Based on the novel by Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis takes place over a single day, a day during which Eric Packer, a billionaire assets manager who has yet to turn thirty, decides to get a haircut while betting massively in an international financial gamble.  Taking his ridiculously lavish stretch limo, the simple errand becomes an odyssey through a Manhattan wracked by protest as Packer deals with a very real threat of assassination and/or total meltdown.

For many folks, the film is notable not for being the latest from the director of Videodrome, A History of Violence, Dead Ringers, and The Fly, but because it stars Robert Pattinson well outside of the Edward Cullen persona for which he's so well known.  See how Pattinson acquits himself in the new trailer below or in high definition at Apple.

Certainly looks like a trip.  In addition to the strangeness, though, Cronenberg, who wrote the screenplay, is clearly not lacking in the ambition as far as his thematic subjects go.  We'll see how his exploration of how we live now connects in a way that resonates.  On an unrelated note, there will certainly be many in the audience who can't separate Pattinson from what has become his signature franchise, but the guy must be given credit for choosing some ballsy material here, particularly since he could almost certainly just crnk out action vehicles or romantic comedies ad infinitum.

Cronenberg's surrounded the lead by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Jay Baruchel, Juliette Binoche, Kevin Durand, Mathieu Amalric, Samantha Morton, Sarah Gadon, Paul Giamatti, and Emily Hampshire.

Cosmopolis arrives in limited release this August 17th.