Sony Picks Up Robert Pattinson's 'Bel Ami'


Robert Pattinson lovers, the wait is over. It looks like “Bel Ami” is finally on its way to theaters, so you’ll have something else to look forward to from the actor after he breaks your dawn in a few weeks.

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has acquired the North American rights to “Bel Ami,” the sexually charged period drama in which Pattinson plays “a shit.” Now, before you get mad, that’s something he said, not us, also adding at the same time that due to his character being a total cad instead of a pale-faced vampire lover, this might be hard to market because the Twihards might not like seeing him play a meanie. But we guess Sony thinks otherwise. Based on the book by Guy de Maupassant and featuring Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci, “Bel Ami” will find Pattinson playing George Duroy, a sexy social climber in turn-of-the-century 1890s Paris, who seduces his way to wealth and fame from a poor beginning. Thurman will play the wife of one of Duroy’s friends who eventually marries Pattinson’s seductive schemer. Kristin Scott Thomas will appear as a woman who overestimates Duroy’s attachment to her.

Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod paired up in the director’s chair, making their feature debut. We’ve heard that the producers are aiming for a Berlin Film Festival premiere in 2012, which wouldn’t be a bad place to unveil the picture. No release date has been set, but perhaps somewhere between the two ‘Breaking Dawn’ flicks? [Deadline]