Twilight News: Hardwicke Fired Off of 'Twilight' Franchise

Hardwicke Fired Off 'Twilight' Franchise
EXCLUSIVE: So the rumors are true. I've confirmed that Summit Entertainment is taking Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke off the sequel in this big new franchise. No doubt my news will speed up the studio's announcement, and Summit will surely try to spin this as all going down amicably. This terrible news for Hardwicke comes just as she and the Twilight cast are on their European press tour. 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. That was a record embraced by Hollywood feminists as a sign of growing gal power. Now Hardwicke's career will surely be damaged by this very public firing because, even though the pic was skewered by critics, it is already a $160M low-cost blockbuster. Summit has started preparing the sequel New Moon, based on Meyer's second book in the series, and, to contain costs, the studio is considering making third book Eclipse back to back).

The word from inside Summit is that Hardwicke, the acclaimed Thirteen director, "was 'difficult' and 'irrational' during the making of Twilight," one insider explains to me. "That doesn't mean anything when you're talking about a filmmaker because they all are, but still..." (Indeed, Joe Roth and Sony kept saying those things about Julie Taymor on Across The Universe. Yet she made a cult classic and is now directing Marvel/Sony's Spider-Man for Broadway.) From another of my sources, "Summit didn't like her. They're saying the DP [director of photography] Elliot Davis is the one responsible for the film's sumptuous visual look, that the editor Nancy Richardson had to save the film in post-production, and Summit thought Hardwicke's [CAA] agent Beth Swofford was alternately ineffectual and hysterical [when it came to controlling her client]."

In fact, I'm told that the studio has even had quiet talks with other CAA directors for the last week. "And Swofford never told Hardwicke about that and that she was about to get kicked to the gutter," an insider tells me. "To add insult to injury, Hardwicke can now look forward to being grilled by the press for days on end, in front of the cast, about why she's getting shit-canned."

becs wrote:I'm definitely curious to see what comes of this. I haven't yet made it out to see the movie *shame*, but from all i've heard the budget was the main downfall, so I don't see how the studio can blame that on the director.

SUMMIT BEGINS SEARCH FOR NEW MOON DIRECTOR

Los Angeles, CA, December 7, 2008 – 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 Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Production. “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.”

Buscemi wrote:

Summit has always struck me as a frugal company. Most of their films are low-budget teen films and pickups and apparently they don't want to change that. Though Astro Boy is a start, they'd rather make low-budget flops such as Sex Drive, Never Back Down, P2 and The Hottie and The Nottie than bet the farm on big budgets like a $60 million+ New Moon or American Pie sequels (they co-produced the original but passed on the sequels).

Buscemi wrote:


This is exactly why Summit shouldn't have been allowed to control such a huge quadrilogy like Twilight. Let them stick to the low risk, low reward projects and hand the reins over to a major, like WB or Paramount.

Then again this is sort of smart on their part, they know the rabid fans will see the movie no matter how shitty Edward looks when he steps into the sunlight. Why hike the budget when they'll probably lose none of the profit if they don't?

It's the age old dilemma as movie-making as a business versus an artform to please fans.

Alyson wrote:I think it will be fine, better even. I mean the Harry Potter Franchise has had several directors, and they keep getting better. I enjoyed Twilight, but I wouldn't mind seeing New Moon in different hands.

MisterInformative wrote:I think who the director is matters a hell of a lot less to most people than it does to us, and won't make much difference at all, unless it's Uwe Boll.

W wrote:
I imagine that whatever Peter Jackson film is next (the Hobbit?)

Buscemi wrote:Could Weitz be the killer of two franchises?