I kid. David Cronenberg is not dumping Viggo Mortensen as his current muse. In fact, Viggo is eyeing a role in the filmmaker’s intended next, Maps To The Stars. Sound familiar? It should, as David almost got the project off the ground a few years back before financing ultimately fell through.
Maps To The Stars is a dark satire about two former child actors whose lives have been ruined by their time in Hollywood. It’s an “L.A. story” according to Cronenberg and will mark the first time he has actually shot on U.S. soil if it gets made. The script was penned by novelist/screenwriter Bruce Wagner. Wagner is also responsible for an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s As She Climbed Across The Table that Cronenberg intends to direct in the near future.
So who is this new acting carryover? Robert Pattinson. It seems the two got on very well while making this year’s Cosmopolis and are bent on continuing their collaboration. I’m sure the rave reviews that are coming out both about the film and Pattinson’s performance certainly aren’t dissuading them either. Don’t look for their team-up to end here either, as he has referred to Maps To The Stars as “their next picture”. Sounds like David is smitten.
I’m sure quite a few of the director’s followers will cry foul over this, just like they did when Pattinson was cast in the filmmaker’s latest. I can’t really comment myself, as I’ve only caught the actor’s work in the Harry Potter and Twilight franchise so far. That said, I’ve heard good things about his turns in Remember Me and Water For Elephants, despite the overall opinions most seem to have about the films themselves. More than anything though, I trust David and that trust has never led me astray.
It’s also refreshing to see a filmmaker actually making good on most of his promised projects for a change. Too often we see directors signing onto film after film. The lists of potential efforts only seem to grow these days when it comes to our favorites, with no actual progress being made. Not so with Cronenberg. While a few have died*, the man stills seems enthused about making the rest. Both Cosmopolis and Maps To The Stars have been knocking around on his slate for awhile. Unless I’m missing something, his remaining projects are an Eastern Promises sequel, the aforementioned Lethem adaptation, and an original script which we know nothing about. Hopefully all will get made over the next few years. That said, I’ll follow Cronenberg on any journey his wishes to guide me on…no matter the mode of transportation or the destination.
Death to the demoness Bella Swan!
Source | Deadline
* – A new Fly project that Fox passed on, an American remake of Timecrimes, and the still defunct adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s The Matarese Circle…which had Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise on board…that was torpedoed when MGM went under a few years back.