It seems like it has been forever since we had any news about TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN. For a while there, we were getting news updates every other day. Today we get a bit of casting news in that one of the stars of the HBO series ‘The Pacific’ is going to be starring in the final chapter(s) of the Twilight Saga. Rami Malek is all set to play the vampire Benjamin in the final film. Benjamin is an Egyptian vampire that serves as a witness for the Cullens. I haven’t read the books, so I have absolutely no idea what any of that means. This is not the first time Malek has played an Egyptian; he also played Ahkmenrah in NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2. Rami Malek is also set to have a part in the upcoming Tom Hanks’ film LARRY CROWNE.
As you know, the final two films will be directed by Bill Condon and will star Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning and Nikki Reed.
It seems like it has been a while since we had a Twilight related news story. Robert Pattinson is off filming WATER FOR ELEPHANTS and Kristen Stewart is off filming ON THE ROAD, so no one has time to talk about Twilight any more. Well, almost no one. Summit finally announced today that the second part to BREAKING DAWN and the very last movie in the Twilight series is coming a full year after the release of the first part. That’s right, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2 isn’t coming to theaters until November 16th, 2012.
I understand Summit’s desire to milk this series for all it’s worth, but releasing the two films a year apart is ridiculous. The first part should hit in the fall and the second should hit in the summer. You still get the films on separate fiscal accounting sheets, but you don’t run the risk of the Twi-hards losing interest. I know that seems impossible now, but tween girls are finicky and this seems like a mildly risky move from Summit. But both films will feature the Twilight cast, which includes Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Dakota Fanning.
I thought when we reported the final US domestic box office numbers for TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE, we’d be done reporting numbers for the third Twilight film. But I forgot that the film didn’t open in the United Kingdom until this past weekend and sure enough, it did exceptionally well across the pond as well. The film took in 13.75 million pounds (about $21 million US dollars) during it’s opening weekend, beating the previous 2010 best held by ALICE IN WONDERLAND, which took in 10.5 pounds ($15.9 million US). However, it should be noted that those numbers are skewed a little bit since they’re also counting he promo screenings that happened earlier in the week. So I guess it depends on how you look at it. Either way, the film is doing well everywhere in the world.
Even with the success of the film, it did drop pretty heavy this past week, in only its second weekend in release. So it looks like one of the many films that will explode the first weekend and then won’t make any more money until the eventual Blu-ray release. The film stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Dakota Fanning. And just for a change, here’s a picture of Ashley Greene and Jackson Rathbone.
No Team Jacob or Team Edward comments please, but here are a couple of images of Taylor Lautner on the set of his currently filming ABDUCTION. In the film, Lautner plays a 17 year-old kid that finds his picture on a missing persons website and then things go a little crazy for him. I didn’t think that would include a 17 year-old racing through town on a motorcycle without a helmet, but I guess Hollywood can get away with that stuff. He was snapped in this photo while shooting in Pittsburgh. Let the Tom Cruise in TOP GUN comparisons begin.
The film stars Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Alfred Molina and Elisabeth Rohm. John Singleton is handling directing duties. I’m looking forward to see if Lautner can hold his own in a film without the TWILIGHT cushion and this one seems to be on the right track so far.
Summit formally announced today that both parts of the final chapter of the Twilight series will begin shooting this fall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Vancouver. As you know, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN is going to be released in two parts, the first of which is coming on November 18th, 2011 and the second presumably in the summer of 2012. I like that Hollywood is continuing to support Louisiana. Anything they can do to add jobs and tourism back to that area will help at least a little.
The real question I have for the final two films is whether or not they can beat the impressive numbers put up by THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. With the big time paydays the big three are getting for the BREAKING DAWN films, anything less than what Eclipse pulled in will be disappointing. BREAKING DAWN features the return of all the series stars, including Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Dakota Fanning.
One of the unique aspects of the Twilight films is that virtually everyone that has anything to do with the film has turned into an international star. So when you hear that as part of their marketing campaign, Summit Entertainment sent several of the film’s stars around the country to surprise audiences during TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE, it’s actually pretty cool. Because even though Ashley Greene plays a small part, it would still be cool to see her show up at your local Cineplex while you’re watching the film. I mention that because Ashley Greene was in Jacksonville and she’s the only one that made a trip down to Florida.
Although Dakota Fanning, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart stayed in California, Taylor Lautner showed up in Pittsburgh, Jodelle Ferland (Bree) went to New Orleans, Peter Facinelli was in Hawaii and Nikki Reed went to New Jersey. All total, about 20 cities featured surprise visits from about 20 different stars. Each of them handled the visits differently with some staying to sign autographs and answer questions while others made their appearance and left. Either way, it was a cool idea from Summit.
We’ve gotten a lot of casting announcements for Taylor Lautner’s first real non-Twilight film ABDUCTION, but until now, we didn’t know who were going to play his parents, who obviously play a key role in the titular abduction. Elisabeth Rohm will be playing his mother and although we still don’t know who will be playing his father, I have to hope it’s someone of ethnic origin. Otherwise, Lautner’s character is just an idiot for not realizing he was adopted sooner. Rohm has appeared on several shows, but most notably ‘Heroes’ and ‘Law and Order’.
The film revolves around a young man (Lautner) that unravels a mystery when he finds a picture of himself on a missing children advertisement. This sets off a chain of events that lead him down a dark path. Lily Collins plays his love interest, Alfred Molina plays a CIA agent hot on his trail and Sigrourney Weaver plays a psychiatrist. John Singleton directs.
As is the policy in Hollywood to call something “final” before the day is even through, the “final” box office numbers for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE are in. To recap, the film had the widest release, the biggest midnight opening and the biggest Wednesday opening of all time. Early numbers put it on pace to beat the all time Fourth of July weekend record, which is held by SPIDER-MAN 2′s $180 million, but it ell off quite a bit after its stellar opening. All total, the film made $68.5 million on Wednesday, $24.2 million on Thursday and then closed the weekend with $28.6, $23.9, $13.7 and $16.4 million estimated for Monday. The six day total will close out somewhere around $175.3 million. So it not only failed to match Spidey, but it didn’t beat THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON, which opened over Thanksgiving with $179 million in six days. However, being disappointed because the film failed to make an additional 4.7 million is ridiculous considering everything over $68 million is pure profit for the studio.
So now that the studio has a summer opening and a Thanksgiving opening on their books, I wonder if it will change their thinking with the release of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN films. Either way, anyone with a cut of the back-end profits is going to be rich after those movies are released. As you know, the series stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Dakota Fanning.
I’m guessing this is my second to last news update about the box office success of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, but if the numbers for Sunday and Monday prove higher than expected, who knows how many more there will be. But the other day, we told you that Eclipse opened up internationally to $19 million on Wednesday, but at that time, we didn’t know the opening numbers for Thursday and Friday. Well, today we learn that Eclipse has generated over $100 million in 42 countries/territories. So for those keeping track at home, that’s over $260 million worldwide. Oh, and the film only cost $68 million to make. So maybe the huge paydays for Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN aren’t so outrageous after all.
I guess the $100 million internationally shouldn’t surprise me after the $19 million on opening day, but I’m still a little taken aback by the international appeal of the main stars and the saga in general. Even though it won’t hit the Fourth of July box office record, this film is an incredible success. Oh, and with all these Twilight stories, I’m running out of Eclipse pictures of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, so here’s one of Nikki Reed and Kellan Lutz, who have been kind of the forgotten stars of the sequel.
Although THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE was on pace to break the highest ever 4th of July weekend record, it now looks like the film will fall well short of the $180 million currently held by SPIDER-MAN 2. Of course, the film is already uber-successful, breaking the record for most screens, biggest midnight opening and biggest Wednesday opening. But I know a lot of Twi-hards were hoping for the 4th of July record, of only to give a little beat down to Spidey. After Saturday’s numbers, Eclipse has about $143 million, needing about $37 more million in two days to best Spidey. Although not impossible, insiders are “only” expecting Eclipse to take in about another $30 million, leaving it anywhere from 5-10 million short of the record.
The Fourth of July weekend is a fun number to look at, but I’m more interested to see how Eclipse holds up over several weekends. TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON dropped like a rock in its second weekend, so I’m curious if Eclipse will suffer the same fate. Of course, it doesn’t matter at this point because the film has already made a ton of cash. We’ll update later when the Sunday numbers are out.
We’ve been trying to keep up with all of the success THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is achieving at the box office. We know it broke the record for widest theatrical release and best Wednesday opening. Although this isn’t a record, it should be noted that TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE is doing exceptionally well overseas as well. Early estimates put the total haul on Wednesday at $19 million in only 22 markets, including Italy and Brazil. It opened in bigger markets like France and Australia on Thursday and Friday and those estimates haven’t come in yet. While the domestic haul for the film shouldn’t be much of a surprise, I think the rousing success the film is achieving internationally proves that people of all races, religions and ethnic backgrounds love their Twilight stars.
We’ll be updating the box office success as numbers come in and the film chases down the July 4th weekend record held by SPIDER-MAN 2. Eclipse stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Dakota Fanning.
Back in May, there were rumblings that many of the supporting cast members from the Twilight films were not going to come back for the final two-part chapter because Summit wasn’t going to pay them for two movies. At the time, I felt the big three of Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart should have done more for their lesser-known co-stars to get them paid in line with two films. Today we get more details about how much money the big three will actually get paid for their performances in the final two films and it’s jaw-dropping. Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will each get $25 million against 7.5% of the gross. It’s tough to explain what that means, but assuming both TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN movies perform as well as TWILIGHT: NEW MOON, then each star will get an incredible $41 million for the two movies.
Although that number makes me sick at my stomach, I can’t argue with it. Each of the big three have proven time and time again that they’re international superstars. Although none of them have proven they can open a movie not called “Twilight”, it doesn’t change the fact that the final two films couldn’t be made without them.
It seems like just yesterday I was reviewing the second installment of the Twilight Saga, entitled NEW MOON. I wasn’t terribly impressed with NEW MOON and wasn’t too excited to continue my journey into Forks. So I was shocked to find that I was pleasantly surprised after leaving the theater from watching THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. The poor quality of the previous installments were gone and in its place was a film with an actual plot and decent action. Of course, there were the obligatory “lust” scenes between Bella and Edward, but them’s the breaks when it comes to the Twilight Universe.
After Bella (Stewart) and Edward’s (Pattinson) reunion from the epic breakup in TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON, we find the couple still madly in love and considering holy matrimony. However, their enemy from the previous movies, Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard), is skillfully building a newborn vampire army to destroy the Cullen’s and Bella in order to exact her revenge. With the help of Jacob (Lautner) and his wolf pack, the Cullen’s will fight for their lives before the Volturi come and destroy all of them for exposing vampires to the rest of the world.
First off, I’d like to give kudos to David Slade for making TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE less corny and more entertaining than the previous two films. The first two chapters of Bella and Edward were tough to stomach because of the acting, directing and screenplay, but Slade was able to take the exact same characters with the same storyline and make the film more enjoyable to watch. If only he could have gotten Kristen Stewart to close her mouth more often, this film would be a complete success.
The best part of ECLIPSE would have to be the flashbacks where we get a little more information on a couple of the Cullen’s as well as the legend of the wolf pack. These scenes were done so well that it would have been nice to see a few more added. One of the biggest problems with the Twilightverse (films only) is that the audience doesn’t really get enough background information on the characters, so it’s hard to understand why they act the way they do. This disconnect was not present in this film and that can only be due to the director. Thankfully he decided it was more necessary to tell a story as opposed to giving the audience two hours of Bella and Edward staring longingly into each other’s eyes.
During this third part of the series, it was painfully clear to me that the biggest problem with the film (and story) is the relationship between Bella and Edward. Yes, I know that their love is a love that will last all time, but step back for a second and consider that Edward may be taking his jealously too far when he, for example, breaks Bella’s car and refuses to allow her to see Jacob, or gets overly upset when she comes home too late from the reservation. Could his overprotection for her (read: love) be making him go down a dangerous path of abuse? Maybe or maybe not, but the fact that I’m questioning it at all makes it clear that I’m firmly invested in these character’s plights.
Yesterday, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE managed to break the record for highest Wednesday opening of all time with a whopping $68.5 million, besting the mark set by TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, which managed only $62 million. By my count, this marks the third record the film has broken after opening in the most screens and bringing in the most ticket sales for a midnight showing. So the real question is whether or not it can continue the streak and break the highest weekend box office record opening, which is currently held by THE DARK KNIGHT with $158 million. I wouldn’t put that one out of reach, but I doubt it will come close to AVATAR’s all-time box office mark considering TWILIGHT: NEW MOON dropped off pretty heavily after its first weekend. It should also be noted that New Moon actually had a better opening day with $72.7 million, although that film didn’t open on a Wednesday.
So, it keeps getting crazier and crazier when it comes to anything Twilight related. As you know, the film stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Dakota Fanning.
We learned earlier today that TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE broke the record for widest release in Hollywood history with showings on over 4,416 screens. Now, early word is that the film holds the record for highest midnight opening in history, beating the record held by TWILIGHT: NEW MOON. Eclipse has managed over $30 million, just with the midnight screenings alone. And we haven’t even gotten to the regular showings tonight. Theaters have been getting creative on how to handle the record sell-out crowds, some of which added in early morning shows to accommodate the demand. I thought the opening for SEX AND THE CITY was huge as far as get-togethers for women go, but girls around the world are turning the Eclipse opening into a huge event with camp-outs and slumber parties. As if it were ever in question; it’s official that Twilight fever is at an all time high.
What might be surprising to non Twi-hards is that the film is getting generally positive buzz from critics, at least compared to the first two. And once again, in case you’re not aware, the film stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Dakota Fanning.
I’m eagerly awaiting the first day ticket sales that should be announced sometime tomorrow afternoon, just to see how much dough TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE will bring in. I have little to no interest in the movie, but since I’ve been reporting news about this movie for a year now, I’m anxious to see what happens to it. Early word is that midnight screenings were selling out all over the world and that theaters had to show 3 a.m. showings to accommodate the demand, so I’m sure the records are just starting to be broken. But Eclipse is officially the widest released film in Hollywood history, showing on 4,416 theaters, beating the record that was just set by IRON MAN 2, which opened on 4,380 screens.
This may seem like a trivial record, but with this many screens, the chances of the film beating the all time opening record is more in reach. As you know the film is now playing in theaters and stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Dakota Fanning.
Over 550 fans have been camping out for days at the Nokia theater in downtown Los Angeles just for a chance to see Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and all the Twilight stars walk the red carpet during the premiere of TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE. There was a time when the Twi-hards were compared to Star Wars fans, but with this crazy display for a seemingly fleeting moment and the attack on Emma Roberts, the only thing this can be compared to is the Beatle-mania that swept America in the 60′s. The Twilight fans have taken their obsession to a whole new level.
Watch all the TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE premier coverage live below starting later today. If you’re reading this, then you already know the movie comes out on June 30th and stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed, Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard.
When giving the news stories of the day, we here at Flix66.com like to throw in a couple of opinions here and there to spice up otherwise boring news. So with that in mind, I can’t help myself but to jump on a soapbox after reading the backlash Emma Roberts has received after here stint on The Tonight Show on Tuesday. The gist of it is that she appeared on the show with Robert Pattinson and when Leno asked her if she was Team Jacob or Team Edward, she responded “Team Jacob” and that’s when it all started. Patty fans slammed her all over the internet, some even sending in physical threats. So poor Emma closed her Twitter account and has probably spent her entire paycheck from VALENTINE’S DAY on upgrading her security.
Now, here’s where the line between reality and movies gets crossed between deranged fans. Even though I don’t like the films, I think the Team Edward, Team Jacob thing is pretty fun. It’s fine to debate it and insult the merits of each character on the internet, but to actually take that dislike and turn it into hatred towards another human being just doesn’t make sense to me. How can someone’s love of a fictional character inspire so much hatred? To make matters worse, Roberts didn’t even insult “Team Edward”, she was just joking with Pattinson since he happened to be right there.
Sometimes you read this stuff and it makes you scratch your head. It’s just a book/movie, folks. Watch the video down below for what actually went down. Oh, and in case you’ve forgotten, TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE comes out on June 30th.
On Wednesday, we had several new photos from the upcoming release of TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE and today we continue the trend with even more pictures. These are a little more obscure, but Twilight pictures are still Twilight pictures. I did like the behind the scenes look at Kristen Stewart and David Slade on the set of the film at the bottom. I’d like to see one of the makeup artist trying to apply pasty makeup to Robert Pattinson.
As you already know, the film stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed, Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard. June 30th can’t come fast enough. I’m anxious to start posting news about Twilight: Breaking Dawn. Although yesterday, we did confirm that TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN would officially be made into two separate films.
We’ve known this for several months now, but Summit Entertainment today officially confirmed that the final installment in the Twilight series will in fact be two films. I would have thought they would have made this announcement back when it was reported that stars Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene and Jackson Rathbone were threatening not to return for TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN (which they later agreed to), but Summit wanted to keep anticipation building for as long as they could.
When HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS was first announced to be made into two films, I assumed that would set the trend for two-part films for both the Twilight series and even the Hobbit. I haven’t read the book, but I’ve been told that it actually should be split into two films because of how much it covers. But I can’t shake the feeling that Summit wants to milk this for all it’s worth. As a reminder, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will return to the big screen on June 30th in TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE. Summit’s announcement is below:
Summit Entertainment confirmed today that “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” will be released as two separate films with the first of the two slated to be released in theatres on November 18, 2011. Academy Award® winner Bill Condon will direct both films…
Fresh off his wicked awesome performance at the MTV Movie Awards, uber-producer Les Grossman, also known as Tom Cruise, is set to have his own film. Now I think the character is very funny but a lot of that has to do with the idea that Tom Cruise is the man behind the hairy fat suit and gold chain. Grossman is great as a supporting character like a Saturday Night Live sketch and we all know how well those SNL films based off beloved characters do, either way I’m sure it will have some good laughs. Paramount sent this announcement:
HOLLYWOOD, CA (June 9, 2010) – Paramount Pictures and MTV Films announced today that they are set to develop a movie around mega-producer Les Grossman. The announcement comes on the heels of Grossman’s groundbreaking and visionary production of the soon-to-be Emmy® award-winning 2010 MTV Movie Awards Sunday night. Tom Cruise, along with Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld of Red Hour Films will produce and have secured the life rights to Grossman.
Grossman, best known as a mega producer, has most recently mentored talents such as Rob Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. In 2008, Grossman was introduced to the masses by Stiller in the comedy “Tropic Thunder” where the famed producer had a cameo playing himself. Said Ben Stiller: “Les Grossman’s life story is an inspiring tale of the classic human struggle to achieve greatness against all odds. He has assured me he plans to quote, ‘F**king kill the sh*t out of this movie and make Citizen f**king Kane look like a piece of crap home movie by the time we are done.’ I am honored to be working with him.” When asked what the screenplay was about Grossman responded: “To quote my great friend Kirk Lazarus, ‘I don’t read the script, the script reads me.’” Adam Goodman, Paramount Film Group President said, “Everything I learned in this business, I’ve learned from Les. I started out as his assistant, and from the first day he threw his desk at me when I got his lunch order wrong, I have loved him like a father. I am forever grateful to Ben and Stuart Cornfeld and their ability to secure his highly-coveted life rights, “Tom Cruise is said to be in talks to portray Grossman in the film. Michael Bacall (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”) will write the script.
June 30th is only 21 days away and I’m so excited!* The anticipation and hype is boiling over as Summit released several never before seen images from the film featuring all of you favorite stars, including MTV Movie Award Best Kiss winners Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Along with them, there are pictures of Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed, Bryce Dallas Howard and the werewolves that all look like slight variations of Taylor Lautner.
Pattinson and the other stars have actually gone on the defensive with the film, saying numerous times that this one is going to be better and edgier than the previous two. Traditionally, whenever an actor goes on the defensive before a movie is released, it’s usually not a good sign. But in their defense, the trailer does look good when compared to the other films.
I typically don’t even post news about the MTV Movie awards because the whole event is little more than a shameless excuse for MTV to get the biggest movie stars together in one auditorium and sell ad space. But last night’s award show seemed to be pretty decent. I wouldn’t know because I was watching game 2 of the Lakers and Celtics NBA finals. But anyway, what you need to know is that TWILIGHT won everything because that’s how these things go; tweens vote on the awards and so whatever they’re into at the moment typically wins everything. In this case, tweens are into Twilight and so it won. However, we did get one important reminder last night and that’s the fact that Tom Cruise is still great…at everything, including dancing. We also learned that Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner can make fun of themselves, which makes me respect them a bit more. Check out the clips below of Tom Cruise reprising his Les Grossman character from TROPIC THUNDER. The first features his intro to the night with Pattinson and Lautner and the other has him dancing it up with Jennifer Lopez.
The upcoming John Singleton directed thriller ABDUCTION added another cast member today with Sigourney Weaver. She joins TWILIGHT’s Taylor Lautner, who will be playing a young man that discovers his picture on a milk carton, leading to an unraveling of conspiracies and lies, which brings danger and drama to his life. Weaver will be playing a psychiatrist that Lautner’s character seeks out for advice. Lily Collins stars as Lautner’s love interest, while Alfred Molina will play a CIA agent searching for him.
It doesn’t sound like a very big part for Weaver, which means there are still some casting decisions to be made. I wonder how big of a part the parents will have, since I assume they were in on the abduction. Of course, Taylor Lautner’s presence alone will put people in the theater, but it’d be nice to continue surrounding him with veteran actors.
Trifecta #19: THE ADVENTURES OF SHARKBOY AND LAVAGIRL + HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE + PANIC ROOM
With all the craze surrounding the most popular kids in school who happen to be monsters in a romantic love triangle, we figured it was a good time to share where these little love mongers got their start. If you are living blissfully ignorant and unaware, I am speaking about Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, the dreamboats of The Munsters crossbred with the 90210esque films called The TWILIGHT SAGA. It’s no secret that we here at Flix are not the biggest fans of the films, so I’m gonna give you three alternative films where each of your favorite stars got their big breaks. Warning: Teen angst, deep emotional feelings and brooding will be absent.
THE ADVENTURES OF SHARKBOY AND LAVAGIRL 3-D (Team Jacob)- A young boy’s dream world comes to life and he must help his favorite superheroes; Sharkboy (Lautner) and Lavagirl, save their perfect dream world, Planet Drool. Directed by Robert Rodriguez unique style, this film is less like his DESPERADO and more like his SPY KIDS. OK, so this might be more for those new moms that don’t want to subject their children who are too young for a love/vamp movie but still need a Taylor Lautner fix while keeping their perverted crush. TL’s all of 13 years old so one would be kind of sick for this action, but hey he was all of 16 years old for the first Twilight. Guess What? He’s still illegal ladies…and fellas.
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (Team Edward)- This is the fourth Harry Potter installment and probably the most pivotal because Voldermort has risen and is finally revealed. Robert Pattinson plays Cedric Diggory, the most talented contender for Hogwarts in The Triwizard Tournament. Personally, I still think this is Bob Patty’s best performance. He doesn’t do much, but maybe that’s what makes the performance better- he doesn’t try so hard (REMEMBER ME, LITTLE ASHES, TWILIGHT’S). He’s charismatic, subtle and charming helping out another troubled unique teen in his own right, Potter. SPOILER ALERT: Unfortunately, his best scene is lying on the ground dead as his father screams, “IT’S MY BOY!”
PANIC ROOM (Team Bella)- The great David Fincher (SEVEN, FIGHT CLUB, all of his movies) directed this underrated gem about a mother (Jodie Foster) and her child locked in a highly secure panic room inside their own home while a few criminals (Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakam) invade their home. What the criminals desire happens to be inside that very room. The ambiguous boy/girl child of Jodie Foster is played none other than Kristen Stewart. K Stew does a great job in this suspense thriller, but it did take me half the film to finally figure out she was a little girl rather than a little boy.
For the record, I’m Team Alice (Ashley Greene) and you can find her in her first staring role in the USA Canadian slasher flick SUMMER’S BLOOD. Greene plays the title character, who is being stalked by a family of Serial Killers. To be honest, I have yet to see this film, but that doesn’t stop Ashy G from being super hot and that seems to be all the necessary criteria to root for your team.
Alfred Molina will be running alongside millions of preteen girls this summer as he joins the chase for Taylor Lautner. Only he’ll be doing it on the movie screen as he’s set to star in the Twilight star’s next film ABDUCTION. Molina will play a CIA agent that’s determined to bring Lautner’s character in alive. Lautner will play a teenager that discovers his parents aren’t who they say they are and when he confronts the truth, he unravels a series of violent events.
This comes after the news that Lily Collins has signed on to play Lautner’s love interest, so it looks like director John Singleton has his cast almost set. I’m looking forward to this, if for no other reason than to see what Lautner can bring to a non Twilight role.
We have three more images from THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE today, this time getting our first look at Bree Tanner, played by Jodelle Ferland. At least, I think these are new. The Bree pic might have been out for a while, but it’s still interesting since she has her own novella coming out. The others feature more smoochy-smoochy with Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and the last one features the gang of vampires looking for some Cullen-flavored dinner. See, who says Twilight news can’t be fun?
As you already know, TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE opens everywhere on June 30th and features all of the returning cast members, including Pattinson, Stewart, Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Dakota Fanning and new cast member Bryce Dallas Howard.
It’s six weeks before the opening of the summer film THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE and you’ve been planning your camp out party in front of your local theater to see your favorite sparkly vampire, surely you’re guaranteed a ticket, right? Maybe not. The two online movie ticket sites, MovieTickets and Fandango, have decided to make it easy on all the Edward and Bella fans by offering advanced ticket sales starting this Thursday, May 13, 2010 for the June 30th release of TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE. So for those that have been in eager anticipation to get your Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart fix, you can ensure your place in the theater by going to MovieTickets and Fandango this Thursday at midnight.
The TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE mania continues today with a couple of new images from the upcoming film. There’s nothing too earth shattering with these photos, but I haven’t seen them before and we’ve gone a while without any real Twilight news, so you have to take what you can get and at least they’re better than the promo images. It seems the stars of Twilight are busy doing other things right now. Robert Pattinson is working on Bel Ami, Kristen Stewart just signed on for ON THE ROAD and Taylor Lautner is busy signing on to everything.
In case you don’t know, TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE opens everywhere on June 30th and features all of the returning cast members, including Pattinson, Stewart, Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Dakota Fanning and new cast member Bryce Dallas Howard.
It was probably the worst kept secret in Hollywood, but last week it was “official” that Bill Condon is set to direct THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN. To piggy-back on the excitement, Bill wrote a letter to the Twilight fans expressing how excited he is to take on the project;
Greetings Twihards, Twifans, Twilight Moms, Team Edward, Team Jacob and Team Switzerland,
I just want to say hello to all of you and let you know that I’m stoked to be getting underway on the adventure of making BREAKING DAWN. As you’ve probably heard, I’ve been given a very warm welcome by Stephenie and Team Summit – who are super-focused, as you know, on getting these movies right.
I’m pretty busy bringing myself up to speed on what you already know by heart: I’ve read BREAKING DAWN twice, rewatched Catherine’s and Chris’s movies 2-3 times each, have all four CDs playing in my car, and have Catherine’s notebook, Mark Cotta Vaz’s companion books, and even Volume 1 of the graphic novel here on my desk – a corner of my office is starting to look like Hot Topic. I realize that this barely qualifies me for “newborn” status in the universe you’ve been living inside for a few years now, but a guy’s gotta start somewhere.
Like many of you, I’ve always been slightly obsessed with vampires, dating back to the prime-time series DARK SHADOWS, which I followed avidly as a kid. But that alone hadn’t been enough to get me interested in making a vampire movie, even though my early screenwriting and directing efforts grew out of a great love for horror movies and thrillers. Since making GODS AND MONSTERS thirteen years ago, however, I’ve been yearning for a return to a story with Gothic overtones.
The wonderful world that Stephenie has created has obviously struck a chord with you, and I don’t think it’s difficult to see why. For me, her characters are simultaneously timeless, yet very modern. Rooted in a beautiful, real landscape with a great sense of place, Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of the Forks/La Push menagerie, experience emotions that are primal, and universal: desire, despair, jealousy – and it all comes to fruition in BREAKING DAWN. This is a final chapter in the best sense; not just wide in scope and scale, but emotionally charged and intense throughout.
I’m a huge admirer of the already-iconic Kristen, Robert, and Taylor, and wanted to be the one to work with them as they face the challenges of bringing your beloved characters to the end of their journeys. Really, what could be more fun than that?
Please feel free to ask questions in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best to answer them. I hope that this will be the first of many occasions I’ll get to check in with you as we set to work bringing BREAKING DAWN to the screen. I am excited and grateful to have all of you alongside me for my TWILIGHT journey.
All best,
Bill Condon
P.S. Answer #1: No, there won’t be any musical numbers
So, if you’re a Twi-hard and you were worried about Condon taking over the franchise, it at least sounds like he’s prepared to finish out the series. He seems to like the three main stars and apparently, he’s doing is fair share of research on the series. Of course, simply stating he’s a fan of Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will endear him to most Twilight fans anyway, but at least he took the time.
We learned late last year that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE was going to be shown on Imax screens when it’s released on June 30th. At the time, there was speculation that the film would be shown in 3D, but Summit Entertainment never confirmed and until recently had dismissed the thought. But while following up an unrelated rumor today, I asked my Summit Entertainment rep about the rumor and she (in all caps) CONFIRMED the news that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is going to be shown in 3D. So there you have it ladies; Robert Pattinson’s pouting face and Taylor Lautner’s abs are going to be close enough to touch this summer.
This falls on the heels of the 2D to 3D debate, but given the increased ticket sales for 3D films, it makes sense that Summit would cave in. Now we have to wonder if TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN will be shot in 3D.
So, is this good news, or another bad trend for Hollywood?
UPDATE: When I had the conversation with my Summit rep, I asked three times to make sure they got the news right. They repeated, emphatically, that Eclipse was going to be in 3D. Doing what every good “journalist” does, I attempted to get a second source, just to confirm. Another Summit rep (on the East Coast) confirmed the news. At that point, I ran the story.
This morning I get this email:
“Hey Brad, our Summit manager got the verbiage confused when confirming the below. Eclipse WILL be in IMAX, but it will be regular 2D, not 3D. Sorry about that—most summer movies are IMAX AND 3D, but this is in just IMAX.”
So, there you have it. The Summit rep got “IMAX” and “3D” confused. Eclipse will NOT be in 3D. I sincerely apologize for the confusion.
There are a few minor news bits to report today on the TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE front. First, Summit Entertainment has done some work to the new Eclipse website, which now features the new trailer and all the official images from the film. It’s a pretty nice website, but I think Kristen Stewart is too predominant, even more so than her co-stars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. But the next bit of news that may be of more interest to you is that three promotional images from the film leaked online a couple of days ago. Most outlets are calling these “posters”, but I’m pretty sure they’re early images of the new TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE action figures from NECA. You can even see “NECA” in the bottom right corner. NECA is the company that makes the figures, in case you didn’t know.
The images, of course, are unofficial until someone from Summit or NECA releases them officially, but if you’re collecting the figures (and I know you are), at least now you know what to expect. No word yet on whether they’ll make likenesses of other Twilight stars such as Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene or Jackson Rathbone. TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE opens everywhere on June 30th.
I cover a lot of Twilight news because that’s what people are interested in right now. But it’s no secret that I’m not the biggest fan of the movies. However, something happened on my way to disliking the trailer for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE; I found myself kind of into it. The new trailer actually makes it look kind of fun. There’s action, violence and what might be construed as an actual plot. If they can tone down the extreme drama from Pattinson and Stewart, this could actually be a good movie. Maybe the third time’s the charm for the Twilight franchise.
I have to say that these articles have been fun to write. I’ve been impressed with the responses I’ve gotten from them. I expected some blind hatred (which I’ve gotten), but I’ve been surprised with how some of these stars’ biggest fans can take a logical look at their careers and realize there are some trouble ahead for them.
I think the biggest question mark is still with the two biggest stars, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. I actually went back and watched a couple of Rob’s movies (LITTLE ASHES and HOW TO BE) and…wow…they were horrible. Hopefully you guys see something in him that I don’t. As for Taylor Lautner and Ashley Greene, I think most people agreed with my assessment and that we’re in kind of a “wait and see” mode.
The last of my three-part editorial is by far and away the hardest because they’re the “forgotten” stars of the series. The main four get so much credit, but these two have started to line up some projects that might shoot them past their co-stars if everything goes right.
KELLAN LUTZ
Before Twilight: I had never heard of Kellan before the Twilight series, but he’s been around for a while. He started out doing bit parts on TV shows, but then did a couple of tweenie-films with STICK-IT and ACCEPTED. His biggest break (before Twilight, obviously) was as Cpl. Lilley in ‘Generation Kill’, which gives hope that he has some acting talent.
After Twilight: Kellan has also done a fine job of lining up projects at a brisk pace. Following in Lautner’s “accept any offer” mold, Lutz has accepted parts in DEATHGAMES, WARRIOR, IMMORTALS and LOVE, WEDDING, MARRIAGE. So that’s two action movies and one rom-com, which isn’t bad for someone like Kellan. He’s already proven he can act, so getting a chance to shine in IMMORTALS should be a good break for him.
Prediction: This depends on what Kellan wants to do. I really think he could be a big action star in the vein of Dwayne Johnson or Jason Statham if he wants to go that route. There’s a void in the action movie genre that Kellan could fill. But we still need to see him carry his own film (DEATHGAMES should take care of that) before I have too much confidence. But his future is pretty bright and I give him a 50% chance of being relevant after TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN.
NIKKI REED
Before Twilight: Nikki probably had the most interesting and diverse career before Twilight. She broke onto the scene with 2003’s THIRTEEN, which she also wrote (at 13), then went away for a little bit and then came back in LORDS OF DOGTOWN. She’s done several smaller films, but hardly what I would consider a mainstream career.
After Twilight: Again, not a whole lot going on. She did a smaller film (LAST DAY OF SUMMER) and has a couple of upcoming projects; PRIVELEDGED and CHAIN LETTER, but I can’t say I’m blown away by either role. But I’m not sure this is because she’s intentionally not choosing bigger roles or if she’s not getting offers.
Prediction: Of the six stars I’ve talked about so far, I have to say that Nikki is the hardest to predict. I want to give her a lot of credit for THIRTEEN and say that she’ll have a career based off that alone. But I have to remind myself that THIRTEEN was seven years ago and she still hasn’t taken off. But with the Twilight films and some other projects coming up, I think Nikki has a good chance to break out of the mold and I give her a 60% chance of being relevant after Twilight: Breaking Dawn is over.
So now you might be wondering why I haven’t talked about Peter Facinelli, Anna Kendrick, Dakota Fanning or Michael Sheen. To be honest, I think all four of them have clearly distanced themselves from Twilight to the point that the saga now has no impact on them. For right or wrong, I think all of them will be fine from here on out.
The news has been kind of quiet on STRETCH ARMSTRONG for a few months. When the news broke, Universal Pictures made it sound like this was going to be fast tracked and it was the most exciting thing ever. Then star Taylor Lautner took on several other roles and this one faded away. Maybe the project will get a kick start now that they’ve hired Rob Letterman (MONSTERS VS ALIENS) to direct. He’ll be re-teaming with Nicholas Stoller, who will be rewriting the Armstrong script. They most recently worked on the upcoming GULLIVER’S TRAVELS and Stoller directed FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL.
This news tells me that STRETCH ARMSTRONG is going to be more of a comedy than a straight up action film. I guess I can’t really see any other way to make a movie about a rubber man that stretches than to make it funny. We still don’t have a start date and since it was just announced that they’re rewriting the script, I’m guessing we’re a few months away from more casting news and filming locations.
A few days ago, the news broke that Catherine Hardwicke and Chris Weitz were being called in to oversee reshoots on the upcoming TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. The news seemed strange to me since Summit had more or less been displeased with both Hardwicke and Weitz’s directing jobs on the first two films. Typically, it wouldn’t make sense to bring in a former director, but in cases like this, the studio would bring in a seasoned, talented director to offer advice/help to the current director (David Slade). Within 24 hours of the story breaking, Summit Entertainment released a statement saying “the shoot has been planned for months, the picture is not in ‘trouble’ and, in fact, the studio thinks it may be the best of the three so far.” So according to Summit, these are “pick-up shots” (i.e. they were planned early in the production phase) and not “reshoots” (i.e. they found a problem and had to fix it).
However, there are unsubstantiated reports that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart (among others and no, nothing about Taylor Lautner) are returning to Vancouver to reshoot some scenes in the film. I’m not going to site any of them because none of them have given any reliable sources and the “an anonymous source” or “someone close to me” are not sources, just excuses to make things up. The point is to say that there are problems with the film ranging from minor inconsistencies to all out failures. There are many reasons a director would call for reshoots and some of them are actually planned to coincide with the weather or something like that. So we’ll have to wait and see on June 30th if the finished product is to everyone’s liking. Oh, and check out our predictions on the careers of the various Twilight stars.
When I finally sat down to watch THE BLIND SIDE, I vividly remember that my first thought on the film was that Sandra Bullock’s daughter in the film was really, really hot. I didn’t bother looking her up, but today I learned that it was none other than Lily Collins. She’s the daughter of 80′s hit-maker and Genesis lead man Phil Collins. Today we learn that she will be starring opposite Twilight heartthrob Taylor Lautner in ABDUCTION. The film is about a man (Lautner) that discovers his parents aren’t really his parents at all. But when he searches for his real parents, he and his girlfriend (Collins) go on the run.
I’m guessing there’s going to be at least two scenes of Mr. Abs with his shirt off, so I’m sure there will be some steamy scenes with Collins. This is a good role for her and I’m actually excited to see how both of them do in this kind of film. John Singleton will be handling directing duties.
Last week, we looked at the careers of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and gave some mild predictions as to where they’re going to end up after the Twilight series is over. Today we look at the other two heartthrobs from the series, Taylor Lautner and Ashley Greene.
TAYLOR LAUTNER
Before Twilight: I don’t think it’s up to debate, but no one has benefited more from the Twilight series than Mr. Lautner. His character was barely an afterthought in the first film and rumor had it that he wasn’t even going to be invited back for the second. But he put on some muscle and convinced everyone to let him back in. But without that sequence of events, I can’t imagine Lautner would have been able to break into Hollywood. Although, people tend to forget that he was Sharkboy in Robert Rodriguez’s SHARKBOY AND LAVA GIRL.
After Twilight: More than any other Twilight alum, Lautner has lined up the projects at a lightning fast pace. STRETCH ARMSTRONG, CANCUN, ABDUCTION and the on again/off again MAX STEELE are just a few of his upcoming projects. The best part about what he’s doing is that they seem to be a variety of roles, thus giving him a chance to prove he’s more than just a shy werewolf. Oh, and he had a decent turn in VALENTINE’S DAY, although it was rough because of how bad Taylor Swift was.
Prediction: It’s really too early to tell because we need him to do a big project that will give him a chance to shine. He’s the bright spot in the Twilight series, but that’s not saying much. Based solely off the numerous projects he has lined up, I give Taylor a 60% chance of being relevant after TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN part 2. That may seem low, but I will say that he has the best chance of being a huge star, it’s just too early to say since he hasn’t done anything yet.
ASHLEY GREENE
Before Twilight: Well, this is short because she didn’t really do anything before her turn in TWILIGHT. She had a bit part in an episode of ‘Crossing Jordan’ and then an even smaller part in the Michael Douglas film KING OF CALIFORNIA. But other than that, nothing.
After Twilight: I guess when Sobe Water comes calling, you don’t ignore them. Ashley Greene made headlines and turned some heads when she signed on to be the official Sobe Water model. Her ads were on SI.com for weeks. If you look closely (and I know you will), you can see that she’s not wearing a swimsuit in the ads, but rather that’s body paint. As for movies, she did the horror film SUMMER’S BLOOD, which is better than nothing…I guess.
Prediction: There’s always room for beautiful women in Hollywood, but the question remains as to what she’s going to do with it. Other alumni have lined up projects, but Greene hasn’t done much more than advertise water. I think her best chance to “make it” is to do television. I can see her as the quirky hot girl in a sitcom. Unfortunately for her, I give her a 20% chance of being relevant in movies after TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN.
Check back next week when we wrap our post-Twilight predictions with a look at Kellan Lutz and Nikki Reed.
With the insane hype surrounding anything with the Twilight series, I thought it would be fun to go through some of the series’ main stars and review what they’ve done and try and predict where they’re going. I want to be clear that I’m not a Twilight fan, but am going to attempt to clearly critique each star and the potential each of them possess. They’re huge now and every pre-teen girl loves them, but after THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE and the two TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN movies, the Twilight gravy train will be dry. It’s always nice to guess who will be the next Mark Hamill and who will be the next Harrison Ford.
So to start things off, we’ll look at the two main stars of the film; Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. After the Twilight series is over, neither of these stars will have to work again. They can spend their days watching soap operas and then hit up the Twilight conventions when they need money. But both of them seem to have a desire to have successful careers, but I’m not sure either will succeed.
KRISTEN STEWART
Before Twilight: Kristen was really the only Twilight alum to have a career before the series began. Others had done a movie or two, but she actually had some great performances in a variety of films. Her debut was in David Fincher’s PANIC ROOM where she played the sickly daughter of Jodie Foster. It was a great debut and she followed it up with a couple of kids movies and then as the troubled, tomboy in IN THE LAND OF WOMEN.
After Twilight: She continued to get roles that required her to play the quiet, whiny high-school girl in films like ADVENTURELAND and INTO THE WILD. She did well in both films, garnering some critical acclaim for each. But the most exciting non-Twilight role is in the upcoming THE RUNAWAYS where she plays Joan Jett. Aside from that, she continues to do the same types of roles and that could prove to be her downfall. Obviously, everyone gets old and she’s eventually going to have to stretch her talents to something more than playing a troubled teenager.
Prediction: It’s tough to gauge her acting talent because she’s milked the teenage-angst angle so much over the past five years. Her role in THE RUNAWAYS didn’t do as much for me as I was hoping and it was basically Bella, but with a butch hair cut. However, given her non-Twilight success already, I give her an 80% chance of being remembered 5 years after part 2 of BREAKING DAWN.
ROBERT PATTINSON
Before Twilight: Robert had the honor to have a key role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as Cedric Diggory. In what might be the weakest of the Potters, Bob Patty was actually the bright spot in the film.
After Twilight: Much like Stewart, Pattinson seems determined to play similar characters that are reserved and pouty. I was disappointed he chose to do REMEMBER ME and figured he would have chosen a role that could show off his acting chops and not something that cloned his Edward character.
Prediction: Pattinson’s biggest obstacle to making it as an A-list actor is his looks. I know that sounds strange, but the guy looks like a porcelain doll and I don’t think he’ll be playing any action heroes any time soon. That leaves serious dramas and love stories, which really limits what he can do. However, I can see him taking over the romantic comedy genre from Hugh Grant in a few years. Also, pre-teen girls are a finicky bunch and heartthrobs don’t tend to last very long. I give him a 40% chance of being relevant 5 years after BREAKING DAWN.
The world’s a crazy place. I know I’ve said this before, but the continued fan obsession with Twilight is just baffling. I don’t remember this kind of interest in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. But what those films lacked is the pre-teen girl market. What people don’t seem to realize is that the pre-teen girl demographic is by far and away the most powerful consumer demographic in the world. That’s why new pictures for TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE are headline news these days.
The third film in the series opens this summer and features Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Grene and Kellan Lutz. Without further adieu, here are the pics:
The star-studded cast of VALENTINE’S DAY, including: Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Taylor Lautner, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey and Taylor Swift will be coming to your home theater May 18, 2010. This Garry Marshall romantic comedy brought in around $110 million at the box-office and was actually a pretty decent romantic comedy. It follows several couples on Valentine’s Day and shows us a few sides of romance and love. Sadly the special features are lacking dramatically and only include 40 minutes of undisclosed extras along with a sneak peak trailer of the upcoming SEX AND THE CITY 2.
Within about a two month span, Taylor Lautner signed on for a handful of movies, including STRETCH ARMSTRONG, CANCUN, MAX STEELE and ABDUCTION. Until now, we hadn’t heard much follow-up about any of those projects, except that he may drop out of MAX STEELE to focus on STRETCH ARMSTRONG. Today, we finally get some news on ABDUCTION in that John Singleton will be directing everyone’s favorite werewolf in the psychological thriller about a guy (Lautner) that discovers he may have been abducted.
I’ve come around a little bit on Taylor Lautner and I’ll withhold judgment on the guy until I see him in something other than TWILIGHT. Those films aren’t exactly actor-friendly. But if I were him, I wouldn’t feel too comfortable handing over my career to John Singleton. After 4 BROTHERS, 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS and SHAFT, he’s in desperate need of a hit.
The Twilight news just doesn’t stop. I need to think of a way to relate “Flix 66” to something in the Twilight universe and just go to an all-Twilight movie site. Now the news is back to the TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON Blu-ray. The Blu-ray sold 680,000 copies on its first day of release, or roughly 17% of the 4 million total units (DVD+Blu-ray) that were sold over the weekend. To put it in comparison, the first TWILIGHT film sold 3.8 million units, but only 3% of those were Blu-rays. However, those numbers are slightly skewed since there were a lot of retailer exclusives for the first TWILIGHT Blu-ray.
So Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner strike again, injecting Twilight madness at every turn. I guess now would be a good time to admit that I also bought a copy of the film…go Team Edward!
I usually don’t post news about movie posters, mainly because most people don’t care. That, and almost every poster looks the same. But with Twilight, all bets are off. I’ve never seen obsession like this before, even with Star Wars. So even though the new poster for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is nothing special to me, I guess we have to respect the fact that this, or a variation of this, will be gracing the bedroom walls of millions of pre-teen girls all over the world.
The poster is pretty pedestrian, but doesn’t Robert Pattinson look kind of weird in it? Taylor Lautner has that same look on his face and of course, Kristen Stewart is standing between them with her mouth open. Seriously, why can’t she close her mouth? Eclipse hits theaters on June 30th.
I don’t like the Twilight films. I want to make that clear before anyone thinks this is going to be some love-letter to anyone involved with the series. I hate that Stephenie Meyer has made a fortune off of these books and that people (mostly young women) continue to pour their money into a series that lacks originality or common sense and I despise the world that she’s created. Sparkling vampires…really? But putting aside my hatred, I have to acknowledge that the Twilight series is popular and that it has a very large and influential fan base. So with that in mind, Summit Entertainment owes it to their fan base and to movie fans everywhere to do something special with THE TWILIGHT SERIES: BREAKING DAWN.
I understand why the first one was so poorly made; they didn’t have much of a budget. No one knew that the film would blow up like it did and therefore they had to cut corners while making the film. The director, screenwriter and even the actors were all inexperienced and for the most part, amateurs. Summit is not a large powerhouse of a studio like Paramount or Fox, so they can’t pour hundreds of millions of dollars into a small film like this. It made sense and I accepted the first one for it. It was something that I thought fans could like in spite of the filmmaking failures and I had faith Summit would correct those problems in the sequel.
But the second film wasn’t much better and Summit didn’t have any of the same excuses. Everyone knew it would make money and the actors involved had done a few movies in-between, so everything should have been better, especially the acting. One thing that was common amongst all of the actors (in both films) is that every single one of them seemed to constantly miss their mark. In a movie or in a theatrical play or even on a TV show, there’s always a “mark” for the actors to say their lines. Saying your lines in the right place, at the right time is one of the most important aspects of acting and everyone that appeared in this film missed their marks almost every single time. It was as if there was a pause before and after they said something while they tried to figure out what to do next. Can you imagine me writing something like that about a film directed by someone like Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher or any number of talented directors?
I have little to no faith in David Slade and THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. I liked HARD CANDY, but judging by the trailer, I think we’re in for more of the same. So all the hopes for the series to end with a good film fall on BREAKING DAWN parts 1 and 2. The first thing we have to do is get rid of screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg. She’s qualified to write episodes or ‘The O.C.’, but not a major Hollywood film like this. She’s failed twice (and probably thrice) already and we have to stop the bleeding. Once we get a decent screenwriter, then we need a talented director.
They need a big name director for the two part finale to the Twilight saga. I’m not going to list all of the directors that could do a better job, but there’s about 25 names I’m thinking of and Summit would do well to take some of that cash they’ve made and throw it at a good director. They owe it to themselves and to the fans to make the best movie possible. As much as I don’t like the story, I do think it’s possible to make a quality film with the actors and storylines involved. It just hasn’t been done yet.
If you’re a Twilight fan, then I really want you to read this review because I’m going to attempt to explain why traditional movie fans don’t like the Twilight movies. It’s not because of the sappy love story or the refusal to acknowledge traditional vampire lore, it’s because the movies are just very poorly made. But as upset as I am at how bad these movies are, true fans of the books should be livid. By getting second rate directors and amateur screenwriters to handle the beloved books, Hollywood is basically telling fans that they don’t care and they have no interest in making quality films from Stephenie Meyer’s novels.
When I sat down to watch THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON, I had high hopes. I couldn’t stand the first one, but I thought replacing Catherine Hardwicke with Chris Weitz was a step in the right direction and I hoped that some of the problems that plagued the first one would be fixed in the second. But alas, I was wrong. Weitz didn’t make many improvements and the long, drawn out scenes, meaningless dialogue and overall poor direction permeated throughout the film, just as they had in the original TWILIGHT.
The single biggest complaint I have with the film is with the acting, and I’m not so sure it’s the fault of the actors involved as much as it is the direction they’re given. I’ve seen Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning excel in other films, why were they so bad here? And someone needs to tell Kristen Stewart that she needs to find a way to say her dialogue without making weird breathing sounds before and after. The moaning and heavy breathing is irritating and annoying. I don’t know if she’s trying to be sexy or if she needs an inhaler, but she sounds ridiculous. Again, I’ve seen her do fine in other movies, I don’t know why she’s so incompetent here. And let’s not forget that Anna Kendrick was nominated for an Oscar.
And no review of NEW MOON would be complete without touching on the story. The story is something you either love or hate and I know there are so many people out there that can’t get enough of the Twilight series. Being a Star Wars guy, I totally understand what it means to like something that other people don’t understand. But when it comes to NEW MOON, there were some major issues with the story. Bella was devastated when Edward left and that part I understand because we’ve all had failed high school romances. But Bella went into a deep depression and had ferocious nightmares for months after the breakup. Why? After asking the question to someone that read the book, they told me that Edward and Bella have some kind of special connection and that them being apart was like “not breathing” for them. Well, I NEVER got that from the movie, not once. Perhaps the single most important aspect of the series (the connection between Bella and Edward) is never fully explained or explored, yet we as an audience have to buy into all the events that happen because of their connection.
It’s rare that a film fails on every single aspect of filmmaking and still manages to be successful, but that’s somehow what NEW MOON managed to do. The acting, screenwriting, directing, editing, music, settings and cinematography were all failures. I freely admit that I don’t like the story, but if the basic filmmaking aspects were done properly, I think I could appreciate the films.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: The 2.40:1 video presentation was decent, but the film quality still seems below average. I have to assume it’s the film quality and not the Blu-ray, but again, that’s something they need to fix in the future.
Audio: I had no complaints with the DTS-HD audio, although I didn’t think it was used utilized as well as it should have been.
Commentary with Chris Weitz and Peter Lambert: Chris was great in this commentary and I almost feel a little guilty for trashing his film. But he gives a much better commentary than he directs a film. But there were times when I thought that even he didn’t like the film. He didn’t come out and say it, but he made a few jokes here and there and it was clear he didn’t take it too seriously. There were a few long pauses, but overall I think fans will enjoy this.
The Journey Continues: The Making of The Twilight Saga: New Moon (65:24): Oh man, Twilight fans are going to love this. This is a 6-part documentary that covers everything you want to know. I intended to skip over this, but I couldn’t stop watching. Twilight fans are crazy, but I can’t look away. For the record, I enjoyed this waaaayyy more than the actual film.
It’s here!!! Finally!!! The new trailer for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, featuring a dreamy Robert Pattinson, a forlorn Kristen Stewart and a shirtless Taylor Lautner. What’s going to happen to our love triangle? Will Bella choose the noble Jacob, or will she follow her heart and become a vampire for Edward? Director David Slade (HARD CANDY) will tell us on June 30th. That seems like such a long ways away, but it’s only 3 months.
Sigh. How was that? Did I feign excitement well enough? I’ve been accused of not respecting the Twilight series and I’m trying to do better. But no matter how hard I try, I just don’t care. I appreciate that people all over the world love this story and these characters, but I don’t get it.
I have no idea what people see in Taylor Lautner. The guy barely made the cut for NEW MOON, was pretty bad in TWILIGHT and now he has more projects lined up than almost any A-lister out there. Studios seem to be banking on this guy to carry some big, flagship films like STRETCH ARMSTRONG and MAX STEELE. Like I’ve said before, 12 year-old girls don’t typically follow their heartthrobs to other movies.
But now he’s going to be starring in ABDUCTION, which is about a teenager that feels disconnected from his parents and when he starts to figure out why, it leads him on a thrill ride. It’s not the most ingenious of scripts, but apparently it’s a hot commodity around town and everyone is trying to get a piece of it.
I guess Taylor Lautner is determined to star in every action figure line he can get his hands on. In December, it was announced that Taylor would be playing Max Steele in the upcoming film and now Universal has announced that he’ll also be playing Stretch Armstrong in a film set for a 2012 release. Universal seems pretty proud of their accomplishment and is already touting that the film will be in 3D.
Now, what in the world are they going to do with Stretch Armstrong, other than have him reach towards the screen for a bunch of cheap 3D effects and then make jokes like “so does everything grow”? To the best of my knowledge, Stretch Armstrong was just a regular doll made out of a stretchable rubber. I’m not sure how that translates into film. That, and I think everyone is jumping the gun on Taylor’s star power. 12 year-old girls are a finicky bunch and I don’t think they’ll follow him to an “action” film that doesn’t involve a love triangle of some sort.
Garry Marshall has put one heck of a cast together for his next film VALENTINE’S DAY. The cast is so big, and so well known that I can’t tell what the movie is about because 30 seconds of the trailer is spent listing everyone that’s in the film. Apparently, it’s an interweaving tale of various people and couples on Valentine’s Day. The cast includes, but is not limited to: Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Emma Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, Patrick Dempsey, Eric Dane, Topher Grace, Jessica Alba and Queen Latifah.
Whew. I didn’t even get to everyone, I just got tired of writing. Watch the trailer here.
Move over Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner may be the next big thing in Hollywood. Summit Entertainment has picked up an action film entitled CANCUN that will star Taylor Lautner. The movie will follow Lautner’s character as he travels to Cancun with a girl who ends up getting kidnapped and taken hostage by a drug-cartel and he must save her. The film will take advantage of Mr. Lautner’s martial arts skills which were on display during his hosting stint on Saturday Night Live. As previously reported here, Taylor Lautner’s next project will be playing the title character in Paramount’s MAX STEEL.
Like I said in my NEW MOON review, Mr. Lautner was the bright spot in an otherwise mediocre film. I hope he can make it through these next few movies and establish a name for himself and move past the teen heartthrob image he has now.
Twilight fans rejoice! The boy of the hour, Taylor Lautner, is setting up a post-Twilight future with Paramount by signing on to star in their upcoming film MAX STEEL. The film will be based off the popular action figure that features an extreme sports guy that gets infected with superhuman abilities, thus leading him to work for the government.
I haven’t seen NEW MOON yet, but from what I read, Lautner is the one shining spot in an otherwise poorly acted film. It will be nice to see how he handles himself as the main star of a big budget film.
It has been impossible this past year to walk into a bookstore or video store and not hear talk or see posters about Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Although the first book came out in 2005, to most people over the age of 18, 2008 was the year of the Twilight craze. A decent series to read, the movie was less than stellar and prompted more than a few groans from my spouse and I, not to mention it was just plain tough to sit through. (Read the NEW MOON review)
We meet Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart, as she is moving in with her father to a small Northeastern town in Washington called Forks. Bella is a typical introverted teenager with proper angst and nothing special to her name. That is until she meets Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson. Edward is a mysterious character who has many strange and “special” qualities about him. Although he tries hard to ignore Bella, his love for her wins out and she discovers that he is actually a vampire, thus their adventure between teenager and vampire begins.
The story of Bella and Edward, although cheesy, is entertaining. I’m against making vampires all cuddly or sparkly and I prefer them with pointy teeth, agile and full of puns (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but I have to admit (tough as it is) that I enjoyed the overall love story in the books. However, the movie leaves much to be desired and was dreadful to watch. Most of that blame can be placed on director Catherine Hardwicke.
Although most of the actors/actresses are pleasant to look at and their acting was at least average, the directing was so bad I’m sure some of these people had a hard time not bursting out laughing during their scenes. The scene where we meet Edward for the first time (where he is coming into the cafeteria) was so ridiculous I almost choked on my popcorn. And the scenes where Bella is in her bedroom sleeping while Edward is watching is a bit disturbing and a little too stalker-like for this female reviewer. From a directing standpoint, everything was a little too dramatic and over the top for a teen love story, maybe that’s why New Moon will be moving “in a different direction”.
Another cringe-worthy (there were a lot of them) aspect of the film is the dialogue. Dialogue can make or break a film and although Twilight would have still been a mediocre movie, a better screenplay may have helped in this case. I know the movie is based on the novel and it followed the first book rather well, but actually watching the actors say some of the lines was physically painful. A lot of this fell on Robert Pattinson, who delivered every line as if he was fighting to get the words out. Yes, that’s just how Edward is, but not every single word has to be full of pain and sorrow.
Overall, this film will disappoint everyone that’s not a hardcore Twilight fan. I almost feel bad for the tween girls that flock to these movies because they really do deserve better than this amateurish effort. I probably could have looked past some of the cheesy moments and sappy dialogue, but the B-movie feel of the film was too much. And someone needs to tell Stewart and Pattinson to ease up on the melodramatic delivery of every line; it got old after a while.
It was tough to psych myself up to sit through the next film in The Twilight Saga, especially after the first one (TWILIGHT) was almost painful to watch. However, I took pleasure in that I would not have to suffer another two hours of Pattinson and Stewart staring deep into each other’s eyes. Thankfully, Edward Cullen doesn’t have a big part in this film.
At the beginning of NEW MOON, there is an incident involving Bella and the Cullen’s that makes Edward realize that maybe a human dating a vampire could lead to some bad situations. So he decides to leave Bella for her own good and the rest of the movie is spent watching her brood over her loss and then try to move on with the help of her best friend Jacob Black. As Bella recovers from Edward leaving, she discovers that her world is still full of monsters because her best friend happens to be a werewolf.
I’ve heard many complaints that New Moon was the weakest book in the Twilight Saga but it was actually my favorite. The story of Bella and Edward gets really old after awhile and having a character like Jacob Black was refreshing because he is just so warm and likeable. Taylor Lautner was by far and away the most impressive part of this film. He seemed to be the most natural actor of the bunch, not to mention that him and his wolf buddies were nice to look at. He had such a tough role to fill because he’s an underdog in the book, and with all the hype surrounding Robert Pattison it would have been really easy for him to get overlooked. Surprisingly he stood out and his performance made me scrutinize his surrounding cast, specifically Kristen Stewart.
This film made me realize that Ms. Stewart is really a poor actress. Her lines are delivered terribly with so many pauses that you can’t tell if she even memorized lines. Throughout the entire movie she has this weird look on her face with her mouth open. The look may have meant she was in deep thought or in pain but it was so distracting that it eventually became very irritating. I know some fans love her, but I think the films would be better without her. No amount of directing is going to make her any better in this role.
Speaking of directing, Chris Weitz did a much better job than his predecessor Catherine Hardwicke. The first film was so ridiculously over the top it was hard to concentrate on the story but Weitz turned that around. The scenes were well shot, the lighting was good and the CGI was done very well. Weitz just seemed to keep everything in check. It would have been easy for him to capitalize on the obsession surrounding Pattinson and give us more Edward via flashbacks or something, but he stuck to the story and it was a much better film because of it.
New Moon is not a great film but it is significantly better than TWILIGHT and I actually enjoyed myself (despite the theater full of giggly, annoying teens). The story is still cheesy and the dialogue is cringe-worthy at times, but Weitz did such a decent job directing that I won’t ban the next two movies like I was originally planning to.
We meet Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart, as she is moving in with her father to a small Northeastern town in Washington called Forks. Bella is a typical introverted teenager with proper angst and nothing special to her name. That is until she meets Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson. Edward is a mysterious character who has many strange and “special” qualities about him. Although he tries hard to ignore Bella, his love for her wins out and she discovers that he is actually a vampire, thus their adventure between teenager and vampire begins.
