Why Robert Pattinson Thinks Big Budget Movies Are ‘ Much More Dangerous' Than Indie Films

Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse

Many audiences were introduced to Robert Pattinson through the phenomenon that was the Twilight franchise. However, since ending his days as the sparkly vampire, the actor has focused mainly on much less mainstream projects. It's easy to believe that Pattinson wanted to go off and take chances on more risky films, but the actor actually claims that he went the safe route, as he thinks going down the path of the blockbuster is the much more dangerous idea.

In a recent interview with the BBC, Robert Pattinson says that there are too many previous examples of blockbuster films not working out, and thus things go badly for the actors involved, and so he never felt the drive to get involved in something like that. According to the actor...

You can see quite a lot of examples of it not really working out for people, so I just thought it would be a silly idea to try to do a massive action movie or something. I always think that whatever movie you’re doing, there’s a potential that it’s the last movie you’re ever going to get, and so I don’t want to end my career on a ‘transitional’ movie.

Coming off the Twilight series Pattinson was probably in the best possible position to find success in those big budget movies, and it might have seemed like a sure thing, but it clearly wasn't for Pattinson himself.

While the smaller independent movies have limited budgets and often an equally limited ability to get seen by the public, going the other route isn't exactly a guarantee of success. Budgets for the few major studio tentpoles are only getting larger and studios are producing fewer films, this means that success is all the more important. It seems that Robert Pattinson saw that, if he made those movies and it didn't work out, it would end up being a serious blow to his career.

And having a career was, ultimately, his real goal. That meant focusing on smaller projects and making the kinds of movies that Robert Pattinson says that he enjoys watching himself. The movies, and the audiences, are smaller, but because the budgets are as well, they don't need as much to be a success, and any failures are also smaller. Pattinson was making outrageous Safdie Brothers films before Adam Sandler and his most recent film is a bizarre claustrophobic black and white nightmare called The Lighthouse.

Of course, while Robert Pattinson, has been making these off-beat indie films for years, it looks like he slowly might be transitioning into something a bit more mainstream. This year Pattinson will be seen in Tenet, the new Christopher Nolan movie, and then next year he jumps right into the deep end as the next big screen Batman.

Perhaps, if the blockbuster movies are the riskier ventures, Pattinson now feels he's ready to take those risks.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.