"Twilight" Director Out For Film's Sequels

LOS ANGELES — "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke won't be back for "New Moon," the sequel to the hit teen vampire romance.

Summit Entertainment, which released "Twilight" last month, said the scheduled release of "New Moon" in late 2009 or early 2010 conflicts with Hardwicke's desired planning time. The film, based on the second book in Stephenie Meyer's series, continues to follow the forbidden relationship between vampire Edward Cullen and high schooler Bella Swan.

Stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will reprise their roles for part two.

Hardwicke, whose previous films include "Thirteen" and "Lords of Dogtown," had the highest opening ever for a female director when "Twilight" made nearly $70 million in its first weekend. It's grossed over $138 million in three weeks.

"I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct `New Moon,'" Hardwicke said Sunday in a joint news release with Summit. "Directing `Twilight' has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel _ it is a great story."

Erik Feig, Summit's president of production, thanked Hardwicke and said she did "an incredible job in helping us to launch the `Twilight' franchise."

"We as a studio have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created," said Feig.

Hardwicke did not return a call left on her home phone Monday, but a man's voice on the outgoing message said in part: "We've been kicked out of the `Twilight' editorial, so we're homeless, so please leave your name and number after the tone."

Comments

[TwilighttBabyy]

Well in my opinion the movie was really amazing. Unfortunately, alot of parts were skipped that made the book all worth reading. Chapters went by in mins in the movie. She did a very good job, though. I enjoyed the movie, and glad now when i read the books i can clearly see the characters. Now that i'm done with all the Twilight Saga, i cannot wait until the sequels come out. I'm also very concerned about the "Vampires dont age, but actors do". With New Moon coming out at late 2009, its going to be lots of pain and agony while we wait. Meanwhile hopefully Stephenie Meyer will finish writing Midnight Sun after the sad incident that happened. I'm looking forward to the book, and that i can finally read a good book in my spare time. The new director, better know this book better than anything, i dont want alot of parts skipped again. It was irritating. But yet, im very happy and pleased with the movie.

[DogTown]

Catherine Hardwicke is an artist and they want a "corporate man director" instead!

The Twilight movies will suffer!

[Mysticalsister]

I loved the books and I'm not a teenager. As for the movie, it was just alright -- I didn't care for Kristen Stewart -- I found her physically right for the part, but her acting was wooden and uninspired. I believe that is the fault of the director who should have helped the actress to better convey the emotions of the character.

Visually the movie was gorgeous and really captured the tone of the book -- but I felt that there were scenes that were left out that -- in the book -- helped to build the necessary tension. The book is huge -- and the task of making a 2 hour movie from it was daunting, but it was done very well with the Harry Potter books, so I would like to see what another director might do with the material.

[tuffymama]

As someone who thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I find the news a bit disconcerting, though I'll have to reserve judgment until I see what they do with New Moon. I thought Catherine Hardwicke completely "got" the book, so I hope they don't bring in someone who's just interested in making cool CGI wolves.

[ohrly]

They really need to lock this down...the trouble with creating a franchise based on teen vampires (or any vampires really) is that you have a limited time in which to get everything on film (vampires don't age, but actors do). I am surprised to hear that they aren't already halfway done filming #2. There's no law saying you have to release the movie as soon as its in the can done, but there is a law against vampires visibly aging.

[Meems1125]

Ummmm, hello they are vampires they are supposed to be white. I'm 39 and I loved the books and I loved the movie. I can't wait for the rest of them.

[katersmc]

This has nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman, it has to do with the fact that the movie was not good. Yes it made tons of money, but it would have made tons of money without Catherine Hardwicke. The reason people saw it was word of mouth and a freaklike obsession that many teenage girls have with these books. I am in my 20s. I read the first book and found it entertaining, not literary gold but entertaining. I was completely let down by the movie. Catherine and the screenwriter had a chance to make something even better than the book and they blew it. The actors in the film are decent actors and they appeared sub-par in this. I blame that on bad direction. She needs to go. Ditto on whoever said the make-up artist needs to go too....goo­d lord, one guy looked like Edward Scissorhands and Peter Facinelli looked like he dipped his face in flour.

[Ladywolf55]

I couldn't agree more, katersmc. You pegged exactly what was wrong with the movie. The first viewing, I was sorely disappointed. The following viewings, I was able to take the time to critique it properly. The actors were just fine, but they had terrible direction. I have to say, Kristen Stewart needs to channel Bella, instead of Kristen Stewart, into the part. I saw more of her own personality than Bella from the Twilight book. New Moon could be a blockbuster of a movie if they do it right. If they mess it up, the fans will definitely leave in droves. It's the best book of the series, and is a ripe story for the big screen. I hope Summit Entertainment takes the time and effort to do it justice.

[Meems1125]

Ok, I don't know what movie you all saw but the one I saw was great. You obviously can't put the whole book into a movie or you would be sitting in a 15 hour long movie. It's Ms. Hardwicke's loss. I mean you can't wait a long time to get the next one out or the momentum will die down. I can't wait for the sequels because if they are half as good as the first they will be great. Whoever said get rid of the actors you are obviously not a true fan of the books or you would realize they couldn't have been more perfect.

[jsgaetano]

Did they take the most boring parts of the book? Had I not been listening to a book on tape through 2/3rds of it, I'd have fallen asleep.

[justmeerin]

i thought with the expeption of the fourth harry potter movie (so far) that the harry potter films were adapted really well for the screen. I thought twilight was terrible. I could have done a better job. They don't just need to ditch the director but they need a better screenwriter, a much better makeup artist AND they need to get rid of like, 90% of the cast, The last part is unlikely to happen and I am not sure how much more a new director is going to get out of those people. Too bad. They could have been really good movies.

[jsgaetano]

Probably for the best- the movie was terrible.

Half the movie was spent building up the the OOOOH BIG REVELATION that zOMG.... he is a vampire!!! Here's a hint- 99.999999% of the people watching the movie already know that. No surprises, so just get past it and move on.

I went and saw this with a family member who wanted to see it. I listed to a book on tape (Lightning by Dean Koonz, highly recommended) during the first two boring acts. Then, there's about 15 minutes of the third act which are interestin­g... and that's it.

So yeah, no big loss here. If you want a vampire show, check out True Blood- it's a zillion times better.

[val311]

Funny. I wondered outloud this morning if these films would be like the Harry Potter series and get better as they go along. Seems like a change of director may be needed. And hopefully with all the money the made from the first one, they can expand their budget and make a much better movie the second time around.

[highd]

Please don't confuse the great books of Harry Potter with these badly written books. Comparing them to each other should be a crime, comparing the movies is even worse.

Chris Columbus one of the best directors around directed the first Harry Potter movie and it was amazingly spot on. He also had a wonderful book to draw inspiration from. Unlike the director of this movie.

[FabulousAt52]

Man, that movie really SUCKED. Bad acting, stupid storyline, dumber dialogue, $9.50 and two hours of time wasted on crap. I know, I know, "the books were great!" ::: rolls eyes :::

Who cares about the sequels??

[Dogwithoutaleash]

I'll have to agree for the most part. I didn't think it was a total waste, but just one step up from there. I was entertained, but I couldn't help but think that the acting was terrible. I also thought the story of teen agnst with vampires was a little bit stupid. I didn't really care about the characters and what happened to them. I've definitely seen better movies.

[FabulousAt52]

gods, how that movie SU.CK.ED. Bad story (I know, I know, the books were GREAT! :: rolls eyes:::), bad BAD acting, stupid dialogue, a total waste of two hours and the $9.50 to see the crap.

Who cares about the sequels??

[FabulousAt52]

sorry... some kind of glitch going on here... didn't mean to post twice.

[vugo]

This is how it works these days ... Anyone who's talent makes them a threat to the bean-counters who have taken over the biz has to get a smack. The directors they want are from commercials; a culture of corporate compliance. If she can make a second hit she'll be alright.

[Dalovely]

Typical..a woman director is called irrational and hard to work (despite the FACT that low budget film brought in over $170 million in the B.O.)..the solution. Fire her.

But a man is called a creative genius and demanding and he can have flop after flop but he still keeps getting budgets to make more Box Office flops.