No matter what you actually think of the chap, Robert Pattinson has been steering away from Twilight with some grace. I wouldn’t count Water for Elephants or Bel Ami as parts of this shift — though we did like the latter — but one need only read the news to understand what I refer to. There was a plum casting story last night, three Cosmopolis clips today, and, now, news of another job I can get truly excited over.

Variety reports that he and Guy Pearce are slated to lead The Rover, a rough-and-tumble thriller from David Michôd, director of 2010′s acclaimed Animal Kingdom. Set in the near-future, Rover — which, by the way, is based on an idea developed amongst Michôd and Joel Edgerton — centers on Reynolds (Pearce), a man navigating the Australian outback in search of those who stole his car (Pattinson being one of them). Don’t ask me how or why that warrants a near-future setting (other than his car being a Chevy Volt) but let’s not get too pedantic here — especially when it sounds mighty good.

Michôd‘s acclaimed direction on Kingdom alone justifies such anticipation, though yours truly also warms to the notion of Pearce returning to territory he staked out so beautifully in The Proposition. I know a whole lot of you will cry foul at Pattinson but, having seen him in so little, I’ll stand by David Cronenberg and this respected Australian; the haters will just have to pipe down.

Are you intrigued by this teaming and logline?