New Moon News/Eclipse News( Riley Casted )

Looks like  Hitfix.com and some other internet news outlets (whose news and reveals we are still waiting for!) will be running some The Twilight Saga : New Moon updates of their own! Lookout for these in the next couple of days when Hitflix will publish their interviews with the cast during their visit to the film location in May.

For now here’s some juicy tidbits Hitflix has for us today in their interview with Chris Weitz the director for The Twilight Saga : New Moon.

Q: …. What was your interest in coming on board a franchise that predominately been more popular with women then men?

Actually, in that regard my brother and I often end up doing movies whose audiences are predominantly women or tipping point of success relies on a female audience.  Even ‘American Pie.’ I think the thing that distinguishes it more than the gross-out humor, because there is a lot of that going on.  The way we tooled it was so that girls could be interested in it as well. And, in as much as the ‘Twilight’ series has a great appeal to women, I think it really concentrates on the emotions of the central character and romance and I think that unfortunately that the studio system has not been very good at getting boys to be interested in.  They think and maybe incorrectly, that the male gender is interested in just thing blowing up.  And I don’t think that’s true.  I certainly didn’t make this movie towards only girls or women being interested in seeing it. There is a lot for diverse audiences including older audiences than the first one drew.  Really, we are drawn to the cast. I thought the central cast were great and I wanted to work with them and it also employed some skills that I picked up along the way including working with special effects and working with younger actors and working on emotionally structured stories.

Q: In terms of the effects, I think everyone on this call was probably stunned after we’d been on set and we’d talked to the producer and he was like ‘We’re still working on some of the designs for the wolfpack’ and I think it was like two or three weeks later we saw the first trailer and that great shot at the end.  Have you ever worked in such a quick process from beginning to end?

It is.  I myself was surprised Phil Tippet’s company was able to turn out that wolf shot and I think they kind of did that as a matter of institutional pride that they could.  Even that shot that was in the trailer has gone through 20-30 iterations since then, but they have done a really extraordinary job and Phil Tippet is a complete genius.  He’s responsible for the walkers in ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back’ and he’s kind of one of the legends of the visual effects community and it pretty amazing what they have been able to do on such short notice.  We are working at kind of breakneck speed at the same time as trying to achieve something really quite elegant as well.  It’s not just Tippet, it’s Frantic/CBS (LOOK UP) which is headed up by Mike Fink who is my old friend who was the visual effects supervisor on ‘Golden Compass’ which won the Oscar the year it came out. So, yeah, working very fast, but we’re also trying to work as beautifully as possible to make these effect kind of settle into the amazing cinematography that Javier Aguirresarobe brought us.  We are kind of moving at light speed,but trying to deliver something that’s really elegant and beautiful.

Q: Just to follow that up, can you tell us how far along you are to completion right now?

I am about two weeks away from showing the director’s cut to the studio.  I’ve got some wolves with fur.  Some wolves are still invisible basically and some wolves are like — you’ve all probably seen the claymation versions.  We are still in the light RD phases of what Edward looks like when he’s hit — what the vampires look like when he’s hit with light and the diamond effect.  Also, the kind of hallucinatory effect Bella has when she hears Edward’s voice and she imagines him there.  And then we are Alexandre Desplat has just started working on his music for the film. And we are just starting to put together what acts will be on the soundtrack, so it’s kind of like keeping ten plates spinning at once, but it’s all good because we’ve got Alexander Desplat who I think is one of the greatest film composers living and because of the kind of the strength of the franchise that I inherited, a lot of bands are really interested in working on the soundtrack and we got visual effects people. And that just leaves me hopefully not dropping the ball in terms of editing together the story.

Q: Really quickly on the music.  The first movie probably made Paramore as a band.  Were you surprised by the number of acts wanting to be on the sequel and have you had to turn anybody down?

Well, fortunately I’m not at the stage where I have to turn anybody down yet, because everything is still kind of up in the air, but I am surprised by some of the bands that have said they are interested. It’s kind of great.  The criteria will still be what’s right for the movie at that given moment, but y’know, Thom Yorke is interested.  We might, if we’re very lucky, get Kings of Leon to do something.  So, it’s exciting to have access to this kind of talent.

Q: Can you tell us about the proposal scene at the end of the book? Fans are worried that it’s either been altered or cut out of the film. Can you address those concerns?

They haven’t been cut out.  I can tell you that much. It’s not going to hit them the exact way they think it’s going to, but I will say  — how can I put it?  It’s going to be quite special.  I could have saved all of my gusto for that moment.  I don’t think it will disappoint.

Read the awesomely long interview at Hitflix!

Katie Bain of Hollywood.com was at the film location as well and here’s what she has to say – mostly about Robert Pattinson on the The Twilight Saga : New Moon set. Her write up is in a numbered list form.

… 2. Like the rest of the cast, Pattinson’s canvas director’s chair had his character’s name (that would be “Edward Cullen”) embroidered on the backrest. On Robert’s chair, however, “Edward Cullen” was covered with yellow tape, on which “ROBERT” was written in bold black marker. Seems our fantasy boy likes to keep things “real.”

… There were also pictures of him coming out of the printer as I walked by it. Literally. Everyone in the buzzy office seemed to be as dazzled by him just as we, of the general population, are — especially the harem of young, attractive women working there.

10. I stood behind Stephenie Meyer while watching Pattinson, Stewart, Ashley Greene, Michael Sheen, Cameron Bright and Dakota Fanning film a scene in the Volturri lair. It went a little something like this:

Edward, Bella and Alice stand in front of the Volturri. Edward, looking many gray shades of haggard, takes a dramatic step toward the vampires and seems to hit an invisible wall. He crumbles to the ground, writhing in pain. Alice, wearing red gloves, crouches down to tend to him.

Bella: “Stop, stop! Try it on me. Just stop hurting him!”

This scene was done at least five times, and despite it taking place on the other side of the set’s massive wall, I could hear the thud of Pattinson’s body hitting the ground each time. There’s no way this felt good. The man suffers for his art.

… 12. Regardless of the international pandemonium he causes, Rob is, according to co-star Lafevre, really just a humble, friendly guy.

She says, “Twilight was a very ego-less set, and the thing that’s really a relief is that everyone has stayed the same way. Outside we may be able to go outside and just get in a cab, whereas Rob has to do CIA-evasive maneuvers to meet at the same restaurant, but when we get to the restaurant and we sit down, everything is exactly the same.”

13. People cater to the boy. One of the stage managers made a point of putting together a plate of food for Robert so he wouldn’t miss a meal while filming, saying: “Just tell me what Robert wants, and I’ll set it aside for him.”

This must be what it’s like to be treated like a movie star, as no one offered me anything to eat.

14. Even Taylor Lautner has Pattinson envy. When I asked Lautner the one bonus power he would bestow on Jacob, he responded, “I want to steal one of Edward’s powers.” Seems even werewolves get jealous.

15. The only time I saw the very elusive Kristen Stewart not on a monitor was when she walked by me on her way to the set. She was with Robert. Maybe this means all those secret relationship rumors are true … nah, I’m pretty sure it was because they were both to be in a scene together. So I’d like to think …

Another great coverage! Read the entire thing at Hollywood.com

Frickin’ exciting news Summit has hired a new actor for THE TWILIGHT SAGA : ECLIPSE!!

He is an Australian actor and his name is Xavier Samuel. He will play Riley, the new born vampire and Victoria’s right hand man in her hunt for Bella Swan as vengeance for the killing of her mate James. Read about it here!!

And check out Xavier in action in these clips from his movies, Angela’s Decision (2006) and September (2007) .

He looks pretty good – his acting I mean I must say Summit Entertainment is pretty good at casting talented young actors for The Twilight Saga. Well done!

July 17, 2009 | Categories: Eclipse, New Moon News, The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Tags: Angela's Decision, Chris Weitz, Hitflix, Hollywood.com, Katie Bain, Kings of Leon, September, Summit Entertainment, The Twilight Saga : New Moon Soundtrack, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Xavier Samuel | 5 Comments »