I haven’t read either Guy de Maupassant’s 19th-century novel Bel Ami or Rachel Bennette’s screenplay adaptation, so I don’t know exactly how old Robert Pattinson’s Georges Duroy, social/sexual climber extraordinaire, is supposed to be.But looking at videos and photos of Pattinson in costume as Duroy, the soon-to-be-24-year-old actor surely looks quite a bit older in Bel Ami than in his other film roles (see above).

That’s not a disparaging remark. I much prefer Pattinson looking mature than looking like a “boy.” One of the reasons I — and at least some others, I’m sure — enjoy his interviews is that Pattinson comes across as much more mature than your average (or even above-average) 23-24-year-old. (Admittedly, Pattinson has never looked like a “boy” to me, though I still haven’t seen any of his pre-2008 efforts.)

Anyways, I have high hopes for Bel Ami, chiefly because Pattinson and other real good actors are in it: Kristin Scott Thomas, Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci, and Colm Meaney.

Screenwriter Rachel Bennette and directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod are basically all film newcomers in their respective capacities, though Donnellan and Ormerod have both done extensive and quite prestigious stage work. Among the plays they have staged are works by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Pushkin, and Tennessee Williams.

Who knows, perhaps Donnellan’s and Ormerod’s film debut will be as warmly received as those of fellow stage directors Nicholas Hytner (The Madness of King George) and Rob Marshall (Chicago). If so, that should translate into solid box-office receipts as well.

As an aside, in Albert Lewin’s 1947 film The Private Affairs of Bel Ami, Duroy is played by future Oscar winner George Sanders, who was 40-41 at the time. I’m assuming that was (at least) a little older than de Maupassant’s character was supposed to be. The novel is in my to-read list.

Robert Pattinson will next be seen in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which opens on June 30.

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Voting has moved on once again for the PopSugar Playoffs! Rob beat out his previous oponnent Justin Timberlake with 78% to Justin’s 22%. Now he has been paired up with Penelope Cruz. Make sure to vote for Rob here!

I met Robert Pattinson last May in Cannes. It was a top-secret kind of thing — I had to sign a paper saying I wouldn’t write a story about it until his new movie, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, opens in November — but I can reveal that the interview, which was held in the martini bar behind a beachside restaurant, was held to the background noise of a crowd of young girls who stood on the road, behind security barriers, and screamed non-stop. I don’t know how Pattinson finally got out: by sea would seem to be the only escape route. Otherwise, he may be there yet.

By contrast, Daniel Radcliffe, the star of the Harry Potter films that are competing for the same tween audience, is a less likely sex symbol: he’s short and nerdy. That’s not my judgment, it’s what Radcliffe himself said the other day. “If girls like short and nerdy, then I’m a sex symbol,” he said, adding, “Rob Pattinson is a sex symbol. He’s a genuinely sexy guy — he’s got the height.”

Pattinson, who coincidentally played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is six foot one. Radcliffe is five foot six.

Radcliffe can also get young girls to scream, but his is a more restrained hysteria. At the New York City premiere of his new movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he walked past the adult reporters to talk to an 11-year-old girl named Danielle, who was reporting for Scholastic News, an online service for kids. Here is part of that interview, as reported in New York magazine:

Danielle: “I’ve seen the first and second movies and read the first and second book and they are so good. Especially the movies. I loved them, the movies.”

Radcliffe: “Thank you very much. You’re very, very kind. They get even better than that though, so when you get the time, or when your parents think you’re old enough, you must watch the rest. They’re very cool.”

Radcliffe’s sweet and patient answer is a telling indication of the audience for the Harry Potter films as compared with the more mature passions of the Twilight fans who find Pattinson’s Edward Cullen character too adorable for words.

However, young wizards-in-waiting do grow up to become young virgins-in-waiting, and Harry Potter himself is growing into that more adult world: the word is that the new movie is more mature and that romance is in the air. The wizard is getting older, and suddenly it’s not all quidditch and magic spells.

That crossover in audience appeal has put Harry Potter into a kind of competition with Twilight. The vampire movie has made $382 million (US), and while that is dwarfed by the Harry Potter success story — 400 million books sold, $4.5 billion at the box office — a rivalry has sprung up among fans, at least on a tsunami of fansites arguing the merits of the two franchises. (Sample debate, from nerdfighters.ning.com: If the Twilight characters and the Harry Potter characters got into a fight, who would win?)

The studios behind the series are steering clear of talk about competition, except for the fact that the Twilight films don’t open near the dates when Harry Potter movies are introduced.

Rob Friedman, head of Summit Entertainment, which produces the Twilight movies, told the Wall Street Journal, “We are very cognizant of where they are, and we’ve always been wary of being in too close proximity to Harry Potter because we know our fans cross over so much and we definitely don’t want to compete with Harry for attention.”

If Harry is still the king, Twilight is the coming thing. But not all Harry Potter fans have matured into Twilight aficionados and there are new readers all the time. An indication of Harry’s enduring popularity can be seen in an ad from Bauman Rare Books, a New York company: a 1940 first edition of Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls sells for $2,600; a signed first edition of John Le Carre’s 1963 novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is priced at $5,500, but an autographed first edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which was published in 1998, costs $13,500.

Harry has burrowed into the common culture in a way that Twilight has yet to accomplish. A group called The Harry Potter Alliance, which promotes social activism among Harry Potter fans, is asking moviegoers who attend the new film to wear name tags stating lessons taught by Albus Dumbledore, Harry’s mentor, and to tweet these messages to each other (a discussion of the character’s lessons can be found at whatwoulddumbledoredo.org).

In a press release, Andrew Slack, the head of the alliance, compares Dumbledore’s messages to those of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

So far, no one has said that about Edward Cullen. He is a vampire, but Harry Potter may be the one who lives forever.

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I have to be careful about what I write here because it will be tweeted the moment TIME hits the stands. And if I say something bad about Rob Pattinson, I’m dead meat. That’s the devotion the Twilight films inspire. It’s certainly not how he planned it. And though I am continually impressed by the aplomb with which he handles the hysteria, I occasionally think he would take it all back if given the chance. Because essentially, Rob, 23, is a reserved, bookish sort of specimen, a guy who’d rather spend the night at the corner table in the pub with friends — a bit of a weirdo, frankly, in the best sense.

So how to write about someone who seems to answer Freud’s rhetorical question, What do women want? Perhaps it’s just worth pointing out that it’d be fun to have a beer with him even if he weren’t Edward Cullen. That we haven’t seen a tenth of what he can do onscreen. And that important things, beyond the veil of Hollywood, occupy his time too — music, conversation, ideas, a sense of the absurd. Which, maybe, explains why he never gets to my e-mails. I love you, Rob! Call me!

Weitz directed The Twilight Saga: New Moon

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Can you image if you have to wait until November of next year for “Breaking Dawn”? I hope it changes…

Thanks to Twi-Fans for the heads up!


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After rumours of a “meadow” reshoot I decided to pop by the meadow set last night to see if there were any signs of filming coming up. You know, signs, trailors, security, equipment…


There was nothing.


At the gate which blocks the public from the private property previously used for filming, there was a man in a car.


There is not usually a man in a car at this gate day-to-day, except during filming so this was a subtle hint that indeed this was about to become an active set.


As I drove away guess I what passed?


Trailors… power stations, mobile dressing rooms, etc. all heading towards the gate.


I came home knowing they would indeed be filming at “the meadow” soon.


Today, while many scrambled to find out where in the world Robert Pattinson was, I slept in. I was off work so I decided to swing by the set.


If it was a live set they would have been filming for several hours when I went and given the lack of rain and overcast but bright sky it seemed likely they were indeed filming at “the meadow.”


This is the worst exterior set for fans wanting to catch a glimpse of happenings because it is on private property aprox 10 miles PAST a security gate.


During Eclipse, there was a circus (hair/make-up trailors) that had fairly public access… today however, there was not. They moved the circus.


The new circus was further towards the private property “meadow” set (which is actually a GVRD Park) and up a steep drive way on actual private property, as in someone’s own personal property. [They were likely paid a pretty penny for its use too]


Not wanting to break any laws I did not venture up towards the circus, ignoring “No Trespassing” signs, nor did I try to get past the GVRD Gate towards the set.


It was enough to know they were indeed filming and I was excited to have found the set.


The only photos I have are of the signs used to direct crew to the hidden location.


Tonight I returned after they wrapped and saw a number of trailors leaving including mobile dressing rooms, power stations and large trucks. I believe they have wrapped that location which is theonly reason I am blogging about it.


If for some reason they haven’t wrapped that location then – my bad!


But it clearly looked as though they were done based on the amount of equipment leaving this evening.


So they indeed used the “meadow” set today with both Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart. It wasn’t Robert Pattinson on set, so it wasn’t the “meadow proposal scene” or anything.


I think there was confusion about just what was filmed at the meadow…. MANY things!!


That particular area has vast surroundings suitable for various shots involving a field, meadow, forest, water, mountains etc.


It is a beautiful British Columbian PARK!!!


Anyways, that is my two cents… I hear studio is next, which mean more vague set reports since fans can not go into studios. But I shall report what I can.

We’ll update this post as soon as we receive the translation.

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The Mexican version of Eclipse’s official Web site has limited features so far. The final trailer is not up yet, but the first one is available with Mexican subtitles. You may visit the site here.

Click to enlarge

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