Chris Weitz Eyed for ‘New Moon’
Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) appears to be the leading candidate to replace Catherine Hardwicke on New Moon, the sequel to Twilight.
Deadline Hollywood reveals, “my source says Summit Entertainment liked the look of [Compass] even if it didn’t heat up the domestic box office (but did better overseas). I don’t have official confirmation yet that this Twilight sequel offer has gone out to Weitz. But my insider says another reason it came down is because Weitz and Summit’s president of production Eric Feig are longtime pals.
“But let’s also not forget Weitz’s behavior on Golden Compass. On December 15, 2004, Weitz announced his resignation as director of the trilogy, citing the enormous technical challenges of the epic and later admitting he was worried about dissing by the book’s fans. After another helmer came on and then walked off, Weitz returned to direct saying he’d done ‘a lot of growing in the interim’.”
The current plan seems to call for New Moon and Eclipse to be shot back-to-back which would certainly tax most directors but makes financial sense for the small studio.Summit, today, announced a November 20, 2009 release date which puts the project on a faster-than-anticipated schedule.
I am sorry hear Catherine Hardwike won't be directing new moon, she did a really good job with Twilight. I hope they find a women to direct New Moon because after all it is a love story between two people rather a vampire and a mortal. I just hope they keep it true to the books. I am in no way knocking Chris Weitz directing but he is after all a guy and these movies need women director's.