Unfilmed "Twilight" Sequel Gets 2009 Release Date

LOS ANGELES — "Twilight" fans have a short wait for the next installment of the vampire saga.

Summit Entertainment spokesman Paul Pflug says "New Moon" is following just 12 months after the first movie, opening Nov. 20, 2009, over the same weekend as "Twilight" this year.

Summit has tapped Chris Weitz ("The Golden Compass") to direct "New Moon," based on the second book in Stephenie Meyer's best-selling series about the dangerous romance between a teen (Kristen Stewart) and a vampire (Robert Pattinson) fighting his bloodsucking instincts.

Weitz is taking over the franchise from "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke. "Twilight" has shot to $150 million at the box office since debuting Nov. 21.

Comments

[boredtotearsfurreal]

12:46 AM on 12/18/2008

this movie is so overrated, no chemistry between the two actors, they should have gotten a different actor than this Rob guy he is so bland.. the only thing i enjoyed in the movie was the baseball scene that was nice. vampires that sparkle in the sun, gimme a break.

give me TRUE BLOOD!!!!!!!! Sookie rocks, man i miss that show already, that show makes me wanna be a vampire.......

[Dalovely]

12:13 AM on 12/18/2008

They have to rush making the sequel especially since Pattinson is the lead..He's a hot 22 year old actor who enjoys smoking, drinking and partying..HOW long will he continue to look like a 17 year old vampire..(OK the character is actually a 190 year old vampire but he stopped aging at 17.) BUT Pattinson is a real guy who is aging. Remember there will be close-ups.

[peachesmahoney]

07:18 PM on 12/17/2008

I for one cannot wait!!! I'm no 12 year old girl but I got sucked into the books over the summer and throughly enjoyed the first film. I'm sad Hardwicke is gone as I feel she really nails the whole angst thing. But I'l be there opening day to see New Moon.

[thefooligan5]

05:45 PM on 12/17/2008

I must ask, what is so attractive about the male lead in this movie? As an honest and objective straight male I am pretty good at determining when a man is attractive. But I am having a hard time understanding the lure of this young man. I think his features work very well for a vampire character but apart from that I don't think he is anything to wrote home about.

[erathwomen]

04:51 AM on 12/17/2008

I thought the movie was pretty bad. There was no chemistry between Bella and Edward and she spoke her lines so quickly, it was difficult to understand her most of the time. The only reason this is being compared to HP is because of how quickly it became popular and how much money she's made. The only one of the four that's really a good book is Twilight, the other three aren't well written or edited, very much like most of the HP books, IMHO.

[SKOC211]

02:49 AM on 12/17/2008

Mormon vampires who sparkle in the sunlight and don't drink blood.

Give me a break.

I'll take Buffy or True Blood any day for real vampires.

And I really wish people would stop comparing these books to Harry Potter. Not even close. JK Rowling is endlessly more talented and creative.

[nohandle]

07:58 PM on 12/16/2008

Well, Hardwicke walked because she wanted to take more time to make a better movie. She wanted more preproduction work. Given that she was fighting for a better movie and not a rush job, I don't have high hopes for the sequel. Twilight was better than I expected, but not great. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart did a good job. I think Hardwicke did hand Weitz a great cast.

[jwatso7]

11:39 PM on 12/16/2008

I agree. I thought Twilight was OK, but there were some things about it that looked incredibly cheap - what was with Edward in the sunlight? He looked more sweaty than sparkly. I think this does not bode well for New Moon. The movies are never as good as the books, but they could at least try.

[Womanvoter4Obama]

07:13 PM on 12/16/2008

I liked Twilight but felt that sex was missing. It seemed really unnatural to me that these vampires didn't consummate their love or eat meat. It was like drinking alcohol free wine..whats the point?

I loved there was romance in movies again but to what end?

[goddess1871]

10:17 PM on 12/16/2008

Did you even READ the book?

[PacificPalisader]

06:54 PM on 12/16/2008

What a bloody D O G ! ! ! This is how they spend other people's money? No wonder we are in a depression. It's like out and out theft ! ! !

[highd]

05:22 PM on 12/16/2008

Much like the books they are going to pump these movies out without quality and care. Thank god the Harry Potter teams actually care about the material.

[PacificPalisader]

06:47 PM on 12/16/2008

Its the twilight for twilight, you could invest in a movie about my day to day life and have a hit!
That's how bad this thing must be, gish! Good Grief!!!

[ebroadcast]

04:35 PM on 12/16/2008

Mo money, mo money, mo money...

[hollyo]

04:01 PM on 12/16/2008

YIPPEEE! we need more romance in movies...hope they don't
'special effects' it to death with those wolves.

[RRundbaken]

03:51 PM on 12/16/2008

BOOOORRRRING Mormon vampires. And has that Pattison guy washed his hair yet. His last interview he said it has been six weeks since he washed it. Yuck.

[sisterdebmac]

03:25 PM on 12/16/2008

Bet this one will end up the suck. They're rushing it with such ridiculous desperation, how could it not? Add to that the fact that the second book barely has any Edward in it and yet they're going to create a script that wedges him in there more than he supposed to be and I smell a franchise-killing disaster.

[Adrienne Williams]

03:19 PM on 12/16/2008

For this girl who is is loving me some Robert P... bring it on! :-) It will be called "New Moon" and I'm reading it now.... Sort of in the realm of Harry Potter.

[CKieffer]

04:30 PM on 12/16/2008

You must be joking. HP is significantly more complex and better written than Twilight + 3.

Not that there isn't a market for the T4 books and not that they aren't an enjoyable read (i.e., mind-fluff books) but there is just no comparison between the two series.

[JustifiablyParanoid]

05:29 PM on 12/16/2008

I completely agree here. The plot, characters and writing of Harry Potter are in a league of their own. But the Twilight books are fun enough, and I enjoyed reading them.

As for Robert P--he's quite lovely to look at, I'll give you that, but the more intriguing casting decision is the girl they got to play Bella....apparently I don't know her name, but this is the first time I can remember watching a movie before reading the book, and it was her character more than anything that made me pick up the book.

[goddess1871]

10:19 PM on 12/16/2008

I'd say NM is the weakest of the four, so it's a shame that this is the next movie to come out.