Chris Weitz to Direct Two-Part 'Breaking Dawn' Finale?
Filed under: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
As The Twilight Saga: New Moon crosses $200 million, execs over at Summit Entertainment are quietly (or not so quietly) trying to figure out what to do about Breaking Dawn, the final (for now) adaptation in the Twilight movie franchise. According to a piece in Variety, only screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg is confirmed to finish out the series, and right now it looks like they're going to go the Harry Potter route and split Breaking Dawn up into two parts. Problem is, none of the actors have deals for a second part, and so like what happened with Harry Potter, there's a very good chance Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner could be looking at upwards of eight figures for their participation.The other big question mark (aside from how you adapt the predominately darker Breaking Dawn into a film that will appeal to the tween and teen set) is who will direct. David Slade is currently helming Eclipse, the third installment in the Twilight franchise, and from the sound of things that's the only segment he'll be directing. Right now it looks like Summit wants Chris Weitz to finish out the series, which is why -- according to Variety -- they haven't yet closed the deal on The Gardener, which is the smaller, more personal film he wanted to direct next. But will Weitz commit to the back-to-back films, which are sure to keep him away from his family for several months?
What's the alternative, though? To bring on a director new to the franchise to helm its big finale? That doesn't make sense, and I'm sure Summit is preparing to empty their wallets on this one in order to line up the correct pieces. Sources claim the studio wants Weitz to finish the job, though they haven't yet made him an official offer. What do you want to see happen?










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-01-2009 @ 12:40PM
Sarah said...
I hope Weitz comes back for Breaking Dawn, I just saw New Moon and thought it was great! So much better than Twilight. He was really able to capture the book and characters. Love him! Jobe Well Done!
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12-03-2009 @ 10:28PM
Paulette said...
I agree. I love both movies, but I remember thinking there was so much changed from the book for Twilight, New Moon was much closer to the book. I liked it so much better and hope he directs more.
12-04-2009 @ 4:23PM
Sarmo said...
He stays close to book with events, but lost the feelings, the atmosphere. So I hope he didnt make BD.
12-01-2009 @ 10:24AM
Swedish Twi-Mom said...
Chris Weitz would do the job very well, I'm sure. He just needs to get rid of Alexandre Desplat and re-attach Carter Burwell whose music was so pivotal in setting the atmosphere in the first film. Desplat's score for New Moon was beyond banal, and the film really suffers from it.
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12-01-2009 @ 1:44PM
Felicia said...
I agree and I thought I was the only one who noticed. The music in Twilight was beautiful; very dramatic and powerful. I thought it fit the story well. The music in New Moon wasn't nearly as strong.
12-01-2009 @ 1:22PM
Nick said...
More power to the actors -- if they add another film and if the series continues to rake in the big bucks, the actors should be compensated since they're the faces of the franchise.
-- Nick
from City of Kik
http://nickleshi.blogspot.com
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12-01-2009 @ 11:44AM
Dan L said...
I agree with the above commenter, that the score in the second film was pretty bad.
I'm not a fan of the series, per se, but I do have a girlfriend and manage a movie theatre which together is a recipe for seeing films you might not see if you otherwise had to pay.
That being said, I'm a sucker for indie soundtracks for films. Spiderman 3 actually gave us a decent Snow Patrol and Killers track, so it can often be the last hope at a silver lining for a film. This is true for the Twilight films, for me. That and the inclusion of Michael Sheen. And no one felt the need to warn me he's in like, what, the last seven minutes? God damn it.
But about the score - I got pretty nervous during the scene in New Moon when Edward leaves and she's alone in the woods with one of the least interesting musical scores playing. Luckily they threw pa-lenty of indie jams in for the remainder of the film. But that minute of film did make me pause and go "Really? The budget is obviously going to be bigger the second time around, but this is how they chose to spend the money?" I've never really had that reaction to a score before. Usually either positive or neutral, but this was the first time I was like....this should not be here and is making the film worse with its presence.
Moving on to the question at hand - Not much of a vote of confidence for David Slade, all this Weitz talk already, is it? Unless he's already said he's not interested, in which case, ignore my concerns. Is this what you meant by "the sound of things"?
I would really like, though, to see what he does with it and - presuming it's good work - still have the chance to hope he grabs the next gig.
Or hey, two films, two different directors. Mix it up, whatever. This franchise is truly bullet-proof, so have some fun with it.
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12-01-2009 @ 11:52AM
sam said...
Not having read the books, and not really caring either way, it may not be my place to comment, but the biggest problem with "New Moon" (and also "Twilight") was not the directing, it was the screenplay (or more to the point, the source material).
For what it's worth, I would say dump the screenwriter (and I'm fully aware that this is probably an impossibility as she is already confirmed), and find someone who can save the franchise from its source. I'm sure a talented writer could turn out something better than the series of moans and grunts that was "New Moon". Find a writer who will assume the audience is smart enough (even if their not) to pick up on the movies sole point (abstinence until marriage) without having it blatantly shoved down their collective, shrieking throat for an incredibly dull 2 hours.
More to the point though, I thought Weitz did a reasonably good job (to the point that he could) with "New Moon" and in the very least, showed talent in directing this type of material.
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12-01-2009 @ 1:18PM
jazz said...
I agree! While I love the Twilight books I'm not a big fan of the movies. I thought that with the new director New Moon was going to be a great movie but Weitz did the best he could with was he was given. While the New Moon movie is far better than Twilight it still needed a better screenwriter. The next 2 or 3 installments will continue to dissapoint since the screenwritter will be the same.
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12-02-2009 @ 12:19PM
Carly said...
Wow. I'm just glad to know that I'm not alone in thinking the New Moon soundtrack was not NEAR as good (or even good at all?) as the soundtrack for Twilight! The first one went so well with the movie & even as a stand alone CD.
As far as directing - if for nothing else, the lack or limited use of Kristen Stewart's lip biting and constant batting of eyelashes, made him a MUCH better director!
And yes, it was almost difficult for me to get through the moaning & groaning and night screams that sounded a little "off" to enjoy the movie.
But I guess this just comes from reading the books and the books ALWAYS being better than the movies.
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12-05-2009 @ 2:12AM
naree uk. said...
New Noon was great, I agree Chris Weitz he's great. Breaking dawn it's final and everyone want to see love story scenes and kissing scenes Bella and Edward (Wedding&honeymoon) we don't want to lose the romace....
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12-07-2009 @ 9:27AM
elvscstellofreak@aol.com said...
I agree with the other statements that the music in New Moon was not near as powerful as it was in Twilight. However, New Moon is a much better movie and stays closer to the book. I only wish Kristen Stewart was not the face of Bella. She can NOT act, has a constipated look on her face most of the movie and her one lazy eye drives me insane. Really want to make the movies better??? Ditch K Stew
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12-08-2009 @ 3:53AM
JLS said...
I agree that the music was dreadful in New Moon. After Carter Burwell did such an excellent job with the music in the first movie, it makes no sense to have replaced him for the second. New Moon suffers in several key scenes from the uninspired formulaic score droning on in the background.
For Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, it is essential that they get Carter Burnwell back. He is as intergral a part of the equation as the screenwriter.
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12-14-2009 @ 9:50PM
Jessica said...
oh and you shouldn't change the actors
that will make alot of people mad
even though Kristen isn't that great of an actor after you've put someone in the first movie of a saga you can't change them.
It kind of gives you the face to the person your reading about (if you do read the books again)
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12-14-2009 @ 9:49PM
Jessica said...
I recently saw the movie and I agree with the other comments the music didn't help the movie at all it kinda made me wanna stop watching it. It really dissapointed me because I love the soundtrack for twilight and I thought new moons would be much better or at least similar to twilights after seeing the trailer. I actually seen posts saying that the soundtrack to new moon gave people headaches. Another thing about the movie is that in the beggining I thought the chemistry between Bella and Edward wasn't as intense as it seemed it was in the books(before the party) and it seemed like it was cut shorter than it should've been. Chris should deffinately get Carter Burnwell back for Eclipse and Breaking Dawn he's amazing with the music and he wont dissapoint as much as the guy did for new moon.
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12-20-2009 @ 11:10PM
femroc said...
NOOOOO don't let Chris do Breaking Dawn. I know the actors like him and he's easy to get along with but he totally lost the passion of the story in NM and it was TOO slow in the slow parts and TOO fast in the fast parts - I didn't like it at all.
Let someone big do it - like Gus Van Zandt or a Spielberg connection. Summit has the money - find someone really GOOD!
Why can't they just make the movie long?? Meet Joe Black was over 3 agonizing hours but looking at Brad Pitt was not bad........same with RP, I could look at him for many hours.
Don't split it up just to make more money. Keep the flow of the story going. True fans will love it.
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12-30-2009 @ 10:44PM
annie said...
Agree, spliting it i dont think its such a great idea, your just going to put the fans in pain lol.. but titanic, Avatar long movies and did amazing money, And i think because James Cameron is an amazing director and loves his love stories, i would think he'd do an amazing job doing breaking dawm! seriously. I want breaking dawn to be exactly what the book is, changing it will suck hard. Love scenes and everything should be like the book! atleast 98% :)
Can't wait for it! Bring us fans good news
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1-04-2010 @ 12:34PM
Jacobella said...
I do think Weitz directed New Moon well. He did a great job of making the movie in the time he was given. He should direct BD (fingers crossed that he will).
i agree with naree uk. Everyone loves the teen love story of Bella and Edward and seeing their romance on the big screen. Weitz definantly captured the romance in New Moon, and in order to film BD, you HAVE to capture the romance (aka: wedding and honeymoon, as naree uk. said).
I wouldn't split BD up into different films, i'd just must it a long movie. There are plenty of 3-hour movies out there, so why not make it long?
Who ever is directing this movie should NOT change the actors. Victoria was changed in Eclipse, and i got a little disappointed, because Rachelle Lefevre was a great Victoria. The people that you can't change are the edward and the cullen family, bella and the swan family, and jacob with the black family, although billy black doesn't really appear much anymore after New Moon.
They should have Carter Burwell back in Eclipse and/or BD, after that astonishing song in twilight. Bella's lullaby was so beautifully written that i had to learn it myself, and i'm glad i did. I kind of liked the Alexandre Desplat song, i learned a part of it on the piano, but i stopped because i wouldn't really like playing that much after a while. Carter should be in Eclipse at least if not BD. He did a song for A Knight's Tale, and i loved that.
So anyways, i just think that Chris Weitz should be the director of BD, and that he should get Carter Burwell back in the soundtrack.
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1-04-2010 @ 10:28PM
Michelle said...
In my opinion.... both movies were garbage compared to the books. The books were like discovering something new and brilliant. Something Beautiful and magical. Then these directors come along and shit all over them. I believe that the actors are great Robert is fantastic and so is Taylor. I would not have picked Kristen Stewart but she is a good actress and she is growing on me.
Back to the main issues thought the directors... they are so busy trying to make money by adding fight scenes that they forget the little things.
Like the meadow.. Edwards special places that he takes Bella too. That isn't behind their school and the first kiss that was shared by the truck and Bella faints. Which they left out and how she feels when Edward runs with her for the first time.
There are so many things about Bella's character that makes her who she is that gets ignored.
Like in New Moon when she thinks that everything from Italy was a dream and she has lost her mind. And the reunion scene was terrible Edward and Bella barely touched each other in the movie. But in the book Edward was kissing her hair and pulling her tight to him. I remember the happiness I felt when reading that for the first time.
I could go on for day and I know the rest of you could as well. And I agree about the music; the music in Twilight was way better.
To conclude Breaking Dawn is a complex book that is full of little things that I am afraid will be ignored. It's the little things that make that book wonderful and if anyone is to do it justice. They need to spend less time trying to make people who don't like the books like it by adding things that didn't happen. They need to spend more time focusing on what did happen because what did happen was great and it doesn't have to be fancied up. Who cares if it's a blockbuster hit; it's something that is loved and will make money no matter what so stop trying to impress us because it is NOT working!!!
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1-11-2010 @ 10:33PM
cilane said...
Anyone who has read the books or whom has some actual cinematic taste, I am sure will understand when I say Chris Weitz is no more than a hack who got lucky due to the devotion to the Twilight Saga by its fan base. I too like many others enjoyed New Moon as I love all the books and wait with anticipation for each new movie installment, however New Moon was almost destroyed by Weitz is a sever display in lack of understanding of the characters, their interaction resulting in a heartless teen flick barley worthy of the story it comes from. It would be an absolute travisty should this man be allowed anywhere near Breaking Dawn!!!!!!!!!!!! my strongest reccommendation would be to turn this movie being in either one or two films over to the worthy genius of either James Cameron or Kevin Reynolds whom prove time and again their understanding of exactly how a love story should be portrayed!!!!!!!
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