Starry sessions with Robert Pattinson and Jacob Elordi enlivened the Berlin Film Festival Saturday as the actors made waves with high-profile new titles “Mickey 17” and “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.”
Saturday’s premiere of sci-fi adventure film “Mickey 17” was one of the biggest events of the Berlinale so far, as all eyes in the film biz have been on director Bong Joon Ho and his followup to the Oscar-winning 2019 drama “Parasite.” Variety‘s Ramin Setoodeh and Elsa Keslassy captured the buzz in the room as Berlin fest director Tricia Tuttle had to cut the standing ovation short in order to bring the director and star on stage for a Q&A.
“Pattinson, who attended the premiere giving off Batman vibes (in an all-black ensemble that included a leather coat), arrived early in the night — signing autographs and taking many selfies on his way inside the theater. ‘Rob! Rob! Rob!’ the crowd outside chanted, showering him with the kind of movie-star welcome he was accustomed to during the peak of his ‘Twilight’ years,” Setoodeh and Keslassy wrote.
Earlier in the day, Pattinson had a eureka moment in front of a Berlinale news conference audience when he realized the source of inspiration for one of the characters he plays in “Mickey 17.”
“I actually think I realized today what I was doing,” Pattinson said when asked about his inspiration, bursting into laughter. “We were doing an interview earlier and Bong said one of the thoughts he was having for 18 was Peter Stormare from ‘Fargo.’ And then I think how that went into my head was to do Steve Buscemi as 17. I kind of did it by accident, but I don’t think I realized that until today. I thought I was doing something else.”
Elordi came to the Berlinale to show off his new Australian miniseries “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” in which he plays a medical officer during World War II who is taken by the Japanese as a prisoner of war. Variety‘s Ellise Shafer went right to the heart of the news in her coverage of Elordi’s Q&A about the project.
“Gone was the beard that sent shockwaves through the internet in December when the actor served on the Marrakech Film Festival jury, though apparently it wasn’t all for nothing. Rocking an all-black outfit, which also showed off some chest hair, the “Euphoria” and “Saltburn” actor strutted his sideburns on the red carpet,” Shafer wrote.
At an earlier appearance, Elordi discussed the making of the period miniseries, which required him to shed more than a few pounds to look the part of a POW. “I think there was something quite profound that happened, in that it wasn’t complete torture,” he said. “There was a peace that sort of came over all of us.”
Variety will be on the ground in Berlin through the duration of the festival, which runs Feb. 13-23. Follow our coverage and film reviews via Variety.com — all of our news coverage can be found here and reviews found here — and through our five show daily print editions published at the festival from Feb. 13-17. Each festival daily issue is available online for Variety subscribers. And please click here to subscribe to Variety‘s free Markets and Festivals newsletter.
Here are highlights from Day 4 of the Berlin Film Festival:
Jessica Chastain explained “you have to find hope where you are in the world” in discussing her new U.S.-Mexico immigration drama “Dreams.”
Filmmaker Lucile Hadzihalilovic talks reuniting with Marian Cotillard for the “fractured fairy-tale” story of “The Ice Tower.”
The Berlinale’s Teddy Awards recognizing LGBTQ+ films take on new importance amid the far-right political movements growing in the U.S. and Europe.
The state of São Paulo in investing to become a bigger player in Brazil’s bustling media marketplace and in Latin American film and TV overall.
A who’s who of German film and TV turned out for Studio Babelsberg’s annual Berlinale bash.
Film sales agent Memento International rebrands as Paradise City Sales as it shops “My Notes on Mars” at EFM.
U.K.’s Altitude Film Sales shops a Marianne Faithfull biopic starring Freya Allan to buyers at EFM.
Erotic queer thriller “Night Stage” lands distribution deals in North America, U.K. and Ireland.
Uruguay emerges as a hot lensing hub and a port in the storm in the busy Latin American TV and film market.
Review: “Mickey 17”
Review: “Dreams”
Review: “Cicadas”
Review: “Ari”
More coverage can be found here: Variety at Berlin Film Festival
(Pictured top: Robert Pattinson with fans at Saturday’s “Mickey 17” premiere in Berlin)
