Holy Moly, y’all! Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Summit Entertainment, the folks that produced Twilight and will be producing the subsequent sequel movies, has announced that New Moon is now tentatively scheduled for a November 2009 release — BE WARNED … the report below contains MANY SPOILERS about the plot of New Moon and should prolly be avoided by those of you who have yet to read the book and want to remain unspoiled:
Summit Entertainment has tentatively slated Nov. 20, 2009, as the release date for New Moon, the Twilight sequel, which means any director who signs on to replace Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke has to be in Vancouver by Dec. 15 to begin 12 weeks of preproduction before a mid-March start date. Reports have speculated that Hardwicke was fired for being difficult on set, but sources close to her suggest Summit’s aggressive production schedule turned her off. “She’d love to do the sequel if she could do it better than Twilight,” says one. “It became clear that Summit didn’t have those same priorities.” Indeed, at press time the second movie appeared to have little more than a rough first-draft working script. As Summit’s production president Erik Feig told EW during Twilight’s record-busting first weekend, “There is that first…script. All the finesse that turns a screenplay into a movie hasn’t happened yet.” Two weeks later, Summit is saying it’s happy with screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg’s progress. Another of Hardwicke’s primary concerns was that hunky vampire Edward remains MIA throughout New Moon’s middle portion. In her own opening-weekend interview, she told EW, “You have to get the chemistry as strong between Jacob and Bella as it was between Bella and Edward. You also have to do something with that arc: She’s in love with somebody, he disappears, she falls in love with someone else, and the first guy comes back. Movies like Pearl Harbor have tried it. It absolutely didn’t work.” With or without Hardwicke, Summit faces other snags. Two sources tell EW the studio doesn’t want to rehire baby-faced Taylor Lautner (pictured) as Jacob, though Lautner’s agent has apparently reached out to the imaging company behind The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in an attempt to demonstrate to Summit how a digitally bulked-up Lautner could work. (Summit says it won’t make a decision until a new filmmaker is on board.) There’s also the matter of finding a cast of Native American actors to play Jacob’s werewolf clan — a difficult challenge Hardwicke was also faced with before settling on Lautner, who isn’t completely Native American. And with a slightly increased budget of $50 million — much of which is assumed will go to leads asking for heftier paydays, location shoots in Italy, and ramped-up F/X — Summit will have to scrimp somewhere. So what director would want to take on such a big headache? Well, at press time, an offer was out to Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), who put Summit on the map years ago when its foreign sales operation made tons of cash off of his first film, American Pie. (One source says Weitz has already had conversations with below-the-line crew for New Moon.) “We are in a recession,” reminds one Hollywood insider. “It’s a hit franchise. Whoever steps into it is guaranteed a $100 million gross. Everyone wants this movie.” Adds an exec at another studio, “You’d have to have a very high standard for art, hate the movie business, and hate money to walk off this sequel.”
Oh man … this is really worrisome. There are quite a few things in this report that raise red flags for me. Recasting Jacob Black is a terrible idea! Taylor Lautner made a great Jacob … I can’t believe they hired him for the part only to replace him in the rest of the films. I’m also concerned that they are talking about changing major plot points of the book. Fiddling with the way Edward appears in the sequel is a bad idea … the surest way to piss off fans is to “reimagine” the storyline and make major changes. Finally, I’m really concerned about the rush to make the film. Pre-production is to start next week … and they don’t have a finished script or a director? This just all screams BAD NEWS in my head. What do y’all think … does any of this sound reassuring to you?
[Source]
This just worries me!! There is no reason to rush New Moon. The fans aren’t going anywhere. Hello, we have to wait for the Half-Blood Prince, and we all still love Harry, and it’s not like we all still won’t see the movie. Summit is trying to cash in on all the hoopla, and it will just be a huge backlash of pissed off fans if they screw this up. Art shouldn’t be rushed! Trying to recast any of the major players in this movie is just a bad idea. They really need to rethink this. Any true fan will wait as long as it takes.
hardwicke did an okay job. it was by no means fantastic. i saw twilight twice not because the movie is great. it was because i am a fan of the series and Rpattz. :)
a new director with a higher budget and more time might do better. less than a year to prep, shoot, and edit with only 50 mill smells like a disaster. i was checking out some of the budgets for films. geez…it costed 100 mill to make 4 christmases. it’s almost impossible to do a good job or even a decent job with 50 mill considering 24 of those millions are already going to Rpattz and kristen stewart. i don’t know how summit is thinking that this is possible.
they have to recast jacob. i reread eclipse last week and it said he was like 6’7 at his full height. so in new moon, he should be at about 6’3 of so. he supposedly towers over edward and rpattz is pretty damn tall. the other cast member that needs recasting is rosalie. she was NOTHING like the way i imagined her to be. big ass with acid wash jeans? come on! where is the supermodel that looks like a million bucks?
so…in the end…does it matter? they will probably put out a bad film. fans will still go to see it. i didnt like twilight and i saw it twice.
at least rpattz is still in it. its the only silver lining.
twilight was a horrible movie.new moon is gonna be REAL shit…the books are thegreatest thing i know!!
50 mill budget??? the first one was like 38 mill and it wasnt even special location…. Well, i guess summit only cares about the quantity of dollars that come in rather than making a quality product. the first one was a nightmare, New Moon looks like its headed that direction too. regardless of the big bucks for a director behind this – they’ll never get another job again with a crap movie, put together in under a year and with small money, on thier resume! I certainly dont think many directors will be jumping at it, payday better be good, cause itll be thier last!
I am by no means team jacob, HOWEVER, taylor lautner is an amazingly adorable jacob. Perhaps that’s why Summit doesnt want him back, bc they think he’s too “cute” and not intimidating enough, but I think thats the point of jacob’s character. He is a 16 year old in a 25 year old’s body after all.
I want the SCRIPTWRITER to be replaced!!!!
Actually, I want another studio to be responsible for Twilight.. Summit is a mess.
The only thing good about Twilight was the trailer… The ending part of the trailer where Edward said ‘you are my life now’ was melt-worthy… But the movie rushed that part and screwed up the rest of the dialogues….
I’m definitely worried because, as others said, they are clearly more worried about making money than they are about getting the book right, and that sucks! I loved new moon, and I think they need to leave Edward out of it and have viewers wondering where he is and why he isn’t with Bella, as it is in the book. I agree with re-casting Jacob though because Taylor won’t be big enough to do the description justice. He’s too baby-faced. And I agree that the scriptwriter is who needs to be replaced!! Please!!
Oh wow where to begin with this? The two major areas of concern here are the time frame they have despite lacking a director and discussion about recasting Taylor. To put it all in perspective, remember R Patz was cast in December of 07 and the majority of the Cullens between then and when and filming started Feb 08 (Kellen Lutz was quite literally last minute). The difference is that they had Catherine on board before that point, so obviouslyrushing a director is more worrison then rushing actors. The arguement could be made they felt it is possible/realistic but that Catherine wasn’t as experienced/skilled as other directors who are capable of working like that. The issue with Taylor does not surprise me. As of mid January 08 Summit was still looking for a Jacob, even putting out a release looking to make a local Washington actor into a star (its on Stephenies website under the movie section) which tells us Taylor was cast relatively late in the game and probably involved some “settling” in terms of what they were looking for. A foolish move if they were considering sequels. Now they could get away with recasting him…he had what three scenes total in Twilight? But, for starters, I felt he had more chemistry with Kristen then Rob did. And I have heard the same reports about him bulking up, and they could use lifts and such to make him appear taller. His agents efforts to demonstrate how Benjamin Button effects can be used are commendable but probably moot — that would require money and Summit is obviously being cheap. If its more cost effective to recast while not risking ticket sales ie. pissing off fans, they’ll do it. I think the real issue Summit is rushing all of this is because unlike HP the movies are coming out after the books. The series is done, so while HP fans were able to alternate book releases with movie premieres Summit won’t have that luxury and they’re probably worried that the interest will wan. They were lucky that Breaking Dawn came out a few months prior to the film and helped generate even more buzz, but at the same time it ended the series and now that combined with the pretty even divide between fans either really loving or really hating the movie, they have made a lot of extra work for themselves. Thats not to say its impossible or event difficult to continue interest in a series of movies based off a completed series of books, but in its efforts to strike while the iron is hot and not interest etc, Summit has bungled this, achieveing the opposite and basically making it much more harder then it should be. In order to continue doing solid at the box office they need to start giving fans more reasons to think New Moon (and the rest of the series) will be an improvement on Twilight and actually do so. This is the exact opposite. And as big a Twilight a fan as I am, I have to say that their source material doesn’t exactly improve as the series goes on. Summit needs to get their act together b/c this is insulting to fans and setting up the franchise for potential major embaressment. Wake up stupid executives, its straight up business 101 you need to spend money to make money.
I agree with everyone above, they SHOULD NOT RUSH into it. Take time and make this film better than the first. They should def stick to the original story line of the book and not change it cause its going to be a big MISTAKE!! Please do it right!! And about Taylor…they should just keep him, cause we already have a visual of Jacob in the book and that cannnot be changed. I mean I was dissapointed when the original Evey didn’t come back for the 4th installment of The Mummy…so don’t fuck this up Summit
This could turn out to be absolutely disastrous. I felt the first movie was rushed too much, and now they are planning a 2009 release? There is a good chance I will never go to see this film after how disappointed I was with the first one.
If you would like to write Summit here’s the info:
Letters To Summit
Here is Summit’s address if you would like to write to them. Remember you can share your feelings & concerns while still being respectful. Individual written letters can have a big impact! We also have an area in our forum if you would like to post your letter that you send in.
Summit Entertainment, LLC
1630 Stewart Street, Suite 120
Santa Monica, California 90404
Atten: Twilight Saga Concerns
Jacob=Bad Actor
Problem 1: They’re keeping Rosenberg
Problem 2: They’re recasting, which will piss off the fans, since Taylor is a fellow Twihard and has worked hard to gain the fans love. He is, perhaps, the most beloved actor besides R.Patz
Problem 3: THEY’RE CHANGING THE STORYLINE!!!!
Liz will be sending a letter to Summit and explaining in very nice terms why she is wishing that she could pretend they are James and she is Alice.
Seriously, Summit? Why don’t you just start killing people off? I shudder to think about what they’ll do to Eclipse. Or Breaking Dawn… Oy.
I have the same concerns as many others here. While I would really like to see a New Moon movie as soon as possible, I’d rather wait til they got it right.
I had such high hopes for the big screen version of Twilight and it fell flat. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but it bothers me that had you not read the book before seeing the movie, it would just be…boring. They took so much emotion and so much of Bella’s thought process out of the movie that their whole relationships seemed rushed.
Also, I loved Taylor in the movie. He is just so adorable and I really felt like he and Kristin had a connection.
New Moon needs to be amazing, though. The beginning of the book just crushes you, and breaks your heart and you really FEEL what Bella’s feeling. If they don’t do this movie right, that emotion is going to be lost in translation and then what will we be left with? New Moon draws you in through Bella’s despair, whoever directs this film had best know how to make an emotionally intense movie. And with $50mil, I hope the werewolf/human changes are not cheesy. It was all I could do to not laugh at Edward’s running.
I dont know where to start with all this mess….They should however, get a new screenwriter who will stay true to the books. Twilight was horrible, and its not just because of the director, the lines were horrible. Also, I liked Jacob, yes he has to grow, but Summit made enough money from us fans to invest in the making of New Moon, and can use the camera to there advantage and keep the existing Jacob. Also, Bella and Jacob were FREINDS, she knew how Jacob felt about her, but she had always let him know that it was not the same for her “it wasnt enough” has she had told him, so there was never really any chemistry..Bella’s heart belonged to Edward from the moment she laid eyes on him. She even told Jacob, after she went to see him after the fight and he was injured that it was like imprinting “Its like Emily and Sam, I never had a choice, I knew nothing would change”…yes I read the books severals times. With that said, I really hope they dont mess this or the other sequals up, Twilight was bad…be honest, it really was. I hope Stephanie at least finishes Midnight Sun, then they can make the movie for that one to redeem Twilight – give them a second chance to establish the core of the books which is the irrevocable way Bella and Edward love each other and their trials and tribulations based on the fact that she is mortal and he’s immortal.
I’m worried about them rushing the movie. Twilight the movie turned out horribly I think… because they RUSHED it :-/
I can see why recasting Jacob would be ideal. He grows up so much physically in the next few books and Taylor is way too boyish-looking I think to pull off the big-bad werewolf thing in the future. Hm.
Either way, they’d better not screw this movie up >:-(
http://www.facebook.com/home.p.....038;ref=nf
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savenewmoon/
Steven Strait!
He’s been in a ton of movies. He is Native American. He can act. He looks about 21-25 and he is 6’2 with some insoles in his shoes and minimal special effects he will look 6’5-6’7 which is how tall Jacob is in New Moon and by Eclipse he looks to be about 7 ft tall to Bella. Steven can bulk up and there you have it. Honestly it’s sad they cast Taylor but anyone who has read the books KNOWS that he cannot be Jacob. I mean really.
haha Liz I love your comment. At least the one good thing Stephanie DID mandate with Summit was they could never kill a character in the movies who didn’t die in the books, so we know we’ll never see Mike falling victim to Victoria or anything ridic like that. And so true that Taylor’s a Twihard and so loved. He’s just a loveable guy, i mean c’mon, he took it upon himself to plan an appearance at a bookstore in his hometown for the Breaking Dawn release. Lets not forget how much everyone *loved* R Patz when he was first cast as Edward…
Personally I don’t want to see Taylor go, but I can understand if they have to recast him, there is a big diiference between Jacob in Twilight and Jacob in New Moon, and if Summit isn’t going to up the budget I really can’t see Taylor working out. Now if they have to recast him people have been throwing out Steven Strait’s name, I think he would be great for Jacob and it wouldn’t be hard to believe that the Jacob from Twilight grew into this Jacob in New Moon since they have a similar look. Plus it would leave more of the budget for other special effects that they are most definitly going to need.
I personally am happy that they got rid of Catherine, I felt she did a horrible job, now if they’d only get rid if the screen writer and gave more to the budget we’d be set!! I’m not worried about the date for the release as we know those are always subject to change, I understand why they have to rush Robert ain’t getting any younger and comparing it to Harry Potter is like comparing apples to oranges…Harry and friends are suppose to get older, so they have the luxioury of taking their time to film, Edward and vamps can’t age so it really limits the filming. So the 2 things I’m concerned with is
A: The budget if they think they can make this on 50 mil they are mistaken the effects on NM have to be 100% better than Twilights if they want us to watch the man to werewolf transformation!
B: The sceenplay, they need to bring their A game for that, they cannot mess with the storyline and none of the cheesey ass lines like in Twilight, I mean spider monkey?!? Are you shittin’ me?
As long as they fix those 2 things along with the new director NewMoon should be great!!
Is there even an actual film script yet?
They’re going to screw it up by rushing it.