David Cronenberg's Next May Be 'Maps To The Stars,' With Viggo Mortensen Joining Robert Pattinson

Last week word filtered out of Cannes that Robert Pattinson could work again with director David Cronenberg. That led to some comments that he might be the new Viggo Mortensen. The filmmaker cast Mortensen in three consecutive films: A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and (as a late-game replacement) A Dangerous Method. But the younger Pattinson got the nod for Cosmopolis, as he's far more age-appropriate for the lead role than Viggo.

Now, in the wake of the Cosmopolis premiere at Cannes, which went down quite well given the film's potentially divisive nature, it seems like both Mortensen and Pattinson could end up in Maps to the Stars, a dark comedy/drama Cronenberg started trying to make several years ago.

The Playlist talked to the director at Cannes, and he said,

I asked Rob if he would be interested in playing a particular role in it and he said yes, he would. Likewise, Viggo [Mortensen] is interested in a role. It would be very interesting. This is a project called 'Maps To The Stars' written by Bruce Wagner who is a wonderful L.A. screenwriter.

The film isn't financed, however, and Cronenberg told the site the film, which follows "two child actors ruined by Hollywood's depravity," is very extreme. So that could make it a difficult sell. He explained,

It's not a go picture. We have a script that I love that Bruce wrote. It's a very difficult film to get made as was 'Cosmopolis' actually. Whether I can get this movie to happen, I tried it five years ago, I couldn't get it made, so I still might not be able to get it made.

When the film was first announced years back, before the first failed attempt to make it, Cronenberg described Maps to the Stars as follows:

You could say it's a Hollywood film because the characters are agents, actors and managers, but it is not a satire like 'The Player.' ... Hollywood is a world that is seductive and repellent at the same time, and it is the combination of the two that makes it so potent. I won't fall back on some cliches or simplistic sloganeering, because the culture and what it reveals about Western culture and the rest of the world is very complex. I'll definitely shoot some in L.A. and the rest on sets in Toronto.

As mentioned when word of Cronenberg and Pattinson re-teaming first came up, this would be the director's first film to shoot in the US.