Distributor A24 may be a new company, but they already seem to be developing a type. Spring Breakers, The Bling Ring, the upcoming The Spectacular Now. Plenty of coming-of-age drama to go around. Hey, at least they know what they like.
And apparently (according to Indiewire) what they like includes The Rover, a dystopian western set in the Australian outback starring Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce. In shades of The Book of Eli, an Australia where “mineral resources have become a commodity and thieves, desperados, and loners run wild,” is home to Eric (Pearce), a survivor of the collapse of the western economic system that led to the rise of all those thieves, desperados, and loners. In what could prove an important and potentially against-type role in the younger actor’s career, Pattinson plays Rey, a naive, injured, and abandoned gang member Eric is forced to work with after all his worldly possessions are stolen by Rey’s gang.
As a post-disaster (“apocalypse” seems a bit strong, but we’ll see) fiction, The Rover would seem to be a bit of a stretch from A24’s norm. That said, with the story supposedly centering on the arc of Pattinson’s character as much as Pearce’s Memento-esque thirst for justice, it’s hard to imagine there aren’t thematic relations.
The Rover is in post production in Sydney after shooting the first quarter of this year. No news yet on when A24 plans to release the movie, though we here at mxdwn Movies wouldn’t be shocked to see it run through a festival or two before what, with two major stars and a $12-$13 million budget, would seem to be its eventual destination: wide theatrical release.
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