film Group. The deal was negotiated by UTA Independent Film Group, David Linde and Adam Rymer at Lava Bear and Glen Basner and Alison Cohen at FilmNation Entertainment. The producers were represented by attorneys Nina Stevenson and David Boyle.

Animal Kingdom won the Grand Jury Prize for World Dramatic Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival, a National Board of Review Award for Top Independent Films, Best First Film at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, and numerous awards from The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts including Best Picture and Best Director. Weaver received multiple nominations and other awards for her performance, including an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Michôd is represented by UTA, Australian agency Cameron Cresswell and attorneys Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum Morris & Klein.

At Cannes, FilmNation Entertainment is also handling international sales on The Bling Ring from director Sofia Coppola, Pedro Almodóvar’s comedy Los Amantes Pasajeros, the documentary Barca from director Paul Greengrass, and Tracers starring Taylor Lautner and produced by Temple Hill Entertainment. In addition, FilmNation has two in-competition titles: Lawless from director John Hillcoat starring Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy; and Jeff Nichols’ Mud which is also produced by FilmNation’s Aaron Ryder, starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon.

David Linde’s Lava Bear Films is currently developing a slate of projects including A Giant directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay he wrote as well, the Untitled Goffigan Thriller from writer L.D. Goffigan, and the Untitled David Goyer Project, a supernatural thriller project based on an original idea by David S. Goyer.

Liz Watts and Porchlight Films produced Michôd’s debut feature Animal Kingdom. Porchlight’s producer Vincent Sheehan’s most recent release was The Hunter, starring Willem Dafoe, adapted from the Julia Leigh novel, and directed by Daniel Nettheim. Porchlight is currently in post-production on the Australian/ German/ UK co-production, LORE, directed by Cate Shortland (Somersault); and feature debut of Tony Krawitz, Dead Europe, working with Producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning. Porchlight has a number of feature films in development including Valve, with Director Andrew Lancaster, and F***ked! A Romance with Red Dog director Kriv Stenders.

Deadline

'The Rover' Producer discusses Rob and the movie "a dirty and dangerous near-future western"

Producer Liz Watts is calling David Michod’s new film The Rover “a dirty and dangerous near-future western set in the Australian desert”.

She confirmed what the Internet is buzzing about: that Guy Pearce and Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson are in discussions to play, respectively, a man in pursuit of the people who stole his car and the brother of one of the thieves in Michod's follow-up to Animal Kingdom.

Reluctantly, Watts also added a few more details: it is hoped that The Rover will go into production late in the year and discussions about the project started 18 months ago between Michod and US producer David Linde.

Last year Linde opened the production and financing outfit Lava Bear Films with backing from Reliance Entertainment. At the time the company announced it had a first-look deal with Universal Pictures for the US and other significant international territories. Linde was, at one time, co-chair of Universal.

Read full article at the source | via

Rob Joins The Cast of 'The Rover'

Rob's rep confirms 'The Rover' - from GossipCop

It’s been a big 24 hours for Robert Pattinson.

Gossip Cop has confirmed that the Twilight star has joined The Rover, a film that follows one man’s pursuit through the Australian Outback of the men who stole his car.

His rep confirms the casting to Gossip Cop.

Pattinson will play a character named Reynolds in director David Michod’s movie, which is set in the near future.

From Variety

Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce is in negotiations to star in David Michod's "Rover."

Pearce will star as a man who after having his car stolen by a group of men pursues them through the wild and rugged Australian Outback. Pattinson will portray one of the thiefs.

Michod will helm and wrote the script which based on an idea he and "Animal Kingdom" star Joel Edgerton originated. David Linde and Liz Watts will produce through Linde's Lava Bear banner and Porchlight Films.

ETA: According to Variety's @TheInSneider

Rob is going to play the brother of the main car thief, who teams up with the lead (Guy Pearce) to get his car back.

From Deadline

Robert Pattinson has been cast as one of the leads in David Michod’s The Rover. The film chronicles a man who relentless pursues a gang who stole his car through the wild and rough Australian outback of the near future. Pattinson, best known for playing Edward in the Twilight franchise, will play Reynolds, the brother of one of the thieves who is left behind when an encounter with the police goes very wrong. Guy Pearce co-stars in the film as the man in search of his car. David Linde’s Lava Bear and Liz Watts’ Porchlight are producing the film. Pattinson was just attached to star in Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Mission Blacklist, and he also toplines the David Cronenberg-directed Cosmopolis that is in competition at this month’s Cannes Film Festival. David Michod is repped by UTA, Australian Agent Jane Cameron at Cameron Cresswell and attorney Alan Wertheimer. UTA Independent Film Group is representing The Rover for sale. Pattinson is repped by WME, 3 Arts, and Curtis Brown.

From The Playlist

Pattinson is now attached to star in "The Rover," the new movie from "Animal Kingdom" director David Michod. Based on an idea he developed with his friend Joel Edgerton, Michod penned the script which is a near future set story that will follow a man who goes on journey across the Australian outback to find his stolen car, which contains something invaluable to him. Also coming along for the ride is Guy Pearce, who gave one of the best performances of his career in "Animal Kingdom," so we're pretty excited to see them back together. Pattinson will play Reynolds in the film, but no word on Pearce's part just yet.

The plans is for the film to shoot this fall, and while everyone has an opinion on Pattinson, you can't fault his choices of late. He's clearly using the clout he's achieved to work with interesting directors and projects, and it's really hard to argue with that approach. And if it means his name can help get "The Rover" to get made, who are we to complain?

Article about the movie from Empireonline (April 2012)

After plugging away for years with shorts and other jobs, director David Michôd burst onto the wider cinematic scene in 2010 (though it arrived over here last year) with excellent rites-of-passage thriller Animal Kingdom. We’ve been waiting to see what he’d do next, feature-wise, and he’s locked in his follow-up directing job, The Rover.While Michôd will write and direct, the idea for the movie came from an idea he put together with Kingdom star Joel Edgerton, who's no slouch in the scribbling department either.While few details have leaked yet, Variety did learn that the story will follow a man hunting for his stolen car, which he desperately wants back because of what’s lurking within it. So a crime spin on Dude, Where's My Car? then?Though he hasn’t picked up the megaphone himself since Kingdom, Michôd’s kept busy, co-writing the short film Bear with Joel’s brother Nash Edgerton, which won acclaim at this year’s Sundance Fest. He’s also scheduled to contribute a piece of portmanteau pic Sydney Unplugged. 

And from Firstshowing (April 2012)

Another crime story. More from the twisted Australian mind(s) that brought us the brilliant crime drama Animal Kingdom next comes The Rover, a drama set to star Joel Edgerton, who has become quite a well-known actor since appearing in David Michod's Animal Kingdom in 2010. Variety reports on the news, saying David Michod has "finally settled on his follow-up" to Animal Kingdom, writing/directing this film, supposedly about "a man on a mission to retrieve his stolen car, which contains something invaluable to him." Rather vague. The project has producers and everything, with a production start date in Oz this fall.
The Rover, written and directed by David Michôd, is produced by David Linde's Lava Bear and Porchlight Films. Linde will produce for Lava Bear, Liz Watts will produce for Porchlight; Tory Metzger will oversee. Michod is part of Blue-Tongue Films, which includes Joel Edgerton's brother Nash, Spencer Susser and Kieran Darcy-Smith. Not much else is really known about this Rover project yet, but I was a huge fan of Animal Kingdom, one of my underrated favorites of that year. I'm looking forward to seeing this follow-up, and what exactly it is, plus who else he gets in the cast (like Teresa Palmer)! Stay tuned for more updates.