Will Fast Twilight Production Time After New Moon Impact the Twilight Saga? by Nadya Vlassoff
With
the Twilight sequel New Moon about to hit theatres
in November and online buzz about the Twilight
Saga gaining momentum, recent confirmations for
Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, the third and fourth
films in the Twilight Saga, have already been
announced with Eclipse set to begin shooting on
August 17 in Vancouver, BC. Given the popularity
of the Stephenie Meyer penned Twilight Saga novels,
Summit Entertainment has clearly jumped at the
chance to strike while the Twilight iron is still
hot. But the filming schedule of the entire Twilight
Saga is underway at breakneck speed, with each
film Twilight adaptation shooting back-to-back-to-back.
Given how fast we’ll be seeing the entire Twilight
Saga come to life on the big screen, is there
a chance that speed may forsake some of the magic
of the novels and what Twilight fans want to see
in the translations? Is it reasonable to wonder
what type of impact the fast production schedule
will have on the Twilight films? What about the
Twilight buzz and momentum in between movies?
Based on Twilight related headlines alone, the Twilight and New Moon stars are under the glare and pressure of a daunting media spotlight, with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene and Nikki Reed all consumed by Twilight despite moving on to other projects in between New Moon and Eclipse. Twilight burnout and New Moon exhaustion are two very real issues the Twilight Saga producers and executives at Summit Entertainment are undoubtedly contending with now that Eclipse and Breaking Dawn have been given production dates following New Moon. But with so many vampire based projects hitting the market due to the success of the Twilight Saga, it’s also a race against time to get all of the Twilight films complete before fans suffer Twilight burnout and New Moon exhaustion due to so many similar projects on the market.
With
Breaking Dawn still months away, Eclipse is
the third Twilight adaptation that continues
the love triangle between Bella Swan (Kristen
Stewart), Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson),
and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), which is set
to begin filming on August 17. Unlike New Moon,
which will hit theatres a full year after Twilight,
Eclipse is set to premiere eight months after
New Moon, which tightens the Twilight gap as
new vampire and werewolf films and TV shows
hit the market. But even though there’s been
much love for the first Twilight film over the
Internet, there were many fans of the Twilight
Saga novels that were mixed on the cinematic
adaptation and the effectiveness of the translation
from book to big screen. Now that Eclipse and
Breaking Dawn have been locked into production
within such a short amount of Twilight time,
there’s a risk of Twilight Saga backlash if
the final two Twilight films fail to retain
the magic and details of the novels due to speed.
The issue of Twilight production speed speaks to the very reason why Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke felt she couldn’t produce a strong sequel in New Moon in such a short production break in between Twilight and New Moon. And now the entire Twilight Saga production slate is rolling along at breakneck speed. Although we have yet to see New Moon, is it reasonable to think that Catherine Hardwicke may have been onto something in terms of the quality of the remaining Twilight Saga movies? That’s not saying anything about the talents of each Twilight director either. By the time Breaking Dawn rolls into production, will Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart be reduced to one-takes? That’s certainly going to the Twilight extreme, but at times you have to wonder what, if anything may be lost in the speedy Twilight Saga production process.
The New Moon trailer recently premiered at the MTV Movie Awards, with the final clip showing the CG transform of Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) into wolf form. The New Moon scene appears to have been changed from the novel where Jacob is with his pack. From what the New Moon trailer revealed, Jacob is alone to face Laurent. But it’s still too early to tell whether any changes or slight alterations will have an adverse effect. However, it is the first time Bella sees Jacob transform, so it is an essential scene to the storyline. At this point, it’s hard to say for sure just how accurate New Moon will be judging by a 2-minute trailer. What we can say, though, is that there was more Twilight production prep time for New Moon than Eclipse. Will that be a defining factor in New Moon being a better movie than Eclipse? It’s an interesting question to an answer we’ll need to wait another Twilight year to find out.
Although
Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor
Lautner will be onboard for all Twilight Saga
films, all New Moon cast members are looking
ahead into a future beyond Twilight. By the
time Breaking Dawn slides into production, it’s
not hard to think that each supporting actor
will also be glad his or her Twilight time is
complete. Peter Facinelli is currently balancing
a busy, burgeoning career with his character
on Nurse Jackie. Ashley Greene is working on
four films this year. Kellen Lutz will be busy
with 90210 while Jackson Rathbone juggles several
films set for release in the next 12 months,
which includes the highly anticipated The Last
Airbender. In fact, M. Night Shyamalan’s Airbender
is vying for box-office supremacy against Eclipse
during next summer’s busy box-office season.
Can the Twilight Saga remain as popular as it is now while the films race against time to capitalize on the Twilight popularity peak? Obviously Summit Entertainment thinks so with such an overly ambitious production timetable, but it all feels like a ticking clock at the same time. Given the near crazy online buzz for Twilight and New Moon, Twilight Saga Fans are salivating to sink their teeth into New Moon in November. However, Twilight media attention won’t necessarily translate into box-office dollars. Is the media hyping New Moon too much? If Twilight is as popular as some of the online world would lead people to believe, New Moon should pull in Transformers numbers, right? To put it bluntly, that’s not going to happen. However, if New Moon fails to live up to the hype, will the fast production schedule make the movies better or only drain the blood out of the Twilight Saga? There’s a lot of Twilight time in the tank to see how the production decisions will play out.
Subject: summit rushing films out hurt films and actors careers
none of the other comments actually address the articles.
basically, the answer is yes. the films are being rushed out. 6 months between 2 and 3 and for some territories the time is more like 4 - 5 months. it's unique. it didn't work for the matrix 2 and 3. and the matrix 1 had a huge global fan base. and it killed the 3rd pirates film. but disney doesn't care because it spends everything off into its theme parks.
this will also hurt the actors' careers. we will all suffer from robert pattinson fatigue as we already are.
Livre.fille
July 15, 2009 - 10:13
Subject:
Just a note, the Airbender movie is not 'highly anticipated'. Many fans feel that it will fail as badly as the Dragonball movie and Eragon, due to disappointing casting practices, among other problems. If you have the choice, I would seriously encourage going to see Eclipse twice, rather than seeing both.
ann smallwood – kentucky
July 13, 2009 - 10:57
Subject: new moon,eclipse,breakingt dawn
Hurry Up.
I read all four books in 4 days...and watched the twilight movie over and over...I love it.
I am a 45 year old mother of a 16 year old (boy).
I he finds his Bella.....and i wouldn't have done for an Edward and Jacob...I can't even write it in words...pretend your Alice...and read my mind.
I would like to see more passion...
Lindsey
July 13, 2009 - 08:35
Subject:
I love the twilight series I have read all the books 4 times each. They are the best ever.
heather was right. if you pay close enough attention kristin is wearing two different jackets in those two scenes. the part where jacob jumps over her is the part where paul loses his cool and thats why she screams "jacob!" because in the book she's trying to keep him from fighting and getting hurt. a lot of the time they mix and match scenes from movies for the trailer to make it more appealing. that is the case here. i happen to believe they shouldn't have messed with those two scenes though because now people are confused and think that they messed up the story line.
Heather
July 11, 2009 - 15:41
Subject: new moon trailer
im not woried that anything will be lost in translation from the books to film because if u pay close atention in the trailer when Jacob makes his change and jumps over Bella that Bella is not wearing the same cloths in that frame as in the frame with Laurent. So that has to mean its probably a later scene. Maybe where hes fighting with his friend and bella is there in the book after all. I guess well have to just wait and see but i know for sure its not the same scene. They have just mashed them together for effect.
chelsye – Texas
July 09, 2009 - 19:31
Subject: $$$ and time
Truthfully, I am not worried about the Twilight movies not earning enough money because I am 100% positive they will. Everyone I know has read this series and looks forward to all the films coming out. What I am worried about is Rob, Kristen, Taylor, and other cast members getting burned out from working too fast and too hard on all these projects. Can't they slow it down once New Moon comes out and is a success? These films/producers/cast members should have time to carefully put together the books in which so many people have fallen in love with worldwide. If they do not stick to the story line, however, I'm afraid the films will not be as popular as the books. All the more reason to take their time! On a side note, I hope they show a better connection between Edward and Bella in New Moon because in Twilight they had too many scenes that could have been cut out and added more scenes that would have added to their deep relationship. If New Moon does not show this connection at least at the end during the reunion scene, I think Eclipse has no hope and neither a later project of Breaking Dawn.
Freija – USA
July 09, 2009 - 18:49
Subject: Teaser Trailer...and...Vamp Production Speed
The operative word in the presentation of the New Moon Trailer is 'Teaser', which means it is only going to show a few major parts of the story, and minimally at that. Both responses above are spot on as far as the trailer. Trailers are always out of sequence and present pivotal moments that carry the story along. Keep in mind, there were no shots of Italy and the Volturi, we also don't see much of Bella's downward spiral into lost love depression and the 'risks' she takes to keep the illusion of Edward in her life, and we don't see the Edward illusions (which Summit has said that's how they have added more of Edward's physical presence in the film vs. the lack of it in the book). So, the trailer is minimal.
The production of The Twilight Saga moving along as fast as Edward Cullen can climb a tree, IMO, does not equate that Summit and all involved in the franchise have transformed into wild monkeys (monkeys are actually intelligent creatures, just simple). Summit has poured alot of the bloodmoney from Twilight the film and all other franchise revenue sources into these productions, you can be sure. The Eclipse schedule that begins in August is starting with rehearsals. I'm sure during this period they will do a lot of tweeking, possible small rewrites of the script and/or shooting scenes which are similar where one is a compilation of occurrences as with Twilight and the other is a more elaborate 'true to book' scene of one significant event. Thus, money not being an issue, I'm sure Summit has their bases covered with enough crew vamps and collaborations to ensure the rest of the franchise meets and surpasses the success of Twilight. My only concern is that the newly appointed director's of the next two films will not be too effects dependent. One of the reasons I chose to buy the Twilight was because of its Independent look and feel. I think that raw organic environment of working with what they had in the conditions they were presented with made for great fantasy-fiction rooted in reality. I am having an Alice moment and sense that Summit will do its best to respect Stephenie Meyer's saga and the fans expectations of a 'true to book' adaptation. It actually makes sense that their moving so fast; when you're on a roll why not vamp up the pace a bit.
kareinxo
July 09, 2009 - 09:59
Subject: in addition to gingesmissus
Actually, Taylor almost spilled everything in his red carpet interview during the MTV Movie Awards. He said that his transformation in the trailer is when he and Paul had an encounter because Jacob tell their secret to Bella. The trailer only showed most of the anticipating moments in the novel, they're not totally in sequence.
And in my opinion, maybe factors like age and appearance must be the reason behind the production speed. Twi-Vampires are immortal. Thus, actors involved cannot transform completely for another project.
gingesmissus
July 09, 2009 - 09:34
Subject: Jacob's transformation as noted in paragraph 5 of this article
With regard to paragraph five in this article, what the trailer shows is two separate parts of the film put together for the purpose of the trailer - if you look closely, Bella is wearing different clothes and has a back pack in one part of the clip but doesn't in another. When Jacob transforms in front of Bella, this is not the same scene as when Laurent is in the meadow with Bella and Laurent is then shocked by the presences of the wolves. I think this has been cleverly edited for the purpose of the trailer, not changed from the novel.
With
the Twilight sequel New Moon about to hit theatres
in November and online buzz about the Twilight
Saga gaining momentum, recent confirmations for
Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, the third and fourth
films in the Twilight Saga, have already been
announced with Eclipse set to begin shooting on
August 17 in Vancouver, BC. Given the popularity
of the Stephenie Meyer penned Twilight Saga novels,
Summit Entertainment has clearly jumped at the
chance to strike while the Twilight iron is still
hot. But the filming schedule of the entire Twilight
Saga is underway at breakneck speed, with each
film Twilight adaptation shooting back-to-back-to-back.
Given how fast we’ll be seeing the entire Twilight
Saga come to life on the big screen, is there
a chance that speed may forsake some of the magic
of the novels and what Twilight fans want to see
in the translations? Is it reasonable to wonder
what type of impact the fast production schedule
will have on the Twilight films? What about the
Twilight buzz and momentum in between movies?
With
Breaking Dawn still months away, Eclipse is
the third Twilight adaptation that continues
the love triangle between Bella Swan (Kristen
Stewart), Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson),
and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), which is set
to begin filming on August 17. Unlike New Moon,
which will hit theatres a full year after Twilight,
Eclipse is set to premiere eight months after
New Moon, which tightens the Twilight gap as
new vampire and werewolf films and TV shows
hit the market. But even though there’s been
much love for the first Twilight film over the
Internet, there were many fans of the Twilight
Saga novels that were mixed on the cinematic
adaptation and the effectiveness of the translation
from book to big screen. Now that Eclipse and
Breaking Dawn have been locked into production
within such a short amount of Twilight time,
there’s a risk of Twilight Saga backlash if
the final two Twilight films fail to retain
the magic and details of the novels due to speed.
Although
Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor
Lautner will be onboard for all Twilight Saga
films, all New Moon cast members are looking
ahead into a future beyond Twilight. By the
time Breaking Dawn slides into production, it’s
not hard to think that each supporting actor
will also be glad his or her Twilight time is
complete. Peter Facinelli is currently balancing
a busy, burgeoning career with his character
on Nurse Jackie. Ashley Greene is working on
four films this year. Kellen Lutz will be busy
with 90210 while Jackson Rathbone juggles several
films set for release in the next 12 months,
which includes the highly anticipated The Last
Airbender. In fact, M. Night Shyamalan’s Airbender
is vying for box-office supremacy against Eclipse
during next summer’s busy box-office season.