Here are a few new pictures of Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart chillin’ with rockers Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, the women that the young actresses will be portraying in the big screen biopic based on the all-girl 70′s band The Runaways. As you may recall, we previously saw photos of Kristen, rockin’ the hawt mullet, coming out of a recording studio with Joan Jett who is presumably mentoring the young actress on how to sing like her. I believe this is the first time we’ve seen Dakota with Cherie doing the same:

I know that there are a lot of rock purists who are not happy with the casting of this movie based on the legendary band The Runways but I totally get it. The movie will need some semblance of starpower to be successful (especially in this economy) and casting talented no name actresses may help with the film’s indie cred, it won’t necessarily guarantee an audience. You put Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning in any movie and you can be assured that the film will have an audience. I think it speaks very highly of these young actresses that Joan Jett and Cherie Currie are working so closely to ensure that they get their portrayals right. Knowing that the actual Runaways have a say in the film’s production has got me sold. I am deffo looking forward to seeing this biopic … while I am horribly curious, I’m also hoping the young ladies will do the rockers life story justice.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin]

Here are a couple photos of Dakota Fanning in full make-up and costume as the vampire Jane of the Volturi on the Italian set of The Twilight Saga: New Moon which is currently in production. As you can see, Dakota‘s Jane likes kickin’ her dress old skool:

Okay … so Jane doesn’t look all that scary in these photos as she sounds from reading the book … but I’m sure Dakota will do her best to put her best fangs forward. And before any of y’all rabid Twilighters start yellin’, I know that Twilight vampires don’t have any fangs … it was just a figure of speech. I gotta say … none of the photos that I have seen from the Italian set of the film look all that eerie or scary. Except for the shirtless pics of Robert Pattinson, I’ve yet to see any pics from Italy that have that New Moon feel to them. I guess we’ll have to wait to see what the final product looks like but … yeah, I’ve not been wowed thus far.

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Earlier today we got an eyeful of a bunch of photos of Robert Pattinson shooting shirtless scenes for The Twilight Saga: New Moon which is currently in production in Italy but those photos were totally devoid of Twilight protagonist star Kristen Stewart. Here are a couple pics of K. Stew lunching with fellow New Moon co-star Dakota Fanning in Montepulciano, Italy last week. As you can tell, Kristen looked thrilled to be photographed by that paps:

Hahahaha … I love the girl but sometimes her bratty behavior is a real turn off. It’s bad enough that many fans aren’t too happy with her previous comments about her experiences with them … if you add to that animosity the fact that another contingent of fans prolly hates her because “she’s with” Robert Pattinson (ie. she, as Bella Swan, is with Robert, as Edward Cullen) well, it’d prolly help out a bit of she seemed friendly. Meh, mebbe the bratty thing is her thing. Since Avril Lavigne fell off the face of the planet there has been a void on the bratty stars landscape. I guess K. Stew fills that void nicely … or, shall I say, brattily.

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

Dakota Fanning, who has been cast to play the Volturi vampire Jane in the upcoming film The Twilight Saga: New Moon, has finally made her way to Vancouver, BC Canada to begin filming her scenes for the movie. Earlier this week Dakota was spotted in the company of Rachelle Lefevre who plays the badgirl vamp Victoria in the film (a role she originated in Twilight) making their way out to the Blue Water Cafe for a quick bite to eat together:

And so … at long last … Dakota has joined in the fun in Vancouver where various New Moon castmembers have been making the city their playground. I expect that Dakota will be showing up around town about as much as the other castmembers have been (ie. on a semi-daily basis) but it remains to be seen if she will be sparking up any onset romances while she is in town. I’m not sure who is available but do YOU think that Dakota will be hooking up with a nice young man so that we can all talk about it? If so … who?

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Dakota Fanning, who recently provided the voice of Coraline in the 3D animated film based on Neil Gaiman‘s book and who will portray the vampire character Jane in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, got herself all prettied up to attend her high school prom with some of her BFFs … here are a few photos of Dakota in her pink dress:

Apparently, this prom dress was first worn by Dakota on the red carpet for the premiere of Coraline back in February. Recycled dress or not, she looks great in it … and I’m happy to know that she was able to attend her prom like a normal teenage girl. No word on who she took as her prom date but it looks like she was rollin’ with her homettes all night long. My, my … the little ones do grow up very fast, don’t they?

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Welp, it’s a done deal, y’all. A new email sent out by Summit Entertainment, the company that will produce the entire Twilight Saga franchise of movies, is confirming that Dakota Fanning has been officially cast to play Volturi vampire Jane in the upcoming film The Twilight Saga’s New Moon:

As some of you may be aware, Jane is described in the book as a vampire who has a “Botticelli angel-like face…[and] crimson irises” … which is a role that I think Dakota can play well. In January, we learned that her name was being floated around for the role and a couple of days after, Dakota herself publicly expressed her interest in playing the part. Many Pink readers were very much on board with her getting the role … while the folks against her getting the part were merely worried that her “big name”ness might spoil the film. To be honest, it never occurred to me that Dakota would be perfect for the role of Jane until her name was being floated around … now she’s the only person I can imagine doing the role justice. I think Summit Entertainment made a wise choice. I expect Dakota will be making her way up to Vancouver, Canada in the coming weeks (if not sooner) to join the rest of the New Moon castmembers who are making their way there now to begin filming (you may recall that earlier this week we saw photos of Taylor Lautner, who will reprise his role as Jacob Black, was spotted at LAX Airport headed for Vancouver). What do y’all think … are y’all still on board with Dakota playing Jane?

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Late last week we learned that Dakota Fanning is in reported talks to appear in the upcoming Twilight sequel New Moon and today we have a bit of confirmation that the talks are underway. People magazine reports that Dakota believes that it would be a “fantastic experience” for her if she were able to secure a role in New Moon:

Dakota Fanning is ready to bare her fangs as vampire Jane in the Twilight sequel New Moon. “I really hope it works out,” Fanning, 14, told Hitfix.com while promoting her current thriller, Push. “It would be a really fantastic experience, I’m sure.” Just last week it was reported the young star was offered the role sans audition because director Chris Weitz is so confident that Fanning is right for the part. Talk about a perfect fit: A member of the deadly Volturi, the Jane character is described in a casting notice as a petite blonde with a “Botticelli angel-like face [and] crimson irises.” If everything falls into place, Fanning will join returning stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner. Filming begins in March in the U.S. and Italy, with New Moon set to open in November.

OK, so at this point we know that A.) the negotiations for her to play Jane are underway and B.) that she wants the role. Methinks the role is hers if the money is right. I understand that these negotiations usually come down to the money … and Dakota Fanning is already a big name (relative to the other actors thus far cast in Twilight and New Moon) so she’s gonna need a bit o’ change to sign on. Something tells me that they’ll pay up … for the most part, reaction to Dakota playing Jane has been really positive. I suspect we’ll hear an announcement soon (again, if the money is right) that the part is hers.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Hold on to your hats, Twilighters. A couple of weeks ago we learned from trusted sources (actress Ashley Green [who played Alice Cullen in Twilight] talking to People magazine, MTVNews) that High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens had auditioned for the role of Leah Clearwater in the upcoming Twilight sequel New Moon. That news sent shockwaves thru the Twilightverse and was a source of much strife among fans of the Twilight Saga. Today we have more casting news … and it might cause the same sort of reaction from fans. The absolutely reliable Marc Malkin, of E! News, is reporting exclusively that Dakota Fanning is in talks to play Jane (one of the main vampire characters from the European Volturi clan). Even more surprising, I think, is that the report claims that Dakota didn’t even have to audition for the role … she was merely offered the part and both sides are now in negotiations to see if they can seal the deal. Be warned! The following report may contain spoilers for those of you who have yet to read the Twilight books:

Dakota Fanning…with fangs? It’s possible. I can exclusively report that the 14-year-old child star—she turns 15 on Feb. 23—is in talks to play Jane opposite Robert Pattinson & Co. in New Moon, the upcoming sequel to box office megahit Twilight. “There were no auditions,” a source reveals. “They just offered it to her outright, and now they’re in negotiations. They’ve been going back and forth.” Jane is a member of Italy’s Volturi, the most deadly group of bloodsucking killers in author Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling series. In the casting notice we got our hands on earlier this month, Jane is described as a petite blonde with a “Botticelli angel-like face…[and] crimson irises.” While fellow Volturi guards Demetri & Felix “are three times the size of her, they are terrified of her,” the casting notice reads. Coincidentally (or maybe not), an online petition started by a Twilight fan already asks the studio, Summit Entertainment, to cast Fanning because she would be “perfect” for the role. Early last month, Entertainment Weekly suggested Pushing Daisies star and Broadway diva Kristin Chenoweth. “Her voice is certainly high enough, and at 4’11”, she’s also short enough,” writer Amy Wilkinson proposed. Director Chris Weitz is expected to start shooting New Moon in March in the U.S. and Italy. If all goes as planned, the movie will hit theaters on Nov. 20.

I suppose we can forgive Malkin for thinking that the vampires in Twilight have fangs … but I absolutely believe his reporting on this casting news. He is very much in the know about these things and he is not one to post unsubstantiated information just to get attention. Whether or not Dakota gets the part remains to be seen but, it sounds like the role is hers if she wants it. I hadn’t considered Kristin Chenoweth as Jane … she’s prolly a bit too old to play the part but Malkin is right, she is short enough. I know that many Twilight fans were really upset at the prospect of Hudgens joining the cast of New Moon … but mebbe Fanning will be better received because it’s feasible that her casting sprang from an online petition started by a fan? What do y’all think? Is Dakota right for the part of Jane? Would you like to see her get the part?

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Dakota Fanning was on hand at the Village East Cinemas here in NYC last night for the premiere of her controversial new movie Hounddog. I gotta say, I was very surprised to see how much older Dakota looks these days, as is evident in these photos of her on the red carpet … can someone say, growth spurt?

Having lurched through a gantlet of Sundance jeers, recuts, and release delays, writer/director Deborah Kampmeier’s Hounddog—at least as far as the press notes indicate (urgently)—now exists as a version different from the one that met such derision. One imagines, however, that the song—both the hip-swiveler of the title and the Southern Gothic story of FUBAR families, innocence, and, yes, child rape that it brackets—remains more or less the same. Dakota Fanning plays 12-year-old Lewellen, and while the role will test the patience of even the staunchest survival-parable lovers, Fanning’s extraordinary poise finally trumps precocity. “I’m gonna kill my daddy one day,” she declares in the first scene, and why not? Played by David Morse, he’s an inconstant brute with a wardrobe full of wife-beaters, in case there was any doubt. The symbolism is as clobbering as the blows that send Lewellen’s maybe-mommy (Robin Wright Penn) reeling: Snakes abound, notably in a grotesque, crotch-slithering dream sequence. Shot in mellow green and gold, Hounddog manages an engaging summer sweetness in its early scenes, as Lewellen plots to obtain a ticket to a local Elvis concert, but in the wake of the inadvertent betrayal that leads to her now-notorious rape (a sequence that, ironically, seems to have lost the horrific impact it needs), the film turns listless. By the time Lewellen gets tutored in the white-girl blues by a band of magical Negroes, it has fulfilled its risible potential.

This movie review by the Village Voice does seem to imply that the controversial nature of the rape scene is now not only nullified a bit but is, sadly, the high point of the film. I, personally, have no interest in seeing this movie … but I am very taken with how much older Dakota looked at last night’s premiere. She’s not longer the cute little tot that the world fell in love with … nor is she the gangly-looking, heebie-jeebies teen smiling thru her braces. She has grown into a mature looking young girl … which is a little hard to process for me. I realize it’s unfair to want to lock child stars into the youthful cute kids that they used to be … so I am very much looking forward to seeing if Dakota Fanning can translate from a child star into a bona fide actress. I’m not sure if this movie is the right vehicle for her to do that … but mebbe one day.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]