New outtake thanks to Dan Doperalski

Dan Doperalski

3 July 2023

According to The DCU – Direct, Greig Fraser has been confirmed and will be returning as cinematographer on The Batman 2

According to Full Circle Cinema:

In 2021 it was announced that Chloé Zhao is set to write, direct, and produce an all-new sci-fi Western take on Dracula for Universal. Now it has been reported by Daniel Richtman that Robert Pattinson is in talks to star as the iconic character.

The film will reportedly follow Dracula after he awakens many years in the future. Themes of being on the fringes of society will be focused on in the feature.

Zhao is producing the project through her production company Highwayman. The filmmaker gained critical acclaim for Nomadland, for which she earned the Academy Award for Best Director to match the film’s Best Picture award. Most recently, she helmed Marvel Studios’ Eternals in 2021.

Pattinson dominated Hollywood last year with his debut as Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves The Batman. The star’s next upcoming projects include Adam McKay’s Average Height, Average Build and Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17.

Earlier in March 2023, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Chloé and she confirmed that she was currently writing the script (Note: IMDbPro currently shows script stage as at 10 February 2023). Earlier in 2021, THR wrote this about Dracula:

Zhao will write, direct and produce through her production company, Highwayman.
This new Dracula project, however, will be a far cry from the more traditional or even modern incarnations made over the years. Details are being kept in the coffin, but Zhao’s version is described as an original, futuristic, sci-fi Western. Themes of being on society’s fringes, something Zhao has tackled in her previous work, will course through the project’s veins.

…

Stated Zhao: “I’ve always been fascinated by vampires and the concept of the Other they embody. I’m very excited to work with Donna, Peter and the team at Universal to reimagine such a beloved character.”

This could be something Rob would want to do, but more importantly I can see Rob wanting to work with Chloé. Interesting times ahead so stay tuned.

According to Variety, in a recent interview with GQ Spain, Nicholas Hoult talked about losing the role of Batman to Rob. Here’s what Nicholas had to say:

“Of course,” Hoult said when asked if he would’ve liked to play Bruce Wayne/Batman. “I’m sure if you ask most people, they’ll tell you they’d want to portray that role. I think Matt Reeves’ ideas were fantastic and he made a brilliant movie. And I also think that Rob [Pattinson] did an amazing job with the character, and I loved seeing him in it. So I don’t think I would have done as good a job as him ultimately. I don’t think I could have fit as well into the world that Matt created as Rob did.”

“When they tell you for the first time that it’s not you, it’s painful, but then you have to accept it as normality,” Hoult continued. “I think that’s probably a strength of mine as an actor as well. I can accept that they didn’t cast me pretty well and when I see the chosen actor doing a great job, and I enjoy it, and it’s good, I’m like, ‘oh yeah, they made the right choice. They knew what they were doing.’ So it’s not like I’m sitting there like, ‘Oh, I’m not going to watch it now.’ It’s a good movie and Rob is brilliant in it.”

From IRK Magazine:

Chris Knight: Robert Pattinson once said the best piece of acting advice he ever received was from you, about how you always keep your ‘birthday in your back pocket’ when you’re in a scene. Can you talk a little bit about where that idea comes from and some of the most interested ways it’s manifested itself in a character for you?

Peter: That was actually an inside joke that I think people misinterpreted. When you’re an actor, teachers suggest you hold a secret in a scene to give you something interesting to play. We were talking about this one night, and I jokingly said to Rob that my secret is that it’s always my birthday. And that it works for any scene. If you’re sad in the scene, you can play “no one remembered my birthday,” If your excited, “hey, it’s my birthday,” If your jealous, “my birthday party is on the the same day as my best friends,” If you’re angry, “you hated your birthday presents,” I joked that it works for any emotion and it’s a secret no one else would know– and you could keep it to yourself. He laughed. Then said, “Actually… that’s pretty genius.” Haha. But it was kind of an inside (actor’s) joke, so when he explained it in an interview I think people took it literally.

Thanks @sallyvg for heads up.

Here’s the full interview from Alexandra Jones (who commented to me on instagram that Rob “was really great, very funny!” and 5 new photos thanks to Louie Banks. From Evening Standard:

Though he has a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes having been awake since 4am — it’s now 7pm — when I come face to face with Robert Pattinson he is quick to assure me that he is totally fine. The early rising is just because he is in the middle of shooting a new film: a film about which he is extremely enthusiastic.

‘It’s with Parasite director Bong Joon-ho and it’s like nothing I’ve ever done before,’ he says. ‘The movie is so crazy, it’s a completely different style of working.’ In the film — Mickey 17, based on a dystopian sci-fi novel by Edward Ashton — Pattinson plays two versions of himself (both clones) who team up to work together. ‘It’s so much talking,’ he says. He’s been staying in a little hotel in Bedford near a vast airport hangar where they’ve built the set. In the evenings he has been back in his room, getting increasingly worried that it might be haunted. ‘Anyway, today I just realised that I’m probably not seeing ghosts — it’s probably just because I’ve been drinking about 17 cups of coffee a day.’ So to confirm: Robert Pattinson is not going mad, he’s just very, very tired.

For a long time now, Pattinson has been one of the most consistently interesting character actors of his generation. Most recently he has moved back into blockbuster territory as a pleasingly off-beat Bruce Wayne in The Batman. In the decade before this he honed his craft on the art-house and indie circuits, often playing lowlifes, oddballs and creeps for some of the world’s most respected directors (David Cronenberg and Christopher Nolan among them). My personal favourite is Pattinson as deeply unsympathetic street hustler Connie in the frantic Safdie brothers film, Good Time. You forget that you’re watching a man once regarded as the world’s hunkiest teen heart-throb, which is basically the point. The narrative for many years now has been that Pattinson’s career choices are a reaction against the megastardom that was thrust on him during his time playing Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise.

But anyway, he’s here in his capacity as a Dior fragrance ambassador as the fashion house relaunches Dior Homme Sport and adds a shaving cream to the best-selling line. He has worked with the brand for 10 happy years, such that now he tells me he’s become close friends with many of the people at the company. ‘I’m not even just saying it to be nice. It’s been one of the most enjoyable work, and personal, experiences that I’ve ever had in my life.’ In terms of fragrance, he says he is bad at identifying what his favourite smells are, ‘but — I mean, it’s kind of cheesy — if you’re in love with someone, their smell becomes very particular to you… so yeah, something like “girlfriend in a dressing gown”.’ His girlfriend is the model and musician Suki Waterhouse. The pair have been together for a number of years though they only recently went ‘red carpet official’ and, given the public interest in his previous relationships (first with Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart, then with the musician FKA twigs), it’s perhaps little wonder that they’ve stayed under the radar for so long.