Robert Pattinson has been a star since he first locked eyes on Kristen Stewart in 2008’s “Twilight.” As Edward Cullen, a vampire blessed with brooding, Byronic good looks, Pattinson captivated audiences, becoming a heartthrob for a rising generation of moviegoers.
But you sensed that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with being a pinup, and Pattinson used his newfound bankability to build a resume filled with oddball roles for edgy auteurs like David Cronenberg (“Cosmopolis”), Claire Denis (“High Life”), and Robert Eggers (“The Lighthouse”). Critics praised the work, but only the most ardent Pattinson heads turned out and most of the films were more admired than seen.
That started to change when Pattinson re-embraced mainstream cinema; first with 2020’s “Tenet” and then with 2022’s “The Batman,” in which he played Bruce Wayne as a billionaire in desperate need of counseling. And Pattinson’s star has risen to a whole new level this year, with “The Drama,” “The Odyssey,” and now “Primetime.”
“Primetime,” produced for just $15 million and starring Pattinson as a creepy “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen, opened to an impressive $19.2 million. The journalism drama was able to outperform expectations because Gen Z, which has become the most reliable moviegoing force, turned up in droves to watch a movie about a TV show that was popular when they were kids. In fact, 69% of the opening weekend crowd was under the age of 30 and you get a sense that they have come of age with Pattinson, first getting introduced to him as “Twilight’s” swooning bloodsucker and keeping tabs on him over the years as they came of age as film lovers.
It’s Pattinson’s second big hit of the year for A24. In the spring, he and Zendaya drove the dark relationship comedy “The Drama” to an impressive $134.9 million globally. It cost a mere $28 million to produce, so it will be highly profitable for the indie studio. There’s just something about Pattinson’s intensity and willingness to subvert his movie star image that seems to be perfectly aligned with A24’s hip and transgressive brand.
And while Pattinson doesn’t get credit for the box office performance of “The Odyssey” (that belongs to Christopher Nolan), its success only burnishes his movie star image. It will get another gloss when “Dune: Part Three” opens in December and when “The Batman: Part II” rolls into theaters in 2028.
For more than a decade, agents and analysts have decried the death of the movie star. They’ve noted that no one has come on the scene to replace the drawing power of aging icons like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, and Brad Pitt. That may be changing. Like his “Dune” co-star Timothée Chalamet, Pattinson has finally figured out a way to make challenging, provocative work that general audiences will embrace as well as cinephiles.
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