Posted by dominie in Films, News on December 10th, 2008
After this weekend’s announcement that Summit Entertainment fired Catherine Hardwicke from New Moon, the sequel to the vampire drama Twilight, Summit quickly began to scout other talents to fill their newfound vacancy. The responsibility was offered to Chris Weitz who recently directed The Golden Compass starring Nicole Kidman for New Line Cinema reports Deadline Hollywood, the same source that announced Hardwicke’s forced departure.
According to the report, Weitz has been offered the director’s chair for not only New Moon, but also Eclipse, the third feature adaptation based on the series by Stephenie Meyer.
If agreed (and sources say he is close to signing), Weitz is looking to shoot both New Moon and Eclipse back-to-back, meaning the third film immediately after completion of the sequel. Both films are aiming to hit theaters by 2010. And according to Bloody-Disgusting, New Moon’s screenplay has already been completed and turned it.
Boy they are really trying whip these suckers out. Its probably for the best, while the hype is still rocket high. There’s still hope that New Moon can make a come back from all the mixed reviews that Twilight received. At the very least, Hardwicke is out so I can’t imagine New Moon could be as poorly shot as the first film.
Posted by dominie in Films, News on November 26th, 2008
According to The Sun Times, stars Robert Pattinson, 22, and Kristin Stewart, 18, will each receive salary boosts for the Twilight sequel New Moon—each is reportedly receiving $10 million more per film plus a percentage of the future movies’ box-office take. That’s six times the $2 million they each earned for Twilight.
The reported salary increase also comes with a much larger story. New Moon will include travels to both Alaska and Italy and in addition to vampires, werewolves are now introduced into the franchise.
I’m sure you’ve already heard the numbers. Twilight grossed $70.5 million over the weekend, which virtually guaranteed the greenlight for New Moon. Now it looks like the third film, based on Stephenie Meyer’s Eclipse novel is nearly sealed as well.
Director Catherine Hardwicke has also returned for the sequel reports People.com. Just yesterday we were still unsure when Hardwicke told the AP Sunday, “I want to be sure that [the second film is] going to be done right. I don’t want to rush into it. It’s not like ‘Friday the 13th’ or ‘Halloween,’ you can’t just do it super fast and knock another one out.” The director insisted to be sure that the film’s producers were on the same page going forward before any agreements were made.
Hardwicke has reportedly begun preparations for New Moon set to premiere in 2010. Not only the sequels, the movie’s projected net gross also ensured Summit Entertainment’s position in Hollywood. Prior to Twilight, the studio released only five films, the biggest known of the bunch being In the Valley of Elah which Tommy Lee Jones received an Oscar nomination.
Posted by dominie in Films, News on November 20th, 2008
Shock Till You Drop has unveiled the first look at the poster for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which opens in theaters on January 23, 2009. To remind you, the third installment is actually a prequel to the two previous films, chronicling the start of the war between the Lycans and the Death Dealers.
Directed by Patrick Tatopoulos, the film stars Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen, Rhona Mitra, Shane Brolly, and Steven Mackintosh.
Synopsis: The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian (Sheen) emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja (Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.
