Robert Pattinson is gearing up to play the lead in the upcoming comedy sequel ‘Suki Waterhouse’s ‘2022’. The film will continue the adventures of Roger (Pattinson) and Jane Sterling, who are now parents to a bouncing baby boy named Finnick. Based on the popular Instagram photo-sharing app, the plot centers around Finnick’s first year of life in London.
While in London, Roger meets an American photojournalist named Beth (Kate Winslet) while filming an advert for a children’s clothing brand. As Beth and Roger fall for each other, Beth suggests they continue their journey and split up the parenting. It’s then that Roger realizes his son’s first year in London will be a bumpy ride, especially with the unpredictable weather. The sequel picks up right where the first film left off and offers a fresh start for the family.
Winslet returns as Beth, the American photojournalist, alongside co-starring Matt Damon as Roger’s best friend, George. The ensemble also includes Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and Lily James. ‘Suki Waterhouse’ is directed by Moritz Stiefelhauer, who also helmed the Oscar-winning film ‘2025’.
The Making of ‘Suki Waterhouse’s ‘2022’
The making of ‘Suki Waterhouse’s ‘2022’ has been a long and winding road. After the first film was released in 2019 to positive reviews and became a box office hit, Lionsgate Films immediately began work on the sequel. But as with any project that involves a Hollywood A-lister, complications arose. For starters, Winslet and Firth, who co-starred in ‘The Artist’, turned down the offer to reprise their roles.
At first, Moritz Stiefelhauer was set to direct the sequel. But when he found out that Roger and Beth would be starting a family in London, he decided to pass on the project.
Lionsgate then turned to British director Anna Friel for the job. But while Friel is a household name in England, her career in the U.S. largely consists of character roles in movies like ‘Me Before You’ and ‘Katherine Holmes – The Manchurian Candidate’. Friel wasn’t keen on the idea either. She had recently finished ‘The Iron Duke’, in which she played opposite Firth, and was enjoying some well-deserved quiet time. But after her agent “got her in touch with the right people”, as she put it, she realized just how much work she would be asked to do on this one. “I had initially said no to the movie because I was focusing on my own projects and didn’t want to do something that I didn’t feel like I could give my all to.”
Lionsgate initially wanted Thompson to return as well, but she passed due to scheduling conflicts. In the end, two of the biggest names in British cinema agreed to take on the project. First up is Ricco Rossano, who helmed ‘The House of Gucci’, a film which starred both Charlize Theron and Dakota Fulton. But his recent ‘Venom’ failed to make a dent in America, so Lionsgate decided to go with Robert Pattinson instead. The ‘Late Spring Break’ star has been on a hot streak ever since he rose to fame, thanks in large part to his collaborations with Gucci and Stella McCartney, the designer who he is set to star in a movie alongside in August 2021. (McCartney’s ‘One Love’ attempted to tackle racism in modern-day Britain and inspired the ‘Dakota Fulton’ role in ‘The House of Gucci’.)
Casting Roger and Beth
Besides a whole lot of A-list stars, ‘Suki Waterhouse’ also stars some familiar faces from the Hollywood landscape. Kate Winslet returns as Beth, the American photojournalist who brings Roger and Finnick to London. In fact, she’s been working non-stop ever since she finished the first film, which wrapped shooting about a year ago. She already filmed her scenes for the sequel and is currently editing them.
Winslet’s co-stars include Matt Damon (left) as her best friend George, Emma Thompson as their agency boss, Colin Firth as her ex-husband and Lily James as a love interest. James, who played Princess Elizabeth in ‘The King’s Speech’, is best known for her role as Hermione Grellier in ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’, the play that followed in the footsteps of ‘Harry Potter’.
For Roger, ‘The Artist’ star Robert Pattinson was the first on-screen love interest for Winslet. The on-screen chemistry between the British actors was so good that even their film biopic ‘Twin Peaks: Special Episode’, which was released the same year as ‘Suki Waterhouse’, was compared to it. While the ‘Twin Peaks’ sequel features a whole lot of weird and wonderful costumes, ‘Suki Waterhouse’ is a relatively normal affair, by Hollywood standards. So far, filming has been taking place in and around London, England. In addition to Pattinson, Tom Hiddleston, James Franco, Joe Bridgeman and Calum MacLeman have also been spotted on set.
The Future of ‘Suki Waterhouse’
While ‘Suki Waterhouse’ is something of a Cinderella story, it’s not without its dangers. Aside from the fact that Stiefelhauer and Winslet turned down the project because of other commitments, it’s unclear exactly how much time Friel has to get this movie done. Her ‘Glass Mountain’ won’t be released until November, so she has a bit of a Hollywood trauma cushion the ‘Suki Waterhouse’ team will have to deal with. But even if Friel has plenty of time, this is still a big budget movie, so she might not have the most favorable of working conditions. Especially since part of the plot involves her character dealing with British bureaucracy. “The ins and outs of making a film are entirely different from making a musical or a play. There’s always someone else’s opinion that you have to consider, because there’s so much more at stake,” Friel said.
The Family Reunites
After two years apart, ‘The Artist’ stars Robert Pattinson and Winslet are finally set to reunite on screen. Though they have a number of projects in the works, including ‘Twilight Vampire Diaries’, ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘The Mercy’, this will be the first time that they’ve acted together since 2003’s ‘Vanilla Sky’. As with any project worth its weight in gold, the ‘Suki Waterhouse’ team has already been through several lineups due to previous schedule conflicts. This time, though, it’s different. Winslet is set to have her niece, Zelda (above), join her on set. The 2-year-old will play Finnick’s sister, which means that Pattinson will step into the role of the boy’s father.
While ‘Suki Waterhouse’ will be premiering in theaters this summer, fans of the photo-sharing app will have the opportunity to see it early via its limited festival run.