Posts Tagged ‘Chris Weitz’

News has leaked that Summit Entertainment, which owns the rights to and finances the Twilight films, is in the midst of deciding whether or not they’ll try to extend the series by splitting the fourth and final book in Stephenie Meyer’s saga into two movies. The company is supposedly leaning towards splitting the fourth movie into two (making 5 movies overall), but in order to make that plan a reality must first jump a few hurdles.

With New Moon making over $400 million worldwide in its first two weekends, the franchise has risen to a monumental status. This being the case, it then presents the option of extending the series more so than originally planned because box-office returns will have be extremely secure (barring catastrophes). But Summit would need to first get permission from Meyer, who holds vetoing power on almost everything related to the films. And because of New Moon’s success, Summit wants to resign the film’s director, Chris Weitz,  for the fourth and potentially fifth film. However, he had already made plans to direct another film to be produced by Summit, The Gardener, but no deal has officially been closed as of yet. The company has reportedly not ruled out the possibility of making Weitz put that film on hold until after completing the fourth and fifth films – if he signs on to direct.

With the money Summit has made and continues to make on New Moon, it will be able to as well as likely have to pay extra for Weitz services, not to mention also the services of the cast and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, all of which were signed on for only four films.

Source: Variety

Quick Opinion: Extending a franchise by splitting its source material into parts by way of making a higher number of movies is a Hollywood money-making tactic that most seem to actually like. Many Harry Potter fans were upset with each additional film’s lack of detail, faithfulness, etc., saying that all of the films were far too condensed. With Warner Bros. splitting the last film in the series into two films, it has re-encouraged this particular crowd. This is not to necessarily say that the Twilight series has the same breadth as Harry Potter’s, but more movies means more attention to detail, which fans appreciate. So, studios get more money, fans get more material to watch, and everybody wins.

Short Take: If your expectations are in line, expect to be satisfied

Director: Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass, About a Boy)

Screenwriter: Melissa Rosenberg (Twilight, Step Up), Stephenie Meyer (book)

Cast: Kristen Stewart (Adventureland, Twilight, Into the Wild), Robert Pattinson (Twilight, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Taylor Lautner (Twilight, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D)

Length: 2 hours 10 minutes

Synopsis: Picking up where the last film left off, Bella Swan (Stewart) is still trying to convince her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Pattinson) to turn her into a vampire. While celebrating her eighteenth birthday with his vampire family, an accident nearly leads the family to attack Bella. Convinced that the only way to protect her is to leave, Edward and his family depart forever. Bella slips into a depression only lessened when she spends time with her best friend Jacob Black (Lautner). However, Jacob, a werewolf, and Bella slowly cultivate a romance. Just on the point of Jacob and Bella developing a full-fledged relationship, Bella must go to Italy to stop the vampire royalty, the Volturi, from killing Edward. Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Weitz during the shooting of "New Moon"

The Hollywood Reporter has published an interview they held with Chris Weitz, director of The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Although fairly short, the interview provides a decent illustration of how Weitz approached the source material for the film and what his attitude was towards making the film an adaptation of the book. It would appear that fans should expect a very loyal adaptation, with only minor tinkering with filmic imagery.Weitz claims to have been in constant contact with author Stephenie Meyer throughout the various production stages, which for fans hoping for a loyal adaptation is an encouraging verity.

Chris Weitz’s other directing credits include The Golden Compass, About a Boy, Down to Earth, and American Pie.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon hits theaters November 20th.