Is Robert Pattinson a Movie Star or Just a Teen Idol?

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland remains queen of the box office, but Robert Pattinson’s romantic drama, Remember Me, raked in an underwhelming $3,300,000 on 2,215 screens during its second weekend — for a paltry total of $13,900,000. Even more shocking is that it came in at number 10 under the practically unheard of Our Family Wedding, which begs the question — why is one of the hottest male stars raking in forgettable box office numbers?

Granted, $13.9 million isn’t the end of the world since Emilie de Ravin’s tale about a rebellious young man who meets the love of his life after a family tragedy only had a budget of $16 million — but it certainly suggests that Robert Pattinson isn’t the draw for fans, but the character Edward Cullen is. People fell in love with Cullen while reading Stephanie Meyer’s books and then became enamored with Pattinson through the films. Finally, legions of fangirls had their immortal boyfriend personified on screen and the spell seems near impossible to break. Pattinson’s young female fan base doesn’t really want to see him falling in love with anyone other than Bella and his character Tyler in Remember Me wasn’t the hopeless romantic clamoring for his lady love — in fact, previews for the film looked seriously depressing and far too dreary for the teen crowd that has come to adore him.

So, can Robert Pattinson have a successful career after the Twilight series ends? What’s the best way for him to transition from Edward to another character? Does he need to choose a completely different role or will that cause his fan base to abandon him entirely? Or is he destined to become this generation’s Mark Hamill — for example, so linked to a single character that no one wants to risk casting him in anything besides movies featuring glittery vampires?