Hardwicke Not Hired On 'Twilight' Sequel; Summit Looking For 'New Moon' Director

[IndianaGreen]

Hardwicke Not Hired On 'Twilight' Sequel; Summit Looking For 'New Moon' Director

UPDATE: Summit Entertainment Co-Chairman/CEO Rob Friedman just phoned me to add: "Catherine and Summit have agreed to part ways on the sequel because our visions are different." The start-up studio's hastily prepared statement (below) notes: "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."

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 scramble to spin this as all going down amicably along the lines that she "couldn't fit the film into her time frame". But this terrible news for Hardwicke comes just as she and the Twilight cast are on their European press tour. 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. <"To think that the people at Summit are sexist is insulting," an insider there replies to me.> This wasn't a good weekend for female film directors because Lexi Alexander's Punisher: War Zone bombed, earning less than half what Hollywood thought it would. As to whether Hardwicke's career will be damaged by this very public firing is uo for grabs 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.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/hardwicke-fired-from-twilight-franchise/

On edit:

I can't imagine a male director bringing to the screen the Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books. It's just not possible for a man to understand them!