showbiz

Hardwicke passes on 'Twilight' sequel

Posted on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008
by Cineplex Entertainment

Catherine Hardwicke

Despite delivering the biggest box office weekend for a woman, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke won't be returning to helm the franchise's second installment, reports Variety.

Hardwicke, whose previous credits include Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown, and distributor Summit Entertainment initially butted heads over how quickly the next novel in Stephenie Meyer's teen vampire saga could be pushed to the big screen. Summit wanted to release New Moon, which is likely to feature "substantial CGI work" by the end of 2009 or early 2010 and capitalize on the recent fanaticism while Hardwicke was seeking more time to prepare and develop.

They also clashed over how to properly tell the story, one that moves away from vampires and focuses instead on werewolves and Bella's depression over the departure of a certain fanged hottie. Up for debate as well was how to feature Brit beau Robert Pattinson in a more significant way since the second book is far less dedicated to his Edward Cullen character. Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who submitted her New Moon draft on the eve of Twilight's premiere, has apparently "figured out a device" to do just that. For her part, Hardwicke wasn't able to commit to a movie whose script, according to Variety, "still needed months of development."

"I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct New Moon," said Hardwicke. "Directing Twilight has been one of the great experiences of my life and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel - it's a great story."

Erik Feig, Summit's president of production, elaborated on the somewhat hurried pace, explaining that "as a studio [we] have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created. Catherine did an incredible job in helping us to launch the Twilight franchise, and we thank her for all of her efforts and we very much hope to work with her on future Summit projects."

Hardwicke formally passed on the film December 6.

--

Are you surprised Catherine Hardwicke passed on New Moon? Who would you like to see take her place behind the director's chair? Discuss below!

You need to be logged in to leave a comment.

    • Edward.and.Me
    • Written at 9:02 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008

    • Catherine did an incredible job with directing TWILIGHT. So Yess i am incredibly surprised that she passed the movie.
      I think that Chris Weitz should be the new director of twilight. He did an amazing job on THE GOlDEN COMPASS, and i heard just yesterday that he actually might be the director.
      Well, i wish whomever they pick for the new director luck! MAKE IT A GOOD ONE!

    • MilenaTeddyBear
    • Written at 10:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008

    • Really I wouldnt like to see anyone eles take her place because if who ever takes her place and see's New Moon in a different view then the two movies will be very much not alike. Who will get to take her place should make it seem more like the book to make other fans like me happy about the movies.

subscribe to our blog

All Posts

Browse by category

Archive

Tags