Last week, a minor brouhaha erupted when the Alfama Films website posted some info about David Cronenberg‘s gestating “Cosmpolis,” revealing that Marion Cotillard was no longer involved in the film (later confirmed to us by her reps) and that Keira Knightley appeared to have taken over in her role (that info has since been removed). Also, curiously missing from the cast list was Paul Giamatti who was in talks late last year for a role in the film. Well, it looks like the actor is still set to join the project.
Speaking with MTV at Sundance, Giamatti confirmed that he’s lined up to play one of the stalkers who pursues Robert Pattinson‘s character in the film. “I get to stalk him,” Giamatti said.
To refresh your memory, the film is based on Don DeLillo‘s book of the same name, and follows 24 hours in the life of newly married billionaire Eric Packer (Pattinson) as he cheats on his wife (presumably Knightley), is pursued by a stalker, gets attacked by a protester and gradually loses his entire fortune over the course of a single day.
Reps for Knightley have been contacted by us several times, but everyone’s playing coy. Our guess is with a film company already having shown their hand about her presence in the film, she was in active negotiations, but nothing was finalized, so they had to backtrack until it was 100% confirmed. Having just worked on “A Dangerous Method” with Cronenberg, she has clearly impressed the director, and we’re expecting an official announcement soon as the picture is gearing up to shoot in May in Toronto and New York City.
