Robert Pattinson of Twilight Saga fame having no problems with the ladies (though I’m unsure if that Bieber kid hasn’t passed him) in films outside of the franchise, and we now have visual proof via an image from Bel Ami, an upcoming film that he stars in based on the Guy de Maupassant story. In this pic we see Pattinson up close with Uma Thurman, who is just one of the women that revolves around Pattinson’s Georges Duroy. We haven’t talked Bel Ami since January when we told you that Christina Ricci was cast, joining Thurman and Kristin Scott Thomas in the Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod directed film.

You can read Bel Ami for free over at Classic Reader. The film is scheduled to be promoted during this year’s Cannes and released at the end of the year.

Film Synopsis - An adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s short story “Bel Ami.” It’s a morality tale centered on Georges Duroy, a man who rises to the top by manipulating a series of powerful and wealthy mistresses.

The report indicates her role will be that of Clotilde; or from the story, Clotilde de Marell, a wife of a railway inspector who is often out of pocket. Christina Ricci is one of those actresses that I always describe as very much a fixture of ‘my generation’, but I’m never sure (or correct) in why? Everyone knows the name, but she’s not girl from Beetlejuice (which is what I always find myself wanting to say!). I have to be reminded that she was in and relatively great in Black Snake Moan, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Monster.

Robert Pattinson plays the role of Georges Duroy, the lead character, who basically is king-mack (no, not Nine) and rises in society by manipulating a series of women. Also cast is Kristin Scott Thomas (amazing in The English Patient, Gosford Park, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and honestly just about everything she’s in) who is one of Duroy’s victims. Bel Ami is directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod.

According to the report, Thurman will play a woman “who is extremely involved and connected in the goings-on of Parisian society”. She helps Duroy (Pattinson) in his ascent, later becoming his wife.” The role is unnamed, but I’m going to assume it is (if going by the story) the role of Madeleine Forestier.

Update 11/05 – This has been denied by Nicole Kidman’s agent according to Gossip Cop.

This will be the feature film debut as directors for Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, the founders of the Cheek By Jowl theatre company. Bel Ami will be produced by Uberto Pasolini (The Full Monty). This is a pretty interesting pairing

Below is the book description (pulled from Amazon, and of the Penguin Classic Edition) :

Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his friends as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie francaise and soon makes a great success of his new career. But he also comes face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives the sleazy colleagues, the manipulative mistresses and wily financiers and swiftly learns to become an arch-seducer, blackmailer and social climber in a world where love is only a means to an end. Written when Maupassant was at the height of his powers, Bel-Ami is a novel of great frankness and cynicism, but it is also infused with the sheer joy of life depicting the scenes and characters of Paris in the belle epoque with wit, sensitivity and humanity.

Bel Ami begins filming February in London and Budapest.