chris weitz Tagged Articles at Cinematical

If you were anywhere within the Northern Hemisphere, we're assuming that you heard the euphoric outcry of fangirls who screamed and applauded at the sight of Twilight's Robert Pattinson, who appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con to help promote the upcoming sequel, New Moon. If however you were unlucky enough to experience it – and like us, lose all ability to hear in the process – Cinematical was there and is only too happy to offer a short overview of Summit's panel for the film. Remarkably, the film appears to be in far surer hands at least from a genre standpoint, which should come as no small relief to the fellows out there who will eventually be dragged to see it by their girlfriends or significant others.

Among the panel's high points:

Some things just go together like peanut butter and jelly, right? Well how about Radiohead front-man Thom Yorke and the vampire romance, New Moon? According to an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Moon's director Chris Weitz spilled details about his plans for the music, and while Weitz will be working again with his Golden Compass composer Alexandre Desplat on the score, rumors have started to pop up about what's in store for the soundtrack. A few weeks back there was talk that Coldplay and Kelly Clarkson would be contributing to the official soundtrack, but music snobs out there might want to hold on to their hat because Weitz now tells RT the following: "I am surprised at some of the bands that have said they're interested. It's kind of great. The criterion will still always be what's right for the movie at that given moment, but Thom Yorke is interested; we might, if we're very lucky, get Kings of Leon to do something... "

Now you might remember that Yorke provided the track for Radiohead's 15 Step to play over Twilight's closing credits, but I wonder if Yorke does sign on, will he be creating something original, or just hand over the rights to another one of his songs? We will have to wait and see, because neither Leon or Yorke have confirmed their involvement with the soundtrack, and like so much of the news surrounding New Moon, the rumors are running wild. But Yorke's spokesperson tells MTV that they were, "not denying [the story], but there's nothing confirmed as yet" and Kings of Leon's spokesperson told MTV "They like the film a lot, but it's a little too early to tell if they can be involved."

After the jump: does Twilight have some unlikely fans?

Alright, let's get the Twilight out of the way first. Entertainment Weekly has a couple of new images from the set of New Moon, and if anything, I suppose it's small solace that director Chris Weitz looks like he has this shoot on schedule for a November 20th release. For those of us who didn't know, this sequel concerns Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her divided love for both vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson - SQUEE!) and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Maybe Kate Beckinsale should give her some advice on how to handle this...

Now, in somewhat related news, the rumor du jour as to which villain will play a part in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 has turned to Morbius, the well-meaning scientist (natch) who unwittingly transforms himself into a psuedo-vampire (no, thank you, Wikipedia!). The notorious showman plays coy when asked in this FearNET interview (that's hosted on... CHUD?), but then goes on about the appeal of vampires in a way that doesn't rule the possibility out...

Spider-Man 4 is scheduled for a 2011 bow, so let me use this as yet another opportunity to nudge you to support Raimi's very fun Drag Me to Hell this weekend.

Shauna Cross, who wrote the screenplay for Whip It! and the book it's based on, has signed on to adapt the young adult book If I Stay, which will be directed by Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke.

Sounds like it will be a challenging write, because If I Stay's protagonist Mia is in a coma after a horrible car accident that killed both her parents. Similar to The Lovely Bones, the 17-year-old spends her time looking back on her life and watching her loved ones wrestle with this tragedy -- and deciding whether or not she still wants to live. It was positively reviewed by Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and I will definitely be picking it up ASAP. The book came out in April and is still in hard cover.

If you haven't read The Lovely Bones, please do pick it up -- and hide the razor blades. It's told from the POV of a young girl who was raped and dismembered who is looking down from heaven on her family, friends, and murderer. Bring your hankies for the big-screen version helmed by Peter Jackson that's coming out a few weeks before Christmas. Cheery!

The kicker is that Summit Entertainment, which severed its Twilight ties with Hardwicke after the first Twilight and brought on board Chris Weitz to direct The Twilight Saga: New Moon, is distributing If I Stay. Seems like this project will be more in tune with Hardwicke's strengths, who has proven she can handle teen subjects with sensitivity and depth, given the right material to work with. Cross is definitely one to watch (Variety said so!), and I can't wait to see what these two do with If I Stay. Sounds like some girl power is back in the house of Summit.

For better or for worse, we all know that Twilight fans are a crafty bunch, and frankly it is not like there aren't a million pictures of Edward Cullen floating around the hard-drives of the series' devoted followers, so it shouldn't be that surprising that fans are already hard at work making one-sheets for the upcoming sequel to Twilight, New Moon. Over at Popsugar, two new posters for the sequel have emerged, and while Cinematical has already confirmed with Summit that these are fake, an almost-shirtless Robert Pattinson is bound to get some attention either way. Not to mention that at least these two posters are more convincing than some of the other photoshop jobs out there.

The first official teaser poster was revealed during ShoWest, and, well, other than the fact that it looks identical to the banner art we saw back in February, there is really nothing to say. I mean, how can curlicue fonts compete with shirtless glowering? New Moon will pick up with our star-crossed lovers where they left off, and the addition of the new werewolf pack and the badass Volturi means that Chris Weitz and Melissa Rosenberg will have plenty of material to work with. One thing is for sure, I hope Summit has something a little more exciting up their sleeve than what they have shown us so far, because right now it looks like fans are doing a better job of promoting this movie than they are.

Why should we care about fan-made posters? Well, why shouldn't we? After all, the only reason Twilight made it to movie screens in the first place was because of the book's die-hard fans. So while trying to get the final word on anything Twilight is no easy task (what with speculation, rumor, and blatant lies), there is plenty of time to kill before New Moon hits theaters on November 20th, so why not have a little fun first? Check out the two fan-made posters below.

I think every actress and their mother may become attached to New Moon or Eclipse in the months ahead. (Really, though -- what can top the Madonna rumors?)

The latest rumor comes courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. Supposedly, Drew Barrymore is in talks to direct Eclipse, the third installment of the Twilight series. It's difficult to say if Barrymore would be a good pick or not, as she's just completed her directorial debut, Whip It! But she's run her production company with a lot of savvy, so why not? Too many actors have managed to be a success behind the camera for anyone to sneer, and it would be nice if an actress was actually among those successful ranks.

If you were wondering "So, what happened to Chris Weitz?" well, he's not coming back. The film and its release date were just announced in the trades, but they failed to mention that Weitz wouldn't be returning. According to EW, the production schedule will be so crunched that Weitz will be in post production on New Moon as Eclipse begins shooting, so it will be impossible for him to be behind the camera. (There are directors who manage that kind of multi-tasking, but they're probably crazy or have Starbucks for blood.)

I have to say -- I feel for you, Twilight fans. It's never fun when your franchise turns on itself.

While Twilight and Robert Pattinson fandom was busy watching the Oscars for a glimpse of the immortal heartthrob (and I was frightened by just how, er, undead he actually looks when not wearing fangs), a very important decision was being made. Clear your calenders, ladies (and some gents) -- according to Variety, Summit has not only made its plans for the third installment definite, they've given you something to hope for. Not only is the third Twilight installment officially on the pre-production runway, it has a release date.

So, without further ado: Eclipse is scheduled to be released June 30, 2010, a departure from the broody fall dates of the previous two installments. This also means Eclipse and New Moon will shoot back to back. On the upside, the actors won't age appreciatively between films. On the downside, the films may end up rushed and sloppy.

Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner will return, of course -- although as we all know, Lautner narrowly won back the part of Jacob after adding some necessary bulk. Melissa Rosenberg, who penned the scripts for Twilight and New Moon is even now putting fingers to keyboard, and working on the script.
It's assumed by the trades that replacement director Chris Weitz will helm Eclipse but hey -- everyone kind of assumed Catherine Hardwicke would come back for New Moon, so there could always be a change up behind the camera.

Now you know your plans for June 30, 2010. It will be here before you know it.

Just when you thought your favorite stars from High School Musical were graduating from the big-screen forever, it looks like Vanessa Hudgens (aka Oops, Remember When I Accidentally Took Naked Pictures of Myself) is auditioning for a role in another blockbuster franchise -- only this time she'll get to show her teeth. According to MTV, Hudgens has auditioned for the role of Leah Clearwater in the Twilight sequel, New Moon. Ah, but don't go hoping for tons of biting and sucking on Hudgens' part -- see, Clearwater is a female werewolf who's described as bitter and cynical, and eventually antagonizes Jacob because he's still in love with Bella ... who's about to marry Edward and become a vampire too. The character is also featured in the third and fourth books, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, which means there's a good chance Hudgens would sign for the franchise.

Summit would be smart to cast Hudgens in a role since she'd most definitely bring her High School Musical fanbase (most of which are probably Twilight fans already). Oh, and seeing as she's a total hottie, one might argue that her casting could entice more boys to scope out the sequel. With a bigger budget, a new director (Chris Weitz) and a host of familiar teen names, could New Moon break more box office records when it hits theaters on November 20, 2009?

What do you Twilight fans think of Hudgens? Too cutesy to play a werewolf, or perfect for the role?

According to a source over at Deadline Hollywood, Golden Compass director Chris Weitz has been offered the directing gig on New Moon and possibly Eclipse, should both films shoot back-to-back. Nikki Finke's source says Weitz, who's apparently "still considering" the offer, was chosen because Summit Entertainment "liked the look" of Compass, even though it bombed at the box office, and also because Weitz is buddies with Summit's president of production, Eric Feig.

Apart from Compass, Weitz had a big role in the original American Pie (as a producer and uncredited director); he also co-wrote and directed the excellent About a Boy adaptation, and served as producer on flicks like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, In Good Company and American Dreamz. Personally, I'm a fan of Weitz (and his brother Paul), and blame the domestic failure of Compass more on some folks' inability to wrap their heads around the story's vast universe. However, he is a boy ... and last I checked, boys might not be allowed into the Twilight clubhouse.

What do you folks think of Weitz? Is he a good replacement?

At least not any time soon. That's from this article in The Independent, which quotes author Phillip Pullman as saying that following the disappointing box office returns for The Golden Compass, no one has talked to him about adapting The Amber Spyglass (or, obviously, The Subtle Knife). Director Chris Weitz, who had been determined to make a sequel happen, is staying mum, as is New Line, now part of Warner Bros. At this point, the age of star Dakota Blue Richards -- already 14 -- is going to be a problem for any big plans to continue the franchise.

The Independent article is a little annoying, since it insists on blaming (crediting?) the Christian protests against The Golden Compass for the film's commercial failure in the US. That seems a little facile, though even Pullman seems to believe it. The source material didn't turn out to be much of a brand name, the marketing was a bit generic, and I think the movie just never caught on as a must-see holiday blockbuster. I'm not sure the protests had that much pull.

No regrets here, since I think the first film was a bit generic, not doing justice to the book. Though I guess now I really wish Weitz hadn't decided to move the first book's ending to the then-envisioned sequel. Oh well.