Expanding on my fears for “Eclipse”

I don’t like to jinx myself, but with Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning’s appearances at Sundance this week, there has been a sprinkling of news about “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” There hasn’t been any focus on “Eclipse” since “New Moon” came out, but I suspect it will begin in April or May, a couple of months before the movie hits theaters. Director David Slade tweeted before New Year’s and promised a “New Year’s Day surprise,” which Twilight fans assumed would be a teaser trailer. The day came and went without anything, and Slade later tweeted that he was sorry, “it was taken out of his hands,” presumably by Summit Entertainment who probably isn’t ready to start leaking anything about the film just yet.

This all only serves to pour more fuel on the fire of my fears regarding “Eclipse.” Here’s why.

I have no doubt that Slade and/or Summit has the teaser trailer for “Eclipse” finished and sitting in a vault somewhere, waiting for the right time to unleash it on the masses. Is it possible Summit isn’t happy with the finished product, and is therefore delaying anything associated with it? Possibly. On the other hand, it’s also possible that Summit is simply sticking tight to the marketing and release schedule it followed with the previous two films. They've already released the teaser poster - it was in theaters when "New Moon" came out. And “Eclipse” will be released in theaters on June 30, 2010, so Summit could be waiting for the DVD release of “New Moon” to release the teaser trailer for “Eclipse.” Of course, there was no mention of such a teaser trailer in the official DVD press release, but it could still be included anyway. If I had to guess, I’d lay odds that Summit will debut the teaser trailer (and not a full trailer) with both the DVD of “New Moon” and Robert Pattinson’s “Remember Me,” which is due in theaters the same weekend in March. Then, at the end of April, I’m sure it will debut the full trailer.

Of course, all of this is speculation and beside the point. The point is, I’m afraid “Eclipse” will really suck — pun intended. When Kristen Stewart was asked to describe working with David Slade on “Eclipse,” she only commented that he was a very technical director. Last year at Sundance, she was asked to describe working with Chris Weitz. She spoke in glowing terms about him and “New Moon.” The rest of the cast has followed suit. When Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene were asked about Slade and “Eclipse,” they said the same. “Very technical.” That’s great and all, but it reinforces my fears about having Slade direct the movie. He might be a great technical director, but his movies are sorely lacking in emotion — something “Eclipse” has plenty of, aside from plenty of action. And I get the feeling the cast doesn’t like Slade nearly as much as they did Catherine Hardwicke or Chris Weitz. But I could be reading them wrong. Slade also has a tendency to strip his films of vibrant color, so I suspect “Eclipse” will probably resemble “Twilight” in tone more than “New Moon.”

And then there was Jackson Rathbone's leaked "Eclipse" script, and the very strong, very negative feedback those fans who read it had. I didn't see anyone who read it give it a positive review. But Summit, of course, did PR damage and claimed it was an early script and not the final script used. Seriously, though. How different from the final version could it be?

However, I still have hope that “Eclipse” will be a great movie. I’m encouraged by the fact that David Slade has tried hard to connect with Twilight fans on Twitter (although it’s probably only because he had to make nice for the disparaging comments he made about “Twilight” and “Twilight” fans before he was announced as the director of “Eclipse” … but I don’t hold grudges, much). He tweeted photos from filming, which was nice, and has given us updates every now and then on the status of production. His last tweet said the movie is headed toward final edits. Good to know.

And I am also encouraged by the announcement Summit just made about the person who will be scoring “Eclipse.” He did “The Lord of the Rings,” which had an awesome score. Very encouraging news. And, of course, the cast is the same, and I trust they will help make up for whatever the directing lacks, if it lacks anything at all.

Mr. Slade could surprise me, and I hope he does.

Spidey, Breaking Dawn and more

I haven’t commented anything lately because my favorite shows have been on hiatus, and with the holidays, well, there hasn’t been much news to discuss.

The newsgates have opened wide today with lots of information to set my geeky little heart all aflutter. Some wonderful, some horrible.

They’re making Spider-man 4 without Tobey MacGuire and Sam Raimi?!?! Nooooooooooo! Are they crazy?! Those morons. Why? Why? Why? Don’t make it at all if those two aren’t involved! Sam Raimi made “Spider-man” into one of the greatest superhero films of all time. And after three pictures, Tobey Maguire is Peter Parker. This is, by far, one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard come out of Hollywood. Stupid Sony. Those idiots. They’re going too ruin a great franchise.

My man Brandon Routh aka Clark Kent/Superman is joining the cast of “Chuck” next week. There have been lots of interviews with him this week. He briefly confirmed he’s still heard nothing about another Superman film, which means, most likely, they’ll recast him too. Ugh. Idiots. Who’s running Hollywood these days, anyway? Where do I apply?

A producer for Summit Entertainment confirmed to the L.A. Times that the problem with “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” is a hold-up with the script and deciding whether it will be one film or two. Stephenie Meyer has to approve it, and most importantly approve whether it will be made into one film or two, and a suitable script hasn’t been turned in yet. Stephenie…don’t make me hunt you down, girl. Two films, you hear me? Two films! Make it happen.

And, horror of horrors, Jared Padalecki (Sam, Supernatural) is now reportedly engaged to Genevieve Cortese (Ruby, Supernatural)? Last I knew, he was engaged to Sandra McCoy. Sam and Ruby? What?!? When did that happen? Personally, I like Genevieve even if I didn’t like that stupid demon witch Ruby so much, so I’m happy for them. Guess Jared felt pressured when his older onscreen brother, my man Jensen Ackles, got engaged to Dannelle Harris. Sigh. Another (hot) one bites the dust.

Speaking of “Supernatural,” I almost fell out of my chair when I saw this report today, and then I almost did a full-hip-action happy dance complete with finger snaps in my cubicle. Series creator Eric Kripke has always said the show would not go beyond 5 seasons, and folks, the fifth season is halfway over. And, ye gods, I never ever in my wildest fantasies expected “Smallville” to stay on the air for 10 seasons, but it seems I’m not the only one who thinks these two shows have been AMAZING this year. Because both have done so well critically this season, and “Supernatural” specifically has seen a ratings increase, the CW is seriously thinking of keeping both shows next year. A possibility of more Tom Welling? More Jensen Ackles? Happy squeal! I knew there was a God!