Taron Egerton Replaces Robert Pattinson In Claire Denis’ ‘Stars At Noon’ Opposite Margaret Qualley

There’s good and bad news for Claire Denis today, though arguably some frustrating news for the French filmmaker this month, in general. Starting with the immediate good fortune, it sounds like her upcoming film, the Nicaragua-set thriller “Stars At Noon,” is moving forward. The bad news, it’s lost its lead star, Robert Pattinson. ScreenDaily reports that Pattinson has had to exit the film citing conflicting obligations. The good news is she’s found a replacement in Taron Egerton, but let’s face it to a lot of fans, that’ll be a downgrade given Pattinson and Denis already made one fantastic film together in “High Life,” and cineastes were looking for a repeat of that effort.

READ MORE: Robert Pattinson & Margaret Qualley To Star In Claire Denis’ New Film For A24

Still, Margaret Qualley (“The Nice Guys,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) is still on board, and ScreenDaily says Wild Bunch International has begun talking to buyers about the new casting in Cannes.

Juliette Binoche Reunites With Claire Denis Again For ‘Fire’ With Vincent Lindon

This is happening all the while that Denis is not at the currently-going  Cannes Film Festival. Her latest film, “Fire,” starring Juliette Binoche, Vincent Lindon, Grégoire Colin—you can’t tell me that isn’t a starry French cast—has been reportedly done since March and was eyeing a Cannes premiere. But when every line-up was revealed, no Denis film was ever announced in, not even in the Director’s Fortnight or another sidebar section.

READ MORE: ‘Fire’: Clarie Denis’ New Film Starring Juliette Binoche Shooting For Cannes Debut, ‘Stars At Noon’ May Shoot In April

Given the lack of female filmmakers in competition and the line-up in general (though Sean Penn somehow has a competition slot and is nowhere near as regarded as she), the charges of sexism against the Cannes organizers still ring very loudly with the sharp absence of Denis (as do the rumors that she and the organizers have beef; they have treated her poorly, barely ever putting her films in competition or even accepting them into the line-up, despite being widely recognized as one of France’s greatest filmmakers). “Fire” is expected to appear at the 2021 Venice Film Festival line-up instead. I (begrudgingly) digress.

READ MORE: The Essentials: The Films Of Claire Denis

Set against the political intrigues and violence of 1980s Nicaragua at the height of its civil war between leftist Sandinista revolutionaries and US-backed counter-revolutionaries, the feature is based on US writer Denis Johnson’s 1986 novel The Stars At Noon. According to Screen Daily, “Egerton will play a mysterious British oil company employee masquerading as an NGO who becomes entangled with a struggling female reporter he meets in the bar of a former luxury hotel, where she occasionally turns tricks to make ends meet.”

READ MORE: Claire Denis Is Using Quarantine To Write A Script & Watch Films From Michael Mann, Nagisa Oshima & More

Originally scheduled for spring 2020, production on “Stars At Noon” will now occur in Panama in October 2021. Pattinson had to drop out due to other conflicting commitments. When you’re “Batman” now, apparently, you’re highly in demand and missed your shooting window due to Covid-19.