Take a sneak peek at Robert Pattinson and his character as a naïve criminal captured in the first official still for the futuristic crime-thriller, The Rover. Looking bloodied and beaten by his co-star Guy Pearce, Kristen Stewart’s boyfriend managed to look amazingly hot, even described as “manlier” in his latest film project.

The picture was taken by Australian photographer Matt Nettheim, who joined The Rover when the production group landed in Adelaide to shoot some action-packed scenes with Robert and Guy.

“The production rolled into my hometown Adelaide, bringing with it actors Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson, before heading off to shoot in the extremely remote and dangerously hot far north of South Australia,” Nettheim said in his blog.

He added: The prospect of working in that environment at this time of the year, with daily temperatures expected to be around 50 degrees, scared off many experienced local crew, but a brave crew was assembled and the film making road trip commenced.

Produced by the Porchlight Pictures, The Rover team began shooting on January 31 but Robert flew Down Under in mid-January for some preparations before the production commenced at the end of the month. Adelaide served as the actor’s home for seven weeks. He is expected back home on March 16, the initial schedule for The Rover to wrap filming in Australia.

In the first official still for The Rover, Pattinson got roughed up and all bloodied, appearing defeated with a gun pointed at him and with Pearce breathing in his face. The image shows Robert in a character that’s clearly a far cry from his Twilight’s iconic role as Edward Cullen.

Proving that there’s life after Twilight, Robert who had earlier admitted wanting to play villains in his upcoming films showed that he is indeed set to get dirty in films and play a different character.

In The Rover, Robert plays the newbie criminal, Rey who got embroiled in the troubles involving Eric (Guy) who enjoined him in a journey to search for his car, stolen by a gang of criminals. A bloody fight that ensued left Rey wounded and left behind and the conflict began and continued from there.

The first official still photo of The Rover with its main characters - - Guy and Robert - - has succeeded in teasing millions of Roberts fans.

“I think he looks awful, but I love it. He will be able to not only portray good looking individuals but those that are not attractive at all and he will be able to play so many diverse roles. Looking forward to view this movie when it is released. He is going to kill it,” a fan of Robert said.

Simply looking at the photo has earned Roberts early rave reviews for his performance in The Rover.

“Robert looks so rough, "life-beaten", troubled, and vulnerable but at the same time tough! And Guy is just Guy, period! He could lend his skin to anything, and it would be definitely believable,” another fan, named Margarita Lopez noted.

Iluvthemovies said: “What I find amazing is the acceptance of Rob in this role. I have read on other entertainment sites the excitement of Rob in this movie. He is making his move to wider acceptance of the recent roles he has chosen and shedding so much of the negative comments from his Twilight role. I am absolutely thrilled for him.”

As if reading the mind of the film director, the fans have been in one page with David Michod in describing Robert and his character.

“You’ve got a really dark, dangerous, murderous person in Guy’s character, and in Rob’s character you have a quite troubled and damaged, but beautiful and naïve, soul,” Michod was quoted as saying in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

The film is based on the concept formulated with Michod in corroboration with Australian actor, Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty and The Great Gatsby). Other stars joining Guy and Robert are Scoot McNairy (Killing Them Softly, Argo), Susan Prior (Animal Kingdom), Gillian Jones (Oscar and Lucinda), Anthony Hayes (Burning Man), and David Field (Chopper).

Will Robert really kill it?

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