Robert Pattinson looks to be treading a similar career path as his Goblet of Fire co-star Daniel Radcliffe — Poster Boy for big franchise trying to prove he’s more than one character. Of course, Radcliffe has the benefit of a big franchise people actually respect, while Pattinson is stuck in the successful but pop-culture-punchline of a franchise that is Twilight. In any case, he’s making his stand as a Legitimate Actor, much as Radcliffe did with turns in the play Equus and indie film December Boys.

Pattinson already has How to Be and Little Ashes under his belt, but both of those films were, except for the occasional over-exuberant Twilight fan, mostly ignored stateside (both commercially and critically). So it stands to reason that for many who have grown accustomed to seeing the actor’s face splattered over the tabloids, Remember Me will be the first time they see him outside of the Twilight and Harry Potter films. Can he break free of a perpetual association with Edward Cullen?

Remember Me now has a trailer, and a fairly promising one at that. Co-starring Emilie de Ravin, Chris Cooper, and Pierce Brosnan, the film is a romantic drama rife with familial tensions and unexpected truths. It looks to have handled subject matter that could easily turn schlocky with at least some grace and deftness, and the presence of a strong supporting cast is also a good sign. Another plus for me is the fact that Rachel Getting Married scribe Jenny Lumet co-wrote the script, and if anyone knows how to write dysfunctional families and relationships, it’s her. Pattinson may not be moving far from his angsty glowering in Twilight, but at least he’s showing off hints of a real pulse here.

Check out the trailer after the jump, courtesy of MySpace, as well as the full synopsis.

Here’s the official blurb from Summit:

In the romantic drama ‘Remember Me’ Robert Pattinson plays Tyler, a rebellious young man in New York City who has a strained relationship with his father (Pierce Brosnan) ever since tragedy separated their family. Tyler didn’t think anyone could possibly understand what he was going through until the day he met Ally (Emilie de Ravin) through an unusual twist of fate. Love was the last thing on his mind, but as her spirit unexpectedly heals and inspires him, he begins to fall for her. Through their love, he begins to find happiness and meaning in his life. But soon, hidden secrets are revealed, and the circumstances that brought them together slowly threaten to tear them apart. Remember Me is an unforgettable story about the power of love, the strength of family, and the importance of living passionately and treasuring every day of one’s life. ‘Remember Me’ also stars Academy Award® winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation), and Academy Award® nominee Lena Olin (Chocolat).

Allan Coulter directed the film, with Will Fetters serving as Lumet’s co-writer. The movie will be released on March 12th 2010.

It’ll be interesting to see how this film does alongside the more adult-oriented Clash of the Titans. They come out a little over a month apart, and take their inspiration from similar stories and characters within the larger pantheon of Greek mythology. I’m hopeful both will find an audience, as I think you can never get enough variations/retellings of these stories. Can Chris Columbus be launching another monster of a franchise with this one?

Catch the trailer (and an alarmingly young-looking Brandon T. Jackson) after the jump.

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief stars Logan Lerman, Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Pierce Brosnan, Rosario Dawson, Kevin McKidd, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Catherine Keenan, Steve Coogan, and Joe Pantoliano. It comes out on February 12th, 2010.

Stanley Tucci is attracting some big players for his upcoming directorial effort The Hunter.

Pierce Brosnan, Patricia Clarkson, and Julianne Moore have been cast in Tucci’s indie dramedy, which marks the fifth time Tucci has sat in the director’s chair. The script, which he also wrote, is a coming-of-age story for a middle-aged man (Brosnan), who finds himself “desperately clinging to the vestiges of his once-charmed life and world” in the aristocracy of New York’s Upper Westchester County. It’s a pretty generic and rather undescriptive synopsis, but it makes me wonder – to get to a middle-aged coming-of-age, do you have to go through a mid-life crisis first? That’d be the inciting incident, wouldn’t it? In any case, there’s no word on who Clarkson and Moore would play yet.

I like Tucci as an actor, and I think he’s one of the most talented and charming character actors out there. I haven’t actually had the chance to see any of his writing or directorial efforts, but I’m definitely curious to see what he can bring to the table with The Hunter. He’s certainly lined up a great pedigree of players for this current project, so I would say he’s off to a good start.

Check out the full Variety article here.

It’s kind of a no-brainer that the new Percy Jackson teaser is going straight for the Harry Potter fanbase. The first in what Fox is hoping will be a series of movies is directed by Chris Columbus, the man who launched the Harry Potter movies as well. Adapted from the books by Rick Riordan, it similarly features a misfit schoolboy who discovers his magical heritage and is swept headlong into that world. Except instead of wizards, we get Greek gods. Fair trade, right?

The teaser is really nothing more than just that, as we barely get a glimpse of the world that Percy Jackson will inhabit. There’s a nice reveal of Mount Olympus (on the mythical 600th floor of the Empire State Building), but who can really tell what we’ll get with the actual movie? While the first two Harry Potter films are rarely cited as favorites in the franchise, Columbus did an excellent job in setting up the world and, perhaps his grandest stroke of all, casting the three leads. The very likable Logan Lerman will be playing the titular hero, the half-human son of Poseidon, and joining him will be Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase, Athena’s daughter, and Brandon T. Jackson as the satyr Grover Underwood. Only time will tell if Columbus can get lightning to strike twice in casting a trio of young actors.

The supporting cast is huge, with the likes of Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Rosario Dawson, Steve Coogan and Melina Kanakaredes all aboard for the ride. The film is scheduled for a February 12, 2010 release (not quite auspicious as the first Harry Potter’s November release), so expect to see marketing for the film ramp up in the coming months.

Howl is really rounding up a stellar cast. Jon Hamm has signed on to the film about the obscenity trial over Allen Ginsberg’s famous poem. He will play defense attorney Jake Ehrlich, and joins the likes of James Franco, David Strathairn, Alan Alda, Jeff Daniels, Mary Louise Parker, and Paul Rudd. Ehrlich defended Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s right to publish the now-canonical poem, which censors decried at the time as being vulgar and excessively explicit. It’ll be nice to see the Mad Men star take on a meaty role like this and really flex his acting chops.

Universal has announced the full cast for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. Aside from stars Russel Crowe (Robin Hood), Cate Blanchett (Lady Marian), and Mark Strong (Sir Godfrey), Vanessa Redgrave (Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine), Oscar Isaac (King John), and Léa Seydoux (French Princess and future Queen Isabella) have also joined the cast. You can check out the full announcement as well as an official plot synopsis at In Contention.

Chris Columbus’ Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief has hired a slew of actors to fill out the various gods and Olympians its story calls for. Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd and Melina Kanakaredes will join the film as Chiron, Medusa, Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena, respectively. Ares, Hades, and Persephone remain to be cast in the story about the half-human son of Poseidon who journeys across modern America to prevent a war between the gods. Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson have already been cast as the teenaged leads in the film, which is based on Rick Riordan’s best-selling children’s novel. I’m digging the way this film is coming together; we’ll keep our eye on it to see how it develops.

The latest one will be Roman Polanski’s “first contemporary thriller in more than twenty years.” The film stars Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Kim Cattrall, Jim Belushi, and Tom Wilkinson. Brosnan will play Adam Lang, an ex-British Prime Minister (modeled after Tony Blair) writing his memoirs off the coast of the U.S., with McGregor portraying a ghostwriter who is hired to help him finish the book after his longstanding aide drowns. McGregor is then quickly drawn into Lang’s world of political and sexual intrigue involving Lang’s wife (Williams), aide (Cattrall), and his troubling past. The story is based on the book by Robert Harris. Filming is set to begin in February in Berlin. AICN has the press release.