David Cronenberg tells MTV News his film's win is impressive because it's 'an underdog compared to something like the 'Dark Knight' franchise.'
By Josh Wigler
David Cronenberg
Photo: Francois Durand/Getty Images
Eric Packer is about to embark on the worst car ride of his life. Thankfully, Robert Pattinson — the actor who plays Packer in "Cosmopolis" — doesn't share his character's fate.
Pattinson fans came out in full force to elect "Cosmopolis" the winner of the MTV Movie Brawl 2012, a weeks-long tournament that pitted several of 2012's biggest releases against one another to determine which film is the must-see cinematic event of the year. After tense battles against titans like "Bel Ami," "The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn: Part 2," "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Hunger Games," it's Pattinson's upcoming indie thriller that took home the grand prize.
It's a surprising result for many onlookers, given that "Cosmopolis" has yet to release a trailer and only has a tentative release date of 2012. But Rob's fans rallied behind their man, opting to support his future in "Cosmopolis" over his past in "Twilight" — a commanding decision from a massive fanbase that demands attention, to say the least. In fact, the movement was so strong that it even caught "Cosmopolis" director David Cronenberg's eye even before the film won the brawl for it all. Shortly after the victory was announced, Cronenberg got on the phone with MTV News to talk about what "Cosmopolis" winning the MTV Movie Brawl means for the film, Pattinson's performance, when fans can expect to see a trailer and much more.
MTV: David, thanks for talking with us! Have you been filled in on what's happened with "Cosmopolis" over here?
David Cronenberg: You know, I've been following it! I'm shocked! I'm shocked and amazed and really tickled. It proves that movie fans are unpredictable and really interesting and really passionate. It's fantastic. I would have never, ever imagined that this would happen.
MTV: How did the tournament first get on your radar?
Cronenberg: Somebody sent me something and said, "Hey, we seem to be doing OK in this Movie Brawl thing that MTV's got going on." I didn't know about it. At that point, we were struggling with "The Dark Knight," I think. I thought, "Wow, that's pretty impressive!" Because "Cosmopolis," while I think in terms of what it is as cinema is pretty hefty, but in terms of budget and promotion, it's an underdog compared to something like the "Dark Knight" franchise. I really didn't think we would have much of a chance. That really got my attention.
MTV: What's kind of incredible, too, is that right before that battle with Batman, "Cosmopolis" was up against "Twilight." It was Rob versus Rob! In what we saw, it seemed that fans were putting their votes towards Rob's future instead of his past.
Cronenberg: Well, and I think that's one of the things that I meant when I said it was interesting. Because that's not the kind of thing you would predict. But it was really terrific, and in that sense, they're right. As I've said many times, if you're a "Twilight" fan, then you might not be interested in "Cosmopolis" because Rob is not Mr. Cullen. But if you're a Rob fan, then you've got to be interested in "Cosmopolis," because you will see him as you have not seen him before, for sure.
MTV: Clearly, there is a lot of interest in this movie, seeing that it came out ahead over movies like "Dark Knight," "Twilight" and "Hunger Games." There is a lot of attention on Rob, of course. Can you talk about your experience working with Rob, and the kind of actor you found him to be over the course of shooting "Cosmopolis"?
Cronenberg: He's terrific. He deserves the affection that the fans have for him. He's incredibly sweet, he's very funny, he's very bright and he's also very knowledgeable about cinema. Not just movies but the history of cinema. He knows a lot about it. He's just a sweetheart. And he's totally professional. He's always right there. We had a lot of fun shooting [the movie] because, as I say, he has a great sense of humor. We just played a lot. I think that's a really great tone that's set for everybody on the set. The lead actor has a really big influence on the tone of the shoot. If you've got a guy who's very difficult and neurotic or whatever, they can't help but affect everybody's day. But Rob is not like that. He's just a ray of sunshine. In fact, he's in absolutely every scene of the movie, so obviously his temperament would have a huge influence on how the shoot went ... and it was a dream. It was a beautiful shoot.
MTV: I think one of the reasons why some are surprised with how this tournament played out is that most of the films that were competing have trailers. This one doesn't — at least not yet! When can fans expect to see a trailer?
Cronenberg: We feel probably that this won't be released until next fall. It's not exactly a summer movie and it won't be ready for a while. The movie is finished, but something that fans maybe don't know is how long it takes a movie to get released. You want to do a couple of film festivals, the studios in each country have to get their materials ready. The photographs, the trailers, everything ... it takes a lot of time, you know? The other thing is, we kind of want to keep things a little bit of a secret until we unleash it on the world. We're pretty excited about it and we don't really want to let too much out about what it is and how it plays.
MTV: In terms of when this is coming out, you said perhaps fall of this year. So there's no firm release date just yet?
Cronenberg: No, not at all. It's been sold to a lot of countries and distributors around the world, but for example, it does not yet have U.S. distribution. That's fine, because we didn't want to look for it until we had the finished film. But frankly, the Movie Brawl results might well help us get some good U.S. distribution! [He laughs.] I just thought of that, but you know, it's possible! It's interesting to hear that indication of interest before you even release a trailer — that's pretty darn good. But you can't release a trailer until you have a distributor, and a distributor has to really have all the material, so it takes a while.
MTV: Well, something close to 6 million votes were cast in this tournament, and almost 4 million were cast in this final poll alone. The numbers do not lie.
Cronenberg: That's fantastic. That's just great. That's just great.
MTV: In the spirit of this tournament, what's the movie you're most excited to see in 2012? What's the film you can't wait to get your eyes on?
Cronenberg: You know, I'm so focused on what I've been doing that I actually don't know what's around! It's strange. I haven't even caught up with last year's films. I have a movie out now called "A Dangerous Method" with Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen. I've been touring the world promoting that, been to a ton of film festivals, but I haven't had a chance to see any of the movies, because I'm constantly having to do interviews and stuff for that. Now, that's calmed down now that the movie has finally been released in the U.S., but the result is that I'm way behind on everything.
MTV: So you've got to catch up on 2011 before moving onto 2012.
Cronenberg: That's right! Let me catch up first, and then I'll start thinking about 2012.
MTV: Finally, any last messages to the "Cosmopolis" fans who pushed this movie to the top?
Cronenberg: They won't be disappointed in Rob. He is fantastic.
Check out everything we've got on "Cosmopolis."
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