Surprising movie casting news for fans of the Twilight Saga films to pass along today … for some unknown reason, it has been decided by the powers that be at Summit Entertainment that Rachelle Lefevre be FIRED and Bryce Dallas Howard be hired in her place to play the role of the evil vampire Victoria in the third Twilight movie The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The surprise casting news comes completely out of the blue, but straight from the horse’s mouth. Rachelle is dunzo as Victoria, Bryce takes over the role when filming of Eclipse begins next month:
Bryce Dallas Howard is joining the “Twilight” franchise. The “Terminator Salvation” star will replace Rachelle Lefevre in the role of Victoria, according to Summit Entertainment, which produces the vampire film series based on the books by Stephenie Meyer. “We are incredibly happy that Bryce has agreed to come into the franchise,” Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Worldwide Production and Acquisitions, said in a statement to Access Hollywood. “Rachelle brought ‘Victoria’ to great screen life and Bryce will bring a new dimension to the character. The franchise is lucky to have such a talented actress as Bryce coming in to fill the role.”
Summit said Rachelle would not be continuing on as Victoria, an evil vampire out for revenge over the death of her lover, due to scheduling conflicts. Bryce, the daughter of director Ron Howard, will take over the role beginning in “Eclipse,” the third installment in the “Twilight” series. “Eclipse” begins filming in Vancouver this coming August, Summit confirmed. The film will be released in theaters on June 30, 2010.
Whoa!! This is totally out of the blue … and without any real explanation. To me, it seems as if one of two things happened here … either Summit jumped at the chance of hiring a big name actress to add to the movie franchise (presumably to get more people interested in the Twilight phenomenon — as if that is even possible) or Rachelle did something to really piss off her bosses and she was summarily fired from the role. Mebbe both things happened (cuz I really DO NOT BELIEVE that Rachelle is not available for the role due to “scheduling conflicts” — that’s a bullshizz story if I ever heard one) … but my gut tells me that the studio decided to sign on a more well-known actress who prolly expressed interest and felt no qualms about axing the “no name” actress who originated the role. To be honest, I thought Rachelle Lefevre did an amazing job as Victoria in Twilight and it sucks that she would be treated so terribly by the studio. Still, this is Hollywood and these things happen all the time. I wonder if we should expect any other cast changes as well. What do y’all think about this … good news or bad?
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@Trent: I shared the same initial reaction. This is incredibly sketch and reeks of hidden drama. And i hate changing horses mid stream so to speak. Its worth it to point out that in Eclipse victoria has a substantially larger role then in Twilight and acting ability may have played a factor BUT given that everyones mentioning Rachelle had an oppertunity to work with Dustin hoffman, as much as its amazingly obvious that she LOVES being in Twilight and loves her co-stars, it would not surprise me if it truly turns out that when it came time to pick between what she’d enjoy and what she should do from a career standpoint she picked the movie that may be better for her career (obviously twilight is a big franchise but working on a DH film would increase her credibility, indie or not).
man that sucks i really liked her! i dont exactly like bryce that much so its going to hinder my acceptance of the movie.
Per the Hollywood Reporter:
Lefevre is filming “Barney’s Version” with Dustin Hoffman, and that starts filming on Aug. 17th. Eclipse is scheduled to start filming on Aug. 17th as well, so that is what happened.
It looks to me like Rachelle made this choice, and I think it is wise.
@Krissy – No way it was her choice. She may have gotten another film to save face but I find it HIGHLY unlikely that she chose to abandon one of the most successful and anticipated movie franchise — especially when it would be her time to shine in Eclipse — for an indie film … with Dustin Hoffman. No way I believe that for one second. She got canned, we just don’t know why yet.
Rachelle has scheduling conflicts. For all New Moon information and related you should check out newmoonmovie.org. They never publish any stories without making sure that they are 100% correct.
NOOO what the heck?!
this sucks..
Eonline is confirming that she got fired. Rachelle released a statement.
oh gawd I liked Rachelle!! This sucks. Stupid Twilight. And they already had so few people that could act.
I don’t know why so many people on here can’t believe she would choose the indie movie over the mainstream one. Not every actor cares about being famous or rich. Maybe she just thought Twilight sucked.
@Tracie — She got fired and she’s pissed: http://www.pinkisthenewblog.co.....a-eclipse/
Trent I love that you are right here and talking with us and voicing your opinions and responses to our comments! Keep it up this is why you are my favourite celeb blogger!
Petition here
http://www.thepetitionsite.com.....in-eclipse
@Trent:
Yeah, I saw it now, and I’d be pretty pissed too in her place. So I was wrong in this case, but the basic point still stands though, an actor may very well quit a successful project for something less lucrative for art. Personally I find the pretentious “artistes” as irritating as the people who’ll only stay with a project they hate for money and/or fame.
But anyhoo, I must eat crow in this case, followed by a slice of humble pie.
here is another one
http://www.petitiononline.com/.....i?rach3cli
this sucks!
gosh, this annoys me so much when hollybitches choose people because of freaking status!
seriously… how the hell is it possible to add more hype to twilight? i’d like to see her get more screams then robert or taylor. i’m pretty sure Dallas or Bryce or Howard or whatever her name is, is a decent actor but…just… GRHHHHHHHHHHHH
ummm.. did anyone else experience a change in sites all of a sudden?? my screen jumped to a sex museum site
haha… have you realised if you spell Dallas backwards, it almost spells Salad ?
this sucks she looks 2 young 2 play Victoria and Victoria was my fav person on twilight
Fishy for sure. I find it hard to accept another actor in the same role because you are always comparing it to the original. There is no way an actor would give up a blue-chip lasting role like this unless they were forced to. One of the reasons Twilighters like this series is because it roots for the underdogs and outcasts particularly in High school. This move runs counter to this philosophy. I hope they bring Rachelle back given how underhanded this is for a struggling new actress!
Summit people are control freaks. They didn’t try very hard to keep Rachelle. Seems as if this entire cast is afraid to talk or speak, like mind control. I thought in America we can do and say what we want. I find it amazing that in an instant they had this Bryce ready to go in a moments notice. How nice to be Ron Howards daughter and get movie roles just like that. Summit doesn’t care about the fans. Only their fat pocket books.Summit calls this movie a “franchise” well to the fans it’s not a franchise it’s something more. Sorry, I vote for Rachelle on this one.
Sorry I have nothing against Bryce personally but come on I’ve seen that girl in other roles and I would always realize the movie story was good but Bryce Howards acting isn’t ,Summit sucks,I mean Rachelle never quit she was fired,as in shocked,she was not planning on leaving Twilight for something else,she just agreed to try and find the time to do another movie,just like Rob Pattison did,and just like the girl who plays Bella’s friend did,they did different movies while doing Twilight, why is Rachelle any different ?,in my opinion I think they always planned to get rid of Rachelle and allow the famous directors daughter to sneak in and steal her role since Eclipse shows more action for Victoria which means more seeing Bryce.What really upsets me is knowing Eclipse is already done filming and not to mention Eclipse was going to be the last Twilight saga that Rachelle would appear on,one more movie she had to do and the dumbasses ruined it,but than again New Moon wasn’t as great as the first one since they didn’t have the original director do it,Catherine Hardrick did an amazing job,but Summit wanted to rush into the whole thing instead allowing Hardrick to visualize what she saw,Taylor Laughtner needs acting class, his body is what fans are really screaming about, not his work,unless they confused looks with talent ,my favorite parts in New Moon were of Victoria,how she was slowly trying get her vengeance,I mean Rachelle didn’t even have to have a speaking role,she was amazing,her facial expression,the way she ran was like an animal trying to get its prey,and now I won’t see that anymore,I decided I will not watch Eclipse or any of the other Twilights coming out.I mean when I watched New Moon I was disappointed,and the same day I watched 2012 and let me tell you that movie hyped me up more than I expected New Moon to do,I kept talking about 2012,while New Moon my sister and I refused to talk about except for Rachelles part as Victoria which was our favorite parts.She will always be the true Victoria.
WELL BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD FRICKIN SUCKS I LOVED HER AS VICTORIA I WAS HER FOR HALLOWEEN ALSO IF YOU REALLY LIKE RACHELLE GO TO HER FAN WEBSITE AT RACHELLELEFEVRE.COM AND HAVE SOME INFO. RACHELLELEFEVRE.COM IS AWESOME. WHY NOT GO TO RACHELLELEFEVRE.COM.