Twilight New Moon Movie can be Released by 2009! Plus new director, rumors about New Moon Casting, etc

Good news everyone! According to this Twilight New Moon Movie article by MTV, the movie is set to be released by the end of 2009 or early 2010.

In case you haven't heard, Twilight Director Catherine Hardwicke has been replaced by Golden Compass director, Chris Weitz, for the 2nd installment of the extremely popular vampire series. The reason? It seems that Catherine could not do the movie based on the expected target date, which is quite confusing for me because just a few days before announcing the replacement, MTV featured an interview with Hardwicke, where she said that she could finish New Moon by 2009. Anyway, Chris Weitz seems to be quite excited to direct the film, and he even made a letter to the fans here:

Chris Weitz's letter to Twilight fans

As for casting rumors, Vanessa Hudgens has not been targeted for the role of the spitfire wolf, Leah Clearwater. Phew. I have nothing against Vanessa but I don't think she can handle the role of the complicated lady wolf that is Leah. Especially once they start filming Breaking Dawn.

There is one girl called Skyla Solomon who is vying for the role. You can see this myspace for more details:

Skyla Solomon myspace

I have yet to see any official news stating that she has won the role yet. And, as I have stated earlier, Taylor Lautner is, in fact, keeping his role as Jacob Black.

The success of New Moon will certainly hinge greatly on Taylor Lautner. This means that 1) He has to look like he's aged and has had a major growth spurt. Think Steven Strait :x 2) He has to show us the pain and helplessness he feels as he transitions into something else, as well as show his fierce short temper once he goes wolf-mode. 3) He also has to show us how sweet he can be to Bella.

We didn't see much acting coming from Taylor on the first movie, because he was just the timid, happy, La Push kid in Twilight, so I am really excited to see how Taylor steps up to the Jacob Black centric movie that is New Moon.

While there isn't much New Moon material out there yet, try checking out this wonderful fan-made trailer someone did:



It's quite nicely made. Very clean, and she was creative enough to get scenes from other Kristen Stewart movies that were appropriate to the New Moon. A bonus for me is that she used Steven Strait in her trailer (it should be getting very obvious to all you readers that I am in love with Strait), which is perfect based on the whole aging, maturity thing. Besides, if she used Taylor in the trailer, she'd get less material (Would you like Shark boy scenes placed into the trailer??). Anyway, enjoy watching and I guess all we can do now is count down the months!

Oh, and just an additional thing I saw on one of the blogs that made me lol:



I don't know who made this but it is quite funny and creative. If you were the one who made it, comment in my blog and I will gladly credit you. Or if you want me to remove it from this blog, I will do so to.

Stay tuned for more New Moon Movie updates! And if you haven't read Twilight book 5 yet I suggest you do so!

Taylor Lautner to be replaced by Michael Copon in the Role of Jacob Black!?

Rumors say that due to height issues, Michael Copon will be hired in place of Taylor Lautner as Bella's werewolf best friend, Jacob Black. Stepheniemeyer.com has banished all such rumors in her site and I quote her:

Good news about New Moon from director Chris Weitz:

I'm very happy to announce that Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black in New Moon and that he's doing so with the enthusiastic support of Summit Entertainment, the producers, and Stephenie Meyer.

So Taylor Lautner fans can release that breath they've been holding for a while :)

Personally, I'm glad Taylor Lautner is keeping the role. It's never good to see actors being changed along the way. It disrupts the continuity of the series. Also, Michael Copon is way older than the rest of the cast (born on 1982). If they had wanted to change Taylor, they should pick Steven Strait instead (born on 1986 + way way hotter than Copon) ;)

Finally Watched the Twilight Movie

And it was pretty good, all things considering. I was quite terrified that the movie was going to disappoint me tremendously, with stale or overly cheesy acting, or scenes that didn't depict the book enough. I was surprised to find out that the movie actually did a good job. The baseball scene was as fun as I pictured it, and Edward Cullen was as charming as I wanted him to be. This is considering I wasn't a Robert Pattinson fan in the beginning.

A lot of people argue that Robert Pattinson wasn't perfect enough, but I have to disagree profusely. First and foremost, note that he was perfect in Bella's eyes, not perfect in everybody's eyes. So personally, he was perfect in his flaws! The scene where Robert attempted to make conversation with Bella was pretty cute, or the way he was having a hard time reading Bella's mind. His pained expression was very endearing, and his short temper was also quite intense. The way he smiles is also <3 I must say that I am now a Robert convert :)

Bella did a good job of acting as well. I imagined her to be like that: Stubborn, rebellious, but inherently clumsy and weak. And like her father, she has a hard time showing her emotions, so Kristen Stewart depicted it correctly in my eyes.

And Jacob Black? While I still cross my fingers that Steven Strait is going to replace him in Movie #2, Taylor Lautner was not half bad :P The only problem with Taylor playing Jacob, really, is that he is way too young, and since I always had a crush on Jacob in the book, I find it hard to translate it in the movie.

The way the vampires regarded Bella was pretty amusing. Alice's weakness towards Bella's blood during the battle was particularly humorous. The actress behind Alice really did a good job of making Alice as likeable as she was in the book. The human cast was also a very good bunch. They were very lively and fun. I surmise Eric's actor is going to be in Harold and Kumar 3, should there be one ;)

If I were to be nitpicky however, I'd point out several flaws and irks in the film:

1. The meadow scene was a bit too awkward for me.
The diamonds shining on Edward Cullen's chiseled, pale, vampire face were a bit too odd, those few seconds where they just looked at each other kinda seemed too forced and out of place.

2. The development of feelings between Bella and Edward was kinda hurried.
Somehow, Bella fell in love with Edward too quickly, but I guess this was because the movie could only be so long.

3. The action scene was as disappointing as the one in the book.
I hoped... no, expected actually, that the action scenes in the movie were going to be far more gripping and terrifying than how they were written in the book, but instead, I get this really short fight between Edward and James, which just showed the two snarling at each other. The blood and the whole crunch sounds Bella experienced were good, Alice breaking James' neck was pretty cool, but that's pretty much it.

4. Spider Monkey?
Nope. Didn't like that line at all. Haha.

5. Rosalie isn't pretty enough.

6. Jasper Hale = Edward Scissorhands?
Seriously, that look Jasper had during the majority of the film was a bit too quirky, if you ask me.




All in all, I'd give the movie a 7/10 :)

Twilight Movie -- 7 months away!!! Thoughts on the cast, Gaspard Ulliel, etc.

The movie version of Twilight is going to hit the silver screen by December, 2008! I started reading Twilight only a few months ago, thanks to a friend of mine who raved about it profusely. I must say that after reading the first two books, I am quite impressed.

What I like most about the Twilight series is the way Stephenie portrayed the characters. While the vampire and werewolf theme have been used extensively, she was able to explore a different way of looking at these two mythological creatures, setting aside the cliches of garlic, dying from sunlight, and turning during the full moon. If it makes any sense, the writer was able to put some human qualities to the vampire and werewolf making them a lot more interesting and meaningful.

Stephenie Meyer's writing isn't detailed, like most novels are, leaving a lot to the reader's imagination -- a trait of hers that can be both her bane and boon. I still cannot discern which one outweighs the other. Regardless though, once I start reading a Twilight book, I can't stop!

Of course when the cast for the movie was announced, I had my own images of the characters in my head, that I hoped would be perfectly like the cast. These are my comments about the cast:

Edward Cullen -- Robert Pattinson (8/10)
After looking at a movie poster of him as Edward Cullen, I started liking the idea of him portraying the golden-haired god. Physically speaking, he is quite attractive and his face structure is vampire-ish in a way. However, if I was given the chance to choose, I would have gone for the French cutie, Gaspard Ulliel.

Why? Check out these two images I saw in www.gaspardulliel.net and I think you'll get my point:





He just has this certain vampire quality to him that I see lacking in Robert Pattinson (as of this moment - I am open to learning to love Pattinson). For the non-Twilight readers, Edward Cullen happens to be a pianist, so this was just another hint that he should have been chosen for the role.

Isabella Swann -- Kristen Stewart (10/10)
Perfect. I can't imagine anyone else being a better candidate. She has that pale face going on, that air of mystery, and that sense that she's fragile.

Jacob Black -- Taylor Lautner (7/10)
I love Taylor Lautner per se. I loved his acting in Shark Boy actually. The only reason I prefer Steven Strait over him is that I am completely in love with Jacob Black, and having a 16-year-old play him rather than a 22 year old (Steven Strait could have been so perfect!!!) is just disheartening for me, for selfish reasons. Minus that fact, I give Taylor a 10/10

Peter Facinelli -- Carlisle Cullen (8/10)
Would have wanted him even more handsome, but I guess he'll do.

Nikki Reed -- Rosalie Hale (6/10)
Rosalie in the book is portrayed as the most beautiful woman in Forks, and Nikki Reed isn't living up to that just yet.

Jackson Rathbone -- Jasper Hale (9/10)
Thank you! I love Jasper so I'm glad they got a good-looking guy for him.

Elizabeth Reaser -- Esme Cullen (6/10)
Not motherly looking enough, as my friend pointed out

Ashley Greene -- Alice Cullen (8.5/10)
Had some doubts, but after seeing this in google images:



I can see her being Alice!

Kellan Lutz -- Emmett Cullen (10/10)
Perfect!