Catherine Hardwicke will not direct 'Twilight' sequels
Despite introducing America's most successful new movie franchise, Catherine Hardwicke will not direct the sequels to "Twilight." Summit Entertainment Co-Chairman/Chief Executive Rob Friedman tells Nikki Finke of DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com: "Catherine and Summit have agreed to part ways on the sequel because our visions are different."
Finke reports a source says the studio is taking Hardwicke off the sequel because she "was 'difficult' and 'irrational' during the making of "Twilight." The movie received lukewarm reviews — scoring 53 on Metacritic — but it nabbed respectful notices from some major media, such as Entertainment Weekly magazine and the Los Angeles Times, was produced for a modest budget of $40 million and has grossed more than $160 million in several weeks. Most hit films suffer huge attendance plunges after opening weekend, but "Twilight" has held on for a third weekend, coming in second place these last few days, reaping $13.2 million. The success of "Twilight" is so spectacular that plans are now underway to shoot the next two installments of Stephenie Meyers' books — "New Moon" and "Eclipse" — back to back in order to save money.
"This terrible news for Hardwicke comes just as she and the 'Twilight' cast (Robert Pattinson, Kristin Stewart) are on their European press tour," Finke adds. "No doubt tomorrow's interviews in France will now focus entirely on what, if anything, Catherine did to deserve this treatment. This also could blow up into a scandal for Summit if it chooses a male director over Hardwicke, whose 'Twilight' easily beat Mimi Leder's 1998 'Deep Impact' box office gross as the biggest opener for a female director."
The Los Angeles Times applauded Hardwicke's direction of "Twilight": "Neither Laurence Olivier attempting Shakespeare nor Konstantin Stanislavski tackling Chekhov approached their material with the degree of reverence that Hardwicke brings to 'Twilight.' A director whose entire career ('Thirteen,' 'Lords of Dogtown,' even 'The Nativity Story') has been built on the veneration of young adults, Hardwicke has connected so intensely to the Meyer novel that it's hard to imagine anyone else making a better version.
"Hardwicke also was instrumental in casting Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as the star-crossed Bella and Edward, and those choices were excellent, not only because they're skilled performers but also because they too threw themselves into their parts as if they were Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor doing 'Camille' for George Cukor."
Entertainment Weekly said: "On screen, 'Twilight' is repetitive and a tad sodden, too prosaic to really soar. But Hardwicke stirs this teen pulp to a pleasing simmer." The Philadelphia Inquirer cheered Hardwicke for helming "Twilight" with "savvy humor."
The studio issued the following press notice:
"Summit Entertainment and director Catherine Hardwicke jointly announced today that the filmmaker will not be directing the next installment in the newly minted 'Twilight' film franchise. Summit’s targeted end of 2009 or early 2010 release of the film, 'New Moon,' does not work with Ms. Hardwicke's required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen. Thus, as has been done before with many successful film franchises, the studio will employ a new director for 'New Moon.'
"'I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct "New Moon,"' said Hardwicke. 'Directing 'Twilight' has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel — it is a great story.'
"'Catherine did an incredible job in helping us to launch the 'Twilight' franchise and we thank her for all of her efforts and we very much hope to work with her on future Summit projects,' said Summit President of Production Erik Feig. 'We as a studio have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created. We are able to pursue an aggressive time frame as we have the luxury of only adapting the novels into screenplays as opposed to having to create a storyline from scratch.'"
Top photo: Catherine Hardwicke. Lower photo: Robert Pattinson and Hardwicke. Credit: Rick Bowmer / Associated Press
Thank god! Summit is making a smart move that will save them a lot of money! I almost vowed not to watch the later movies because Twilight was seriously a disgrace.
Posted by: Esther Moon | December 08, 2008 at 11:31 AM
okay, someone needs to say it how it is. The books are beyond the words wonderful and perfect, the books are great and many of us girls live through these books. BUT, the movie sucked. honestly it did and i (like many) was deeply disappointed. It did not suck because of the actors (actors were very great, love the cast) but the reason why it sucked so bad, was because they skipped a lot from the book, and some of the parts on the movie were too corny, they needed to have more of a high budget to come even close to the book. Next time do it right summit, don't change the cast, you will lose big time. Summit needs to put more time into the movie by not skipping so much parts from the book, AND PUT MORE MONEY INTO THE MOVIE!!! don't say you cant becuase it went well for twilight. VERY DISAPPOINTING. it only suceeded because the fans love the book with all our hearts.
Posted by: claudia | December 08, 2008 at 09:32 AM
well what can i say the 4 books were amazing and the movie was very good; but with the movie making this much money summit should really consider putting more money into making the sequels. please dont dissapoints the fans of the books;catherinne did the best she could do with how much money she had; and we the fans want her bach , she totally understands the books the way all the fans do. Also i think Robert, Kristen and Stephenie should have some say in this.
Posted by: Doris | December 08, 2008 at 07:30 AM
I feel very positive with this change. Catherine does get credit for casting Robert and Kristen but really, the movie does not even come close to the book. Yes, doing an adaptation is extremely hard, but that's what you take on when you pick up a project like this. Other have done it, LOTR, Harry Potter III+, Jurassic Park 1, Presumed Innocent, many more. The movie did as well as it did because of fans goodwill for the book and because women suddenly discovered that Robert Pattinson is damn hot. Goodwill and fan obssession can only go so far.
Posted by: Tyler | December 08, 2008 at 05:26 AM
New Moon is a direc book and flags in the mid section. Who wants endless scenes of motorbike repair moments. You want to refocus on Edward's time in Italy. Thats the interesting section where he goes ot thVolturi to die. The producers need to stop being so reverential to Meyer's book . Without Pattinson in this film the film would have bombed.
Posted by: Carolyn | December 08, 2008 at 04:04 AM
The only reason this franchise is a success is because of the star appeal of Rob Pattison. It wouls be dead in the water if he wasnt on board. Get Paul Morrison on board who directed Pattinson in Little ashes. He did an incredible job with a budget of £1.4 milion.
Posted by: jen | December 08, 2008 at 04:01 AM
For all of the praise toward her film making, I've understood that Hardwicke can be extremely difficult on set. Granted this is just what I've heard from some people who've been on those sets, but it's an interesting point to make since someone seemed to assume that just because she's a woman, she's not "difficult" and "irrational" like someone suggested a male director would be. Good directing isn't gender specific, nor is being irrational or difficult.
Posted by: joe | December 08, 2008 at 01:55 AM
... I disagree. I think she's a fabulous director and Summit's making a bad decision.
Posted by: cindy | December 08, 2008 at 01:39 AM
This worries me. Catherine said that Summit didn't feel they needed to sink any real money into New Moon and that she would only direct if they were going to take it seriously. I really hope we are not subject to another cheesy low budget movie. They will kill their franchise will one blow if they do. Fans were tolerant of Twilights faults because we love the books, but we fought hard to make Twilight succeed and we deserve a well made movie the second time around.
Posted by: Wendilynn | December 08, 2008 at 12:50 AM
I loved the book, thought the movie was quite boring, the actors especially the girl were not good enough acting wise, or attractive enough to match the build up in the book.
Posted by: rich | December 07, 2008 at 11:59 PM
"The Movie would have made even more money had it been better."
Well, that's an original thought. But it does have a sort of Zen thing to it.
Posted by: Timber | December 07, 2008 at 11:34 PM
Best news ever! She probably doesn't deserve all of the blame, but there were so many problems with the Twilight movie. They could have a new director for each one of the movies. It would be interesting to see different interpretations. Not everyone envisioned the same thing so why should just one directors perspective be shown.
Posted by: Jo | December 07, 2008 at 11:26 PM
A new director might be good but please get someone who has read and understands the books.
Actually, the person who should be replaced is Melissa Rosenberg. The meadow scene (the heart and soul of Twilight) and when Edward brings Bella home to meet the rest of the Cullens was beyond bad.
It's also extremely disappointing to hear that Summit plans to make New Moon on a very limited budget and not allow the majority of the cast to return. I don't begrudge anyone wanting to make a profit but at what cost?
I'm curious if Summit CEO Rob Friedman really thinks making a movie with less money is a good thing. Be careful, Mr. Friedman...your golden goose could easily become a dead duck.
Please, please don't turn this beautiful series of books into campy, cheesey and corny films. The fans, especially this one, will stay home and Summit will lose big in the long run. DO IT RIGHT!
Posted by: Jayne | December 07, 2008 at 11:14 PM
Catherine Hardwicke is an amazing and brilliant talent! She was perfect for directing TWILIGHT and I admire her work greatly! I'm extremely disappointed and saddened by the news she will not be directing NEW MOON! She really put everything she has into Twilight and you could tell she really LOVED the books and really cared about what she was doing! She doesn't deserve to be treated badly. She was truly instrumental in all aspects regarding Twilight's success and brilliance! She made Twilight the movie amazing and awesome! It was gorgeous in every way! I wish her all the best!
Posted by: Sarah T. | December 07, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Robert Pattinson is a terrible actor and Ms. Hardwicke made Pattinson quite frankly. The whole book series is mediocre and there is not much you can do to make them better but Catherine did. This is a serious loss for Summit and quite greedy of them considering she made them that much money on the first movie. Finally, that is typical for a male dominated Hollywood industry to call Catherine "difficult and irrational". She needs to stand by her vision. I'm certain they will most likely hire a male director who is really difficult and irrational and jerk producers won't even flinch.
Posted by: ES | December 07, 2008 at 10:08 PM
The movie would have made even more money had the book been better.
Posted by: Coney | December 07, 2008 at 09:07 PM
EXCELLENT NEWS. She wasn't right for the film, 'Thirteen' was an amazing work and 'Dogtown' was respectable, but how does someone transition into 'Twilight' after those two films? Fire the casting director too... Pattinson and Stewart were fine, but how do you explain "the guy from 'Fastlane' and every single other actor/actress? Horrible job with action, came close to nailing the romance, I gave her a solid and well-deserved F. The trailer was ridiculous and every indication that it suffered from problems. Stick to stories set in So-cal Hardwicke, you're good at it.
Posted by: Douglas | December 07, 2008 at 08:42 PM
When I first saw trailers (before the title appeared) I thought it was for some bad TV show. The Twilght audience is built in because of the books, doesn't matter who directs. Just like the Potter series.
Posted by: Jack Henry | December 07, 2008 at 08:04 PM
I heard from one of the producers of twilight that she was absolutely horrible, caused several producers to quit, and is largely responsible for the poor quality of the acting. This franchise isn't for me, as I'm not a pre-teen or a mother of pre-teens but Im still glad she was fired.
Posted by: adeline | December 07, 2008 at 07:37 PM
OMG YAYYYYYYYY THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I'VE READ IN A LONG TIME
Posted by: Tiffany | December 07, 2008 at 07:22 PM
The Movie would have made even more money had it been better.
Posted by: cbk16 | December 07, 2008 at 07:14 PM