10 July 2022

IndieWire picked up this little tidbit from Claire Denis’ recent interview with The Playlist below. I can’t believe I missed it.

“Denis revealed that they almost collaborated on a stage play. After speaking about her passion for working with actors, Denis was asked if she has considered directing theatre. Not only did she say yes, but she revealed that she was once developing a play that would have starred Pattinson.

“Yeah, I have thought about it,” Denis said. “There was a moment when I was talking about doing something like that with Robert, before he was our Batman.”

6 July 2022

The Playlist recently spoke to Claire Denis “at a tiny Upper East Side hotel to discuss her shyness about sex, the profound impact that Batman has had on the logistics of her next film” and Rob. This is what Claire had to say:

I’ve been looking forward to speaking again. We’ve sat down once before, for “High Life” after the premiere in Toronto back in 2018.

On that huge screen in that huge theater. Fuck me up. When I think of it, I was seated by Robert [Pattinson], and for me and Robert, that was like a nightmare. I told [Toronto International Film Festival CEO] Cameron [Bailey], “You cannot do that to film.”

…

Robert Pattinson was set for the lead role, but then he dropped out. How’d things play out there?

No one saw COVID coming, of course. The plan was he would finish “The Batman,” and I’d wait for him, and he’d be free by September of that year. That was good for me as well, because it would be the right season in Nicaragua. Then in one moment, COVID came, and Robert was working in London. I couldn’t even go and see him. Then Nicaragua went through a terrible thing: Daniel Ortega, the President, wasn’t supposed to re-present himself in the election. But he did, and he isolated Nicaragua even more. So there was an issue, I didn’t know what to do. And Robert was still in the middle of the Batman process at this point, which was a painful moment because I love both Robert Pattinson and Nicaragua a lot.

I was losing every part of the film, except for Margaret [Qualley]. Because she told me, “I’m waiting,” I decided I had to do this. Every morning, I’d wake up and say, “I quit.” But I’d think of Margaret, and she’s been waiting without complaining, so I kept on. I thought Panama could be our plan B, not totally sure. As soon as I could travel, I went to Panama, and at this time, Robert is still in London playing Batman. I must cast someone else, which at first made me feel like I was dying. But I did it! Because Margaret was still there.

28 May 2022

Claire Denis’ The Stars at Noon debuted at the Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews. She told Reuters the reason why Rob had to drop out of starring in the film:

“The pandemic came and ‘The Batman’ shooting took him almost two years and Robert was very tired. He said ‘I can’t’. And then I was lucky, so lucky, that Joe was interested,” said Denis.

Thanks @Monsieur_HJ for heads up.

To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel. Rob dropping out because of other commitments means we could be getting new film news soon or The Batman promo. I’m always looking for that silver lining. Screen Daily reported today that Taron Egerton has replaced Rob in Claire Denis’ “The Stars at Noon”. So I guess it wasn’t a typo that Rob wasn’t mentioned. It is the first time in a long time that Rob has had nothing in his “Projects in Development” on his IMDbPro page: From Screen Daily:

UK actor Taron Egerton has signed to co-star opposite Margaret Qualley in Claire Denis’ Nicaragua-set thriller Stars At Noon, following the departure of Robert Pattinson due to other shooting commitments.

…

Egerton replaces Pattinson who was keen to work with Denis again after their first collaboration in the 2018 deep space drama High Life.

The actor has been forced to walk away from the project due to other commitments, following delays in the Stars At Noon shoot due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled for spring 2020, filming will now take place in Panama in October 2021.

The Stars at Noon (via Screen Daily Cannes Bumper edition) is being presented by Wildbunch at Cannes Market 2021. Rob’s name seems to have been inadvertently omitted from the cast, but I’m not worried because Claire did say she would wait for Rob. Barnstormer Productions is also not mentioned, so this copywriter might be going off old information.

I will post any updates concerning the Cannes screenings on this post.

Claire Denis posted this shot on her instagram. Nicaragua is where The Stars at Noon is planned to be filmed. Perhaps Rob knew of the potential for reshoots in July which is why Claire said she will wait for Rob when he’s ready. Claire better not be teasing! I believe the film is slated to start filming towards end of year (or perhaps sooner if Claire is location scouting).

Earlier this month we posted that a new producer and production company, Barnstormer Productions was added to The Stars at Noon. I thought at the time this might be to replace RT Features. Nothing has been said about that and IMDbPro still has them involved, but . Today, IMDbPro updated the status of the film to “optioned”. Whether this means that Barnstormer are in the process of getting financing and pulling the movie together only time will tell, but at least something is happening on the film.

IMDbPro updated Robert Pattinson “The Stars at Noon” by adding Olivier Gauriat as Producer and his production company Barnstormer. Whether he is replacing Rodrigo Teixiera is unclear since Rodrigo’s name is no longer shown as a producer, but RT Features still appears as a production company. In any event, I’m just happy to see some movement on this film. Filming dates are still unclear, but we do know that it is slated to film this year for release in 2022. Remember Claire was happy to wait for Rob to be ready.