Twilight fans, start your protest campaign now. Summit Entertainment has announced that it will not move forward with director Catherine Hardwicke for the Twilight sequel New Moon. According to Summit’s press release, the studio and Hardwicke could not come to terms on a schedule; Summit’s plan to release the film at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010 did not work with the amount of prep time Hardwicke wanted to dedicate to New Moon. Similar to the Harry Potter franchise before it, Summit will now look to hire a new director to helm New Moon. According to a statement released by Hardwicke, “I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct New Moon. Directing Twilight has been one 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.”
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That’s really not cool. She seemed to be really into the series. Let’s hope it turns out as well as Harry Potter has with multiple directors.
Thank goodness!!! Twilight lacked the detail, artistry, and flow that are the hallmarks of a good movie, and hopefully they will find a director who can make New Moon a solid film that does the book justice.
Good. She was the worst part of the Twilight. Without her perhaps we will see some character development and not music video montages and weird camera angles.
I gotta say, Thats BULL. Catherine MADE twilight the movie that it was. I’m a greatly disappointed that summit chose to not give Catherine the time that she needed. New moon will need a lot of preparation to get it right. This is a sad day for twilight fans.
I’m actually glad… She “got it” to some extent in the latter half, but the first half… Not so well done on her part. I’m hopeful that they will find an actor to capture more of the character or Bella, Edward, and Jacob for New Moon. Hardwicke rushed things in the beginning of Twilight WAY too much.
Um protest? NO, this is great news.
I’m actually glad… She “got it” to some extent in the latter half, but the first half… Not so well done on her part. I’m hopeful that they will find an actor to capture more of the character or Bella, Edward, and Jacob for New Moon. Hardwicke rushed things in the beginning of Twilight WAY too much.
I don’t really care if she directs it or not. I think a new take on the vision of the film will be interesting.
Plus, they change Harry Potter directors all the time, why not change Twilight’s?
I don’t care that much that Catherine Hardwick got fired but it is the reason she got fired that worries me for the quality of the next movie. If they are willing to fire the director just because she wanted to take a lot of time to get it right just so they can pump out the next one quickly makes me think they may not care all that much about the quality of the movie but rather care about making as much money as possible.
I am SOOOOO happy New Moon is getting a new director. Nothing personal about Catherine, she just did not do a good job. Her name appears in the record books by the strength of 2 people – Stephenie Meyer and Robert Pattinson. Goodwill of the book and burgeoning obssession with Rob P fueled the phenomenal box office, and sadly, not the movie. This goodwill will only last so long so it’s imperative that New Moon be actually a GREAT movie. Not my favorite from the series (sorry, Rob) but there should be enough to build on. Hope the new director re-cast the Jacob role. Sorry, kid, you’re way too young and they need someone who will look as a credible competition for Rob’s Edward. Exciting stuff!
Twilight sucked so bad, I thought Hardwicke made that movie with cheese. Lets hope another director can do better.
This makes me nervous! I am not sure what to think, but I want New Moon to be great!!!! Will this be a bad or good thing?
Folks, don’t believe the press release. The “timing” issue is just a sanitized way of saying they don’t want to work together. There’s a lot of gossip that Catherine was difficult to work with and lacked leadership. Not that Summit’s impressed me on its own so far. Seriously, can you see a director like Catherine Hardwicke passing on a Twilight sequel because of TIMING issues? Phhhleeeeaasssee. We are not idiots.
Hmmmm? WHY wouldn’t Summit give her the time she needed? Will they just haul through production so New Moon will be terrible? Not happy.
I think this is a good move. Maybe the change will make the next movie better. I think she tried too hard to make Twilight a “teenager” movie instead of an adaption of a terrific book.
THANK GOD!!!! Twilight was terrible – they need someone else. And they need to replace like half (maybe 3/4?) of the cast.
who was the guy that directed the 3rd Harry Potter film? Alfonso Cuaron?? GET *THAT* GUY to direct…here’s to New Moon!
I’m really angry about this. Catherine was the heart and soul of Twilight!Some people didn’t like Twilight, I’m not one of those people, and they think a change would be good. But will a change be better or worse? This could have huge consequences on the success of the sequels. Bad decision on Summit’s behalf.
Me and the wife saw this Friday and I thought it was pretty bad. The performances were wooden and the film just didn’t seem very well developed. I usually love it when the indie directors cross over into these mainstream projects (Chris Nolan’s “Batman”; Gavin Hood’s “Wolverine”), but this series might benefit from a more “experienced” director. I did like the material’s take on its vampire mythology, but I assume that was hardly a concoction of Hardwicke’s.
Have to agree with most here. I thought Hardwicke did a very poor job. It’s obvious the execs agreed. How can you have a movie centered around a girl being in love with a boy, and not show that girl being in love with him even a little? I know some of that falls on K Stewart, but Hardwicke kind of let her get away with gutting the Bella character, and that hurt the movie pretty bad.
I liked Twilight, and I thought Catherine did a good job, but perhaps the new Dir. will put more Esme-abeth in it, with more Carlisle interaction
And HP has had many Directors, and they’ve all done better than the one before it.
Ok..I am a Twilight fan. I liked the movie and thought it’s biggest flaw was..*holds up wooden shield* the director.
This is a great move, I think Hardwicke is a good director but her style just didn’t fit Twilight. And if they want a big franchise they need a director who can make you sit down and honestly feel you’re watching something worth you time and money, not a movie you wished you had waited to see on HBO.
This is a good thing. The Twilight movie was a joke. I brought my friends to see it, having talked up the novel so much, and was actually embarrassed b/c the film was so cheesy. It was craptastic. I’m hoping the movies improve as they progress through the series, a la Harry Potter, which also changed directors frequently.
This is good news. I really think she did a poor job with the film, especially the secondary character development & the special effects.
I’m glad she got axed. While the locations were good, her directing took a lot out of the story. Sure, some of it had to do with bad acting and bad writing (I doubt they’ll change the cast, but at least get a new writer), but the director didn’t do a good job. I don’t like how they are trying to hurry this film up, though. I guess they are taking more from SMeyer than I thought. She was averaging about a novel a year, too, and it caused the Twilight saga to progressively get worse. I have no doubt that a rush job on New Moon will just ruin this movie. How are they going to pull off successful werewolves when they couldn’t even make Edward sparkle properly?
I’m sorry that Catherine will not direct New Moon. I though she did a great job with the budget she had. New Moon needs a bigger budget and can not be rushed. Two important factors Summit appears not to care about. They see a cash cow with the Twilight series. They know the fans will see the movie regardless of how much money they put in it. The books are great and the fans deserve a great movie adaptation. Summit needs to respect Stephenie Meyer and her fans and give us a great movie. Keep Catherine and give her the TIME AND MONEY to make a fantastic movie.
I think this might be a good move. I just hope they get somebody to do it justice! Twilight was good, but not as good as it could have been had the directing been better. Can’t wait for New Moon!!
While I enjoyed Twilight, and thought Catherine Hardwicke did a good job… I am excited for the possibilities of a new director. As the story goes on, it becomes more and more epic and I think another style of directing would benefit the story tremendously.
This could end up going one of two ways:
1. New Moon benefits from a bigger budget and a new director.
2. The second film is a train wreck with stilted effects and a clear case “Holy crap, we need to get this out as soon as possible.”
I concur with most of the people who have already commented on this. The movie was so DISAPPOINTING.
I brought my best friend to see it in an attempt to convince her to start reading the books. However, I merely strengthened her resolve to stay away from beautiful Edward.
And frankly, after this sad attempt, my love/hate relationship with this series may have just finally ended. THANKS A LOT, MS. HARDWICKE.