The Twilight actor and film director bring Cosmopolis, originally a novel by Don DeLillo, to the theater in eccentric and internal adaptation.
Cosmopolis, with its surprisingly refreshing partnership between director David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson, brings about this summer’s limited release, film extravaganza. The film, adapted from Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name, ventures into the seemingly controlled atmosphere of a limo as young, multi-billionaire Eric Packer is driven to get his hair cut, and, in proper Cronenberg fashion, the character’s eccentric self destruction ensues. Cronenberg, releasing his first film since 1999’s eXistenZ, promotes the film as a unique adaptation of the novel and claims Pattinson as the leading man in the visual reality.
Cronenberg realized the possibility of jumping from novel to film with Cosmopolis when he stripped the plot down to dialogue and wrote a screenplay based not off of Eric’s inner monologue but of his dialogue with other characters. Working with what Cronenberg calls the “emotional, physical and psychological reality” of the main character separates the film from the novel as the secondary characters get a voice and a physical body. Pattinson was aware that Cosmopolis was unique and complex, saying a film like it has “never been done before.” The 26 year-old actor also had nothing but praise for the otherwise strange Cronenberg as he deemed the director “the sweetest guy.”
The Pattinson-Cronenberg duo is bringing in a lot of attention for the film, Pattinson from his Twilight franchise following and Cronenberg because it’s his first film release in over a decade. The film was first released at the Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving positive reviews for the most part and reaching moderate success in France and Italy. Despite the scandal in his personal life with Kristen Stewart, Pattinson was positive and cheery at the New York City premiere (after a consoling chat over ice cream with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show).
Cosmopolis opens August 17th in select theaters.
