Analysis: Can Rob Become a Movie Star?

From The Hollywood Reporter:

If you thought Rob Pattinson looked brooding and serious in "Twilight," you ain't seen nothing yet.

The moussed-one is currently in talks to star in a movie called "Memoirs" for "Twilight" studio Summit. The picture deals with a young romantic relationship, but no campy vampire sequences here --these are relationships touched by tragedy (two, in fact, according to the logline). Jenny Lumet -- she of light comedic romp "Rachel Getting Married" -- is doing a rewrite on the script. It even has a serious _name._ This is a no-nonsense turn for Pattinson.

It's no surprise, after the runaway success and cacophonous squeals that came with "Twilight" that Summit would want to be in the Rob Pattinson business. The actor, now with Endeavor, overcame early blog-world skepticism to generate tons of fan enthusiasm and media in his role as the goodhearted, if opaque, teen vampire.

But what Pattinson-mania doesn't address is his post-"Twlight" drawing power -- a time that is coming sooner than you'd think, given that three of the four potential movies in the franchise will have come out by next summer. Sure, tons of teenage girls went to see him in "Twlight," but they went to see him in an adaptation of a book they've adored and re-read. Will they flock to him when he's not an unattainable, chaste member of the undead?

He'll have his work cut out for him, at least in a couple projects he's already shot. Viewers can see Pattinson in May in Regent Releasing's (they of foreign-language fare like "Departures") arthouse title "Little Ashes, in which Pattinson plays Salvador Dali, that ol' hunky pinup. And those who don't want to wait even that long can hit the fest circuit now, where a small indie called "How To Be" is currently making the rounds. The pic is a dramedy about a man with an existential crisis who calls upon a self-help guru. It won an honorable mention at Slamdance, to give you an idea.

You see, Pattinson, for all his media celebrity, is caught in that weird netherworld where he's on the cusp of major stardom but still has movies that came out of a less heady time in his career. That transitional period could be embarrassing for young actors (see under: Anne Hathaway in "Havoc") or it could just be surreal (literally; see under: Pattinson as a Spanish surrealist).

The bigger question is what happens to Pattinson after this wave, with the choices he makes now - does his career go commercial or critical, pinup or Oscar? And does he become a box-office draw in his own right?

A quick look at other teen hearthrobs who burst on the scene after starring in a massively popular movie shows there's a path to that goal, but not an easy one.

There was, of course, a post-Titanic Leo. He's the rare bird, the serious actor who also gets the girls swooning. But his and Pattinson's situations aren't really analogous. As cheesily romantic as "Titanic" was, it also won a gang of Academy Awards. And Leo previously had a host of serious acting credits like "Basketball Diaries." Pattinson is best known for playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter, the kind of role in which, as one Potter wiki has it, he "attend(ed) Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...and was sorted into Hufflepuff."

There's Tobey Maguire, who rode "Spider-Man" to a reasonably successful non-superhero career in movies like "Seabiscuit." But Maguire's celebrity came when he was already well into his twenties, a different undertaking entirely.

There's Elijah Wood, who was part of "Lord of the Rings," the biggest moneymaking franchise among the under-25 set of the early 00's. Wood's career floundered after that -- he was part of hit movies like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" but only as an ensemble player; the pictures he tried to carry were either good and not seen ("Green Street Hooligans") or bad and not seen ("Everything Is Illuminated"). Of course that's probably not a good comparison either -- his initial appeal was of the ensemble sort, and Wood was more cuddly than studly anyway.

The best analogue might be to Wood's "Rings" costar Orlando Bloom. Like Pattinson, Bloom was in his early twenties when he gained his Beatles-esque fame with teenage girls. And like Pattinson, he brought a British swagger to a well-known genre-leaning property that would go on to be quickly franchised over the next few years.

How did that go for Bloom? The actor was able to replicate his "Rings" success with "Pirates of the Carribean." But he needed Johnny Depp to do it. Without an A-list lead to play against, he hasn't done much. That's because the fact is, it's a lot easier to become a teen heartthrob than to stay one, or to turn it into a long-term career.

None of this even gets into the question of acting talent and range, which Pattinson has yet to display (though, granted, it's not like the Edward Cullen part gave him much chance).

Sought after by pretty much any studio and producer who wants to reach a young audience, Pattinson has the world at his feet. We'll see whether it becomes a world of meaty roles or just of bloody flesh.

Thanks to our lovely Kate for the link :)