Robert Pattinson’s film Bel Ami was a torrid period piece about money, power and sex with A-List Hollywood actresses, but it got no respect in Hollywood. And, the Twilight hunk finally reveals why.

“Bel Ami,” based on the 19th Century Guy de Maupassant novel about Paris society at the height of the Belle Epoque was as different as you can get from Pattinson’s “Twilight” movies.

“That’s why I wanted to do ‘Bel Ami.’ I knew of Maupassant’s novel because I love French literature,” he tells French magazine Tele Cable.

Check out Rob’s photos; click to enlarge.

The cast included Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci and Holliday Grainger. Rob played Georges Duroy, a handsome, but amoral ex-soldier who beds wealthy women to climb Parisian society.

Given all the juicy elements, the film looked like a hot property. But it took almost three years to get a release date. Rob says the film was orphaned by Hollywood for what he calls a “crazy reason.”

“An American studio was very interested by the movie but they wanted to change the end. They didn’t want a tragic ending, maybe to keep it open in hopes of a sequel,” he laughs.

“To take a masterpiece and change its outcome for marketing reasons is just ridiculous to me. So it took time to find a distributor that would bring out the movie on the screen while keeping Maupassant’s story untouched,” he adds.

When it finally opened June 8, its North American release was limited to 15 theaters. No wonder it has only grossed $72,000 domestically to date. Globally it’s taken in just over $7 million, according to boxofficemojo.

After “Harry Potter” and “Twilight,” film studios are obsessed with sequels. If there’s no potential for two or three follow up films, the studios are reluctant to take a chance on a picture.

They’ll serve up “The Hunger Games” over and over again, without putting the resources behind potential classics.