Trouble with "Eclipse" or just rampant paranoia from Twi-hards?

There hasn't been much news about the third Twilight film since the trailer was released, which in and of itself is kind of odd given how much PR went into marketing New Moon, but this week, gossip sites have been abuzz with the leaked news that Summit has ordered re-shoots of some of the scenes in Eclipse. This tidbit has everyone speculating that Summit isn't happy with the film and is trying to do emergency repairs. I've found that Ted over at E!online is usually the most accurate with his gossip reporting, and what he released yesterday makes sense to me.

Here's the thing. Re-shoots are a totally normal part of film making. Every big film does it, period. However, re-shoots two months before the movie is supposed to hit theaters? Uh, no. That screams that there is a problem somewhere. The upside is that Summit is obviously trying to fix it at great expense to them, I'm sure. I haven't seen any confirmed reports that the re-shoots involve Robert Pattinson, and since he's in Budapest filming another movie right now, I'd say probably not. All of us Twi-hards know that Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner are not currently filming other projects, so they could be involved in the re-shoots. Quite frankly, they can try to fix the Jacob-Bella scenes all they want, but those two will never have the right chemistry. That's just my opinion though.

Rumors are running rampant on forums and in comment sections, though, about a falling out between David Slade and Summit. I've been tracking one poster's comments (yes, I am an OCD Nancy Drew type with no life) and I'm pretty sure he/she is an insider because every comment he/she ever posted has ended up coming true. This is the last comment I could find posted by him/her:

Let me let you kiddies on what's really going on. David Slade hasn't been happy since Summit forced him to fire his editor. He got back at them by making the movie more male oriented and violent. Summit was too busy winning Oscars and counting their moolah to pay much attention. Now the final copy of Eclipse has been shown to a small focus group of fans that signed non-disclosures. The general agreement was that the movie did not in any way capture the book. There is too much added on action and violence. Summit is scared that their core audience of female fans that made them those billions won't go see this. Eclipse is the one they've put the most money into and they want a big chunk of change. The only way that they know to make it better is to get Robsten out to re film some scenes. David Slade will not be filming them. It'll all come out in a week or two and the movie will get pushed back to July. Smooches.

As an experiment, I'm singling it out to see if the news does come out ina week or so that Slade isn't directing the re-shoots. If so, then I'll worry. Until then, I'm not really worried that Eclipse is going to suck anymore, and I'm not jumping on this bandwagon of fans who see these re-shoots as an omen of bad things to come. Like I said, re-shoots are normal.

Besides, the FINAL trailer for Eclipse is being released April 23, during Oprah of all things. And that's definitely good news for Twi-hards. Here's hoping they give us something to sink our teeth into. Bring on the newborns, I say. Let's finally see glimpses of them in action for crying out loud.

Captain America is cast, Supernatural is back and new Eclipse photos

It’s official. Chris Evans has been cast as Captain America in the upcoming film. I like Evans, but I don’t think he’s the right fit for this role. He comes across as too immature to play the part, but I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong and he hits it out of the ballpark. I read today that the studio is now courting one of my favorite actresses, Emily Blunt, to play the female lead in the movie. That would be really cool, but I think she’ll probably turn it down. She’s got too much cred now that she’s been nominated for a Golden Globe. I hope Marvel pulls this together into a good movie. Lord knows it’s getting a lot of attention and filming hasn’t even begun.

Supernatural is back and roaring toward its season finale in May. The zombie episode was incredible, and I loved the description from last week's show: “In an average day for Sam and Dean, the brothers are killed and end up being sent to heaven on "Supernatural" (CW at 9), and while they're up there looking for an angel, they run into some old family and friends.” I still can’t believe how good this show has gotten. I mean, I’d watch it even if Jensen Ackles wasn’t on it, that’s how good it is. The last scenes of this week's episode were amazing and heartbreaking. The angel Joshua's exchange with the brothers mirrored what a lot of people are feeling these days. God is our last hope, but where is He? Why does he allow evil to exist? As Joshua told Dean, "You'll drive yourself crazy asking questions like that." And then the end scene where Castiel has lost his faith in God broke my heart. I have no doubt this is a big buildup to God's appearance on the show. I have a theory on how the season will end in May. Sam is Lucifer's most essential weapon, and Dean is heaven's only hope. I’m guessing Dean will finally grant the archangel Michael permission to use his body AND Sam succumbs to evil and gives Lucifer a chance to possess him. I think there will be a big all-out fight between Sam and Dean then. Then I think my favorite angel Castiel will appear, having found God (yes, God in person form) and God will banish Lucifer back to hell in a way that will leave us hanging until next year. Will Dean get his body back? They’ll probably make us think he won’t. Is Sam OK? Who knows? Yeah, that kinda sucks though. I guess I really don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m just guessing it’s going to be good.

And, of course, Summit leaked three new photos from the upcoming third Twilight film. I liked that the sneak preview that came on the Wal-Mart disk focused on action, action, and more action, which Eclipse is full of. Kristen Stewart as Bella’s wig still bothers me, but I’m getting used to it. What do you think?

Breaking Dawn: The latest

I was wondering how long it would take Summit to start leaking info about the fourth Twilight film, Breaking Dawn, now that New Moon is about to hit stores and they’ve released the trailer for Eclipse.

MTV and Entertainment Weekly have both confirmed some of the directors that have been approached about directing BD, and wow, I wonder if they’re maybe setting their sights too high? Just a little? Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), Gus Van Sant (Milk), and Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)? All Academy Award nominated directors with serious industry cred. I have seen the work of all three, and to be brutally honest, my least favorite is Van Sant. I know. I know. Both Peter Facinelli and Robert Pattinson have said he would be their choice to direct Breaking Dawn, but personally, not a big fan of his movies. I think he’s too arthouse to direct Breaking Dawn. I try to imagine his style of filmmaking used with BD, and it makes me cringe.

I hope the studio goes with Coppola — she has a great eye for directing and she’s the daughter of one of my all-time favorite filmmakers. I mean, her dad took a piece of pulp fiction (i.e. The Godfather) and turned it into one of the most respected films ever made. She’s also artsy, but I think she understands mainstream audiences. She’s young and hip, and I think she would get it. Condon has his roots in horror/fantasy films, so he could also be a better fit. I think Rob and Peter just want to work with Van Sant and that’s why he’s their pick, but if he takes the job (which I think is likely), I won’t complain — much.

Anyway, the stories also confirm that screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg’s deadline to have something to the studio is next week. So, I predict we will be hearing an official announcement about Breaking Dawn by the end of April. One movie? Two? I’m predicting two. Director? I predict there will be two directors for those films, and I’ll go ahead and predict Van Sant for the first half of BD and Condon for the second. Should be interesting to see how totally right (or probably completely wrong) I am now that I’ve posted my opinion for the world to see. I think Van Sant will probably accept the job simply because of Kristen and Rob, who have a ton of cred in the industry despite Twilight’s pop culture status. Audiences might poke fun at them, but the heavyweight directors and writers in Hollywood seem to recognize their serious acting potential.

Not to brag, but did you notice I was dead-on in my predictions about when the Eclipse trailer would be released? Wow, I’m better than I thought.

By the way, I got a kick out of reading the comments on the EW article. Guess according to the commenters there I’m way in the minority for loving Breaking Dawn, huh? Awesome! I hate being a conformist and love having my own opinion. It makes me feel all rebellious. And cool. A cool nerd. Go figure.

In other BD news, Kristen Stewart talked to Fearnet.com about the birthing scene.

“Stewart spoke about one truly daunting element she’ll have to deal with whenever the fourth and final Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, begins filming: motherhood. In Stephenie Meyer’s novel, Stewart’s character Bella not only bears a child, she does it in an incredibly gruesome manner. When FEARnet asked if Stewart is ready to wrap her head around playing a young mother, she burst into nervous laughter.

“Oh my god,” she answered. “I don’t know why that sounds so weird. That just blows my mind.” The 19-year-old actress explained. “Actually trying to get my head around it, not that it matters right now, I wonder… the way they have a child in the book is so traditional and classic; she’s so happy. It’s not like I don’t want [kids], you know. I’d love to have a family - but not right now! That boggles my mind.”

FEARnet posed a similar question to Fanning, who plays the lead Volturi enforcer, Jane: Are you ready to portray a baby hunter? But Fanning, ever the professional, could not yet confirm her involvement in Breaking Dawn. “I don’t know if I’m going to be in it,” she demurred. Stewart turned to her. “You’re gonna be in the movie.” Stewart’s mind turned back to Bella’s Breaking Dawn exploits. “It’s insane. It’s crazy. I have to do that soon,” she said. “Oh my god, I have to be pregnant, I have to give birth — I wonder if that’s going to be in the movie…”

Credit: The cool illustration of Bella from Breaking Dawn was done by AliceXZ.

The Eclipse trailer is finally here!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Leave your comments below.

Smallville: Season 10 confirmed!

By now, this is probably old news to anyone who might care, but Smallville was officially renewed for a 10th season. Tom Welling is still on board, which kind of shocks the heck out of me, but maybe he’s finally content in the Clark Kent role he will forever be known among fanboys for. No official word on whether Erica Durance will be back as Lois Lane, but come on. We all know she will be. I’m pretty sure she’s still locked into a contract for at least one more year. I’m a little worried about Allison Mack returning as Chloe, but my fingers are crossed. And, pardon the pun, but I’m super excited! This has been my favorite season of the show so far. It keeps getting better and better. I was kind of shocked when I went over to a fan forum recently and saw so many fans who are still bashing or boycotting the season because of “dark” Superman. I agree the show took a misstep with that storyline twist this year, but Clark is slowly coming around. I’m willing to forgive this version of Clark’s flaws. I mean, when has Smallville ever followed the Superman cannon properly? Uh, almost never. Plus, Martha is returning soon! Mama Kent will set the boy straight. And that will be awesome! I love Annette O’Toole as Martha. I really do.

Question: Does anyone else who watches the show think that Tom Welling is happier now that Clark is with Lois? I have never seen his smile seem so genuine or playful as I have this year — and I don’t mean that as a zing to Kristen Kreuk/Lana fans. I’m seriously wondering if anyone else has noticed Tom’s change in mannerisms? Maybe it is just me. Or maybe Tom’s a better actor than I thought and purposely doing it to show how different Clark’s fun, light-hearted relationship with Lois Lane is compared to the strained, difficult relationship Clark always had with Lana? Either way, I’m liking it. Lots!

Tom Welling has been one of my most wanted autographs for years, just beneath Brandon Routh who finally responded to my request last year. I wonder if his lighter attitude means that Tom will start responding to fan mail soon? Oh, I can only hope.

News from the Twilight convention in Atlanta

Friday I was able to make the trip to Atlanta with a friend for the official Twilight convention. Peter Facinelli was there, and we got some fun tidbits from him. I thought I'd share.

First things first, they also showed some interviews from the New Moon press conference that are exclusive to the convention (meaning you can't see them anywhere else). This is what I learned from those (Sorry,, but Rob's was the shortest and didn't tell me anything I hadn't already heard before):

Kristen Stewart:
- The only thing she splurges on are sneakers. She has too many of them.
- She said they filmed a scene for New Moon (although I think she confused it with Eclipse) where Bella and Jacob kiss and she sees what her life would be like if she picked him. She said the vision includes their children and Kristen in old-age makeup.
- When asked if she's looking forward to playing a young mother, she said she feels like she has already played a young mother because of the aforementioned scene, but that yes, she's looking forward to that aspect of Breaking Dawn.
- New Moon is her favorite book in the series.
Robert Pattinson:
- His favorite superhero is Gambit from the X-Men. (Yes! Gambit rules!)
Ashley Greene:
- If she could steal any car, it would be an Ashton Martin.
Taylor Lautner:
- He and Kristen Stewart share a friendship in real life similar to the playful friendship between Jacob and Bella.
- If he could be either a werewolf or vampire, he'd still choose to be a werewolf.

Finally, during Peter Facinelli's Q&A, we learned the following:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, he'd rate Carlisle as a 12 in terms of fatherhood. He said he now finds himself trying to think of how Carlisle would react when he deals with his own children. He said Carlisle's best feature as a father is that he truly understands everyone's point of view and uses that to keep the peace.

- He doesn't know anything about Breaking Dawn. He said the fans usually know information before he does. He hasn't yet been contacted about filming it.

- He hopes Eclipse will please the fans because it is his favorite book in the series. He said every director brings something different to the films, and the actors have placed their trust in David Spade not to do something that looks like "The Munsters." He has seen an early B&W watermarked copy of the movie that wasn't finished, and Peter thinks it will turn out to be a crowd-pleaser. He said the tone reminded him a little bit of Twilight but that it also retained the sweeping epic feel that made New Moon so great.

- His most embarrassing moment on set happened during the filming of Twilight. When James says, "You brought a snack" and the Cullens huddle to protect Bella, he decided it would be cool if he leapt into the huddle. He leapt and landed on top of Rob instead.

- When asked who his favorite cast member to work with was, he answered, "That's like asking me which one of my kids I like best." He said he loves everyone in the cast. He considers them all to be great friends, although he said he really enjoyed working with Kristen in their scenes alone for New Moon.

- Of all three movies so far, he had the best time filming Twilight with Catherine Hardwicke.

- At the last convention he told a fan that M&Ms were his favorite candy. He then received boatloads of it. He said when they were filming New Moon, Rob was very concerned about keeping his body in shape for the shirtless scene, but he kept coming over to Peter's room to hang out and he would always eat a bunch of M&Ms. He finally told Peter, "You're trying to ruin me!"

- Peter is producing and starring in a 3D film. It's a comedy about angels and demons.

Bad news for "Eclipse"?

Does this make anyone else worry, especially since the film will only be released in a few months? On the plus side, I'm grateful they're using the same editor from Twilight...

“Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the uber-successful Twilight series, confirmed this morning that it has replaced Eclipse editor Art Jones with Nancy Richardson, the editor of Catherine Hardwicke’s original Twilight film. The studio is not placing blame on Jones, who previously worked with Eclipse director David Slade on his horror film 30 Days of Night as well as Slade’s Ellen Page-starrer Hard Candy. They do believe, however, that Slade’s material – which they call “very good” – needed a stronger edit. The studio has more confidence in Richardson, who they say understands the emotion of the characters and is an ace at balancing action with the other elements of the film. Richardson recently completed Miley Cyrus’ upcoming romantic drama The Last Song. Eclipse is scheduled to debut on June 30.”

Source: Entertainment Weekly Hollywood Insider