Robert Pattinson’s Cosmopolis and Kristen Stewart’s On The Road: Yes, They Cannes


Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will attend the forthcoming Cannes Festival. That’s the word from on high, aka The Hollywood Reporter. No-one knows who THR have been talking to and they ain’t saying, but yesterday they made this unequivocal statement: “Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have a date on the French Riviera.”

“Holy cow, that’s astounding,” as Paul Giamatti might say. But perhaps it isn’t. Widespread desire to see this hotter-than-hot couple tread the red at Cannes with two equally hot films – the David Cronenberg directed, surreal shocker, Cosmopolis, and Walter Salles’s, Kerouac adapted, On the Road – is so high, the likelihood that this uber-event would happen was always fairly strong. And now it is. With THR reporting a Cannes showing for Cosmopolis and On The Road as a done deal, many insiders now see the official confirmation of these two films in the festival line-up (due April 19), as a mere formality.

It’s likely Cronenberg always intended Cosmopolis to show at Cannes, yet the build towards today’s news has been both refreshingly low-key and organic. Since last year, media interviews with cast members Sarah Gadon, Juliet Binoche, Patricia Mckenzie, Jay Baruchel and Paul Giamatti have gradually eased movie-watchers into a state of expectancy about Cosmopolis. Likewise during promotional chores for A Dangerous Method, whenever the inevitable question about his casting of Pattinson came up, Cronenberg readily explained his choice and simultaneously praised his leading man. The result being a kind of constant flash-carding, reminding everyone that Cosmopolis was coming.

The number of industry commentators keen to put Cosmopolis and Cannes in the same sentence has changed over the months from a few to many. On December 28, First Showing’s Alex Billington tweeted a possible list for Cannes 2012 that included Cosmopolis. And in January, after the film’s surprise big win in MTV’s Most Anticipated 2012 Movie brawl, Cosmopolis began appearing regularly on “wish” or “could-possibly-show” lists at most film sites.

On March 6, a number of French journalists and an unofficial blog site dedicated to the Cannes Festival, tweeted the news that Cosmopolis would be released in France on May 23. Cannes buzz inevitably accelerated, many citing the festival dates (May 16-27) as too much of a coincidence to ignore. Fast forward to March 22, (when that incendiary first teaser was unleashed online), the neon bolding of May 23rd in the clip itself, and the growing number of outlets speculating loudly about a Cannes showing – and all in all, Cosmopolis’s campaign so far has been pure, canny Cronenberg.

On The Road got its Cannes nod when the film’s producer, Charles Gillibert, tweeted a message on January 4, saying, “Am happy to share with you: OTR french release the 23rd of may, more to come…” Since then, Variety film reporter Josh Dickey and others have spoken highly about the film’s prospects at Cannes.

On February 29, the OTR camp stepped up a gear when it launched its official Twitter and Facebook accounts. Swiftly followed by the release of a brand new poster and stills for OTR, on March 9, a rapturously received trailer was released. Like Cosmopolis, OTR has appeared on countless film site wish-lists and Cannes contender lists, and the continual roll-out of stills of its impressive cast (that includes Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Steve Buscemi, Sam Riley, Tom Sturridge, Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst), has kept momentum going while more release dates are added.

So far, opening dates are May 23 in Belgium and September 21 in the UK. Other dates in Europe have also been confirmed. On March 5, Indiewire’s David Gritten speculated that [since], “ France and Belgium often go simultaneously [for] movie openings – and May 23 is in the second week of the Cannes Film Festival. This suggests that ‘On the Road’ may have its world premiere in Cannes.”

So there you have it, the rumors were right. In less than two months, the well-heeled, industry-only, 65th Cannes film Festival will get a double helping of hip Hollywood and licensed-to-thrill London, when Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson step out on the Croisette. Come May, Twitter might just need an upgrade.

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