New stills, clips, and updates from 'The Runaways' and 'Welcome to the Rileys'

'The Runaways'

With Sundance just around the bend, Kristen Stewart and her two festival-bound films, The Runaways and Welcome To The Rileys, have been the subject of updates left and right. 

For starters, a number of feature articles have popped up about both films, and they're all worth taking note of.

The Los Angeles Times did two pieces on The Runaways. In the first, the L.A. Times interviewed Runaways director Floria Sigismondi and revealed that Stewart and Dakota Fanning had "subjected themselves to a kind of rock ‘n' roll boot camp to more convincingly embody two still very much alive musical icons – members of a pioneering group that went on to inspire such all-female rock bands as L7, the Go-Gos, Sahara Hotnights and the Donnas." Sigismondi also revealed how she readied Fanning, as well as her castmates, for the job of portraying a rock star. 

In the second L.A. Times piece, the reporter digs a little deeper into the making of the project, getting quotes from nearly everyone involved. Notably, there were at least two moments where the emphasis was upon the transformation that Kristen Stewart completed in becoming Joan Jett for the role.

"She has completely embodied the character of Joan," Sigismondi said. "Her body language, her face, her walk. It's amazing how she has just become her."

Production designer Eugenio Caballero was even more blunt. "Kristen is Joan," he said in between scenes. "You talk with her and you think it's Joan Jett."

Should impress all of those naysayers at Sundance, eh? Note also that Floria Sigismondi was featured by Variety for her work in The Runaways, dubbed a "Director to Watch."

A new clip from The Runaways (to supplement the trailer) was released just yesterday, and it features both Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning.

Additionally, new stills from the film were released as well (available below in the slideshow as well as in high definition at Collider).

Welcome To The Rileys, too, has been enjoying its fair share of media coverage over the past few days. For starters, it was chosen as one of the most likely films to ignite a bidding war at Sundance. Variety also picked Rileys as one of the "target titles" of the festival.

Additionally, Cinematical caught up with WTTR director Jake Scott to talk about the project. He put the film's premise rather simply, saying "It's about a businessman who comes to terms with the death of his daughter through an unlikely relationship with a teenage stripper."

Finally, a few more stills from the picture were made available (see the slideshow), as well as a new clip!

Should be a great couple of days for Sundance with these two films on the roster!