More Info about Robert Pattinson's role in David Michôd's next film, 'The Rover'

More Info about Robert Pattinson's role in David Michôd's next film, 'The Rover'

UPDATE: Added another article about Pattinson being cast. Scroll down and look for FilmInk, Australian movie mag. It has a little more detail about the film. :)

We already posted about the confirmation of Rob in The Rover, the next film from Animal Kingdom director, David Michôd.

Robert Pattinson, David Michôd, Guy Pearce

For a moment, Variety and Deadline were conflicting with which role Rob would play but everyone is in sync now. Rob will play Reynolds, "the brother of one of the thieves who is left behind when an encounter with the police goes very wrong".

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 Variety:

After taking his time in finding a follow up to "Animal Kingdom," helmer David Michod has settled on "Rover," with Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce currently in negotiations to star. Pearce will play a man who pursues a group of men who stole his car through the wild and rugged Australian Outback. Pattinson will play one of the thieves. Michod also co-wrote the script, based on an idea he and "Animal Kingdom" star Joel Edgerton originated. David Linde will produce along with Liz Watts through Linde's Lava Bear banner and Watts' Porchlight Films. Lava Bear prexy Tory Metzger will oversee the production. Pearce has stayed busy with strong supporting roles in films like "Prometheus" and "Lawless," and is also in negotiations to join the cast of Marvel's "Iron Man 3," as Variety first reported April 20. As for Pattinson, the role marks another project the "Twilight" thesp pursued because of the creative powers behind it as opposed to commercial appeal. He can be seen next in David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" which will preem in Cannes and also attached himself to star in "Mission: Blacklist." Pattinson is repped by WME, Curtis Brown and 3 Arts. Pearce is repped by CAA, Independent Talent Group and Shanahan Management.

I wanted to know a little more about this film and the players prior to Rob's involvement.

More info after the cut!

UPDATE: From FilmInk:

Pattinson & Pearce To Headline David Michod’s ‘The Rover’. The two actors will head down under for the new Aussie film.

Aussie director David Michod, who critics were falling over themselves to heap praise on for 2010's Animal Kingdom, has just cast Robert Pattinson as one of the leads in his new film, The Rover. The film will also star Guy Pearce, who impressed as a detective in the director's debut.

The Rover follows a man (Pearce) hunting down a gang of thieves who stole his car as they venture across the Australian outback. Pattinson will play Reynolds, the brother of one of the thieves who is left behind when a police encounter goes wrong...

Doing a good job of breaking the teenage heartthrob mould he garnered for playing Edward in the Twilight franchise, Pattinson top-lines the David Cronenberg-directed Cosmopolis, which will be unveiled at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

The actor was also recently cast in Jean-Stephane Sauvaire's Mission Blacklist, where he will play a soldier hunting down Saddam Hussein.

We have to say we're most looking forward to seeing Pattinson crack the Aussie accent...

Empire Online (April 2012) talks about the director and mentions his previous film as an "excellent rites-of-passage thriller":

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?

First Showing (April 2012) also spoke about Animal Kingdom being fantastic and a fall shoot in Oz for The Rover:

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.

The Playlist (April 2012) spoke more praise about David when The Rover was announced as his next project:

There is no doubt that after making a huge statement with "Animal Kingdom," Hollywood would be interested in Australian director David Michod. He was wishlisted for the Irish-American cop drama "Once Were Cops" and there was likely more than one project studio execs wanted to send his way. However, for his followup to the acclaimed crime family drama, Michod is staying in his native home, and working with a longtime collaborator instead.

Variety reports that Michod will next take the helm of "The Rover." Based on an idea he developed with his friend Joel Edgerton, Michod will pen the script, which will follow a man who goes on journey to find his stolen car, which contains something invaluable to him. And that's about all we know for now. No word yet on the cast (though we wonder if Edgerton might just sneak in there), but the plan is for the movie to shoot this fall in Australia.

Will it have the same scope as "Animal Kingdom"? Tread new ground? It certainly sounds like a leaner picture, but then again, all we know from it is a logline a few words long. Either way, we'll be paying attention. Michod arrived in a huge way with his feature debut, and we're eager to see how those skills and talents develop.

Always with the crap snark regarding Rob, The Playlist  said more today about the casting announcement. I was interested in their report on Guy Pierce's performance in Animal Kingdom. It's a re-teaming for Guy and David.:

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 follows a man who goes on a 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; there's no word on Pearce's part just yet.

The plan 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" made, who are we to complain?

I'm going to check out Animal Kingdom since Rob is my Oprah working with David and Guy. The film, as you can tell, is highly respected and will get me familiar with the director. Rob has some great work cut out for him! Oklahoman, military interrogator, Eric Maddox, and thieving Australian, Reynolds. It's beyond exciting that Rob has the power to bring attention to stories that might get lost or not told at all. So so so much to look forward to with these two new projects. :)