Robert Pattinson and Margaret Qualley Movie Picked Up by A24

It’s safe to say that after being cast as the Batman—maybe you heard about it?—any project Robert Pattinson is attached to comes with added geek interest. However, we imagine Pattinson reteaming with his High Life director, Claire Denis, for an A24 project would grab folks’ attention at any time.

It was announced Tuesday via Deadline that A24 has picked up the North American rights to The Stars at Noon, a film that puts Pattinson back in Denis’ camera frame, as well as opposite Margaret Qualley, who recently had a banner year in 2019 that included a breakout role in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

The film’s logline reveals it will be at least tangentially connected to the Iran-Contra scandal, as it is set in 1984 during the Nicaraguan Revolution… all with an apparently passionate romance hidden deep within a knotty plot. Here’s the synopsis:

Set in 1984 during the Nicaraguan Revolution, the film follows a mysterious English businessman and headstrong American journalist who strike up a passionate romance. They soon become embroiled in a dangerous labyrinth of lies and conspiracies and are forced to try and escape the country, with only each other to trust and rely on.

This is of course a boon for A24, who has done major work with Pattinson in the past, including last year’s wonderfully demented horror movie from Robert Eggers, The Lighthouse. He’s also starred in indies at A24 that include the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time (2017), as well as Denis’ own High Life. If you never saw the latter, it was an esoteric and, in some circles, intoxicating science fiction drama about a man spending a lifetime in interstellar travel. Our own Don Kaye included it among his 10 favorite movies of 2019. It also marked famed French director Denis’ first mostly English language film.

This is also a boon for Qualley, who is an up-and-coming talent after playing the dancing Manson girl named “Pussycat” in Quentin Tarantino’s ninth feature. That in turn was also the latest breakthrough for an actor who impressively played Ann Reinking on FX’s Fosse/Verdon. She also previously appeared in Shane Black’s The Nice Guys and opposite Justin Theroux on HBO and Damon Lindelof’s The Leftovers.

Pattinson, meanwhile, has a little movie coming out called, you guessed it, The Batman. And if you haven’t checked it out (or more realistically just want to see it again), the first footage of him in the new Batsuit can be viewed here—complete with a literally metal Bat-emblem (made from the gun that murdered his parents).

David Crow is the Film Section Editor at Den of Geek. He’s also a member of both the Critics Choice Association and the Online Film Critics Society. Read more of his work here. You can follow him on Twitter @DCrowsNest.