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EXCLUSIVE: Bill Condon has emerged as the number one choice to direct the final two installments of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, I’m told. Summit Entertainment hasn’t signed him, but I’m told that after several strong meetings, they are negotiating. Condon was among a list of A-list directors approved by Summit and Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. That list included Gus Van Sant, Sofia Coppola and Fernando Meirelles. Shooting will begin in the fall, and I heard the plan is to shoot two films back to back. That was just what my colleague Nikki Finke reported. She also wrote that Summit was looking for a big director and Dreamgirls and Gods and Monsters director Condon certainly fits that bill. Presumably, Condon would do this as his next project, and push back the picture he had planned to direct. 
That’s an adaptation of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which he was putting together to be distributed by Fox Searchlight. Casting had been difficult on that one, as Colin Firth was in and out, along with Rachel Weisz and Kristin Scott Thomas. The Twilight job came open when The Twilight Saga: New Moon director Chris Weitz decided not to reprise, despite directing a film that grossed $707 million worldwide., almost doubling the Catherine Hardwicke-directed original’s $385 million worldwide gross. New Moon also broke Twilight’s opening weekend DVD sale record when it moved 4 million units to the 3.8 million of the original Twilight, which went on to become 2009′s top DVD title with 9.2 million sales. David Slade helmed the upcoming installment, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which Summit releases June 30. Condon is also going to direct the Richard Pryor biopic that will star Marlon Wayans and will be made by Columbia Pictures through a put deal held by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison, which is a producer on the project. Like Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, that is going to have to wait for Condon to finish the double feature. Hollywood hasn’t given Summit its due on the Twilight pictures. Like them or not, these pictures have been better than they had to be, given the ferocious fan base. They are exciting movies with a fresh contemporary feel. That Summit keeps pushing the envelope, where director quality is concerned, says a lot in how to keep franchises engaging for fans–something that studios now readying prequels, four-quels and reboots, would be smart to emulate.
Is Bill Condon About To Sink Fangs Into ‘Twilight’ Saga’s Two Final Segments?
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I have to say that I am married to an amazing man who might as well be my Edward. Yet the reason I love these books and movies is simply fantasy. Yes it just so happens the fantasy man is a vampire. Thats not the part of the fantasy a women gets caught up in (well not the majority) yet they get caught up in his love and passion, he’s a gentlemen, that truely looks out for his lady. he is apart of alot of men…yet not the majority. Their are these guys out there but tell me how many you have met. Its a women fantasy..leave it at that. no one is asking you to like enjoy or even participate. let those like me have their fun and love for these movies. We love them you don’t. There are many things I’m sure you love that I don’t but i’m not going to bash them or you for doing so.
Note to Summit & Meyer: Getting well known directors doesn’t legitimize Twilight. It just means you write big checks.
I´m an avid reader of your blog from Spain and… What is this guy thinking! How the director of such a wonderful film like “Gods and monsters” or “Kensey” could become involve in this project!
Please Mister Condon, if you read this blog… No! Come-back to this wonderful movies you used to shot with real caracters!
PS: Dont know, if you are in finalcial problems… A collecte will do to avoid to loose you as filmmaker?
“Hollywood hasn’t given Summit its due on the Twilight pictures. Like them or not, these pictures have been better than they had to be, given the ferocious fan base. They are exciting movies with a fresh contemporary feel. That Summit keeps pushing the envelope, where director quality is concerned, says a lot in how to keep franchises engaging for fans–something that studios now readying prequels, four-quels and reboots, would be smart to emulate.”
Yeah, thanks for the laugh!
These movies are about as exciting as watching paint dry. No, scratch that. Watching paint dry is more exciting than watching these movies. In fact, I think we may have found the cure for insomnia. Because these movies are guaranteed to put you to sleep.
And when Bill Condon decides to direct these movies, he can officially kiss his credibility goodbye.
Ok so I just wanted to back Jessica up! She is absolutely correct. I am 30,and yes I have a life and an education. I love the Twilight Saga. It lets an adult female relive the idea of undieing true love. That at this age, most of us have realized is a fairy tale. So for anyone who wants to say this is for women with no lives, or old women with cats, get over it everyone has a vice and I don’t think Twilight is anything that is going to hurt anyone.
It seems everyone is talking around the central bone of contention. Twilight is a phenomenon with a staggering percentage of women, regardless socioeconomic or marital status, whether they’re a supermodel or spinster. To deny or debate this is a waste of breath and finger taps. My fifteen year old niece infected her own homemaker mother, and the two of then passed the Twilight bug along to my Ivy League educated GF who stayed up all night reading the first book. I was awakened to the sound of her blubbering: “He loved her SO much”. The series has clearly tapped into the zeitgeist and fills a clear vacuum where old school romance once flourished. Not all women love it, but a LOT of them sure do.
The crux of the matter and a big part of the backlash: the movies suck. As compelling as the source material may be to some, these are not quality films from a either a narrative or technical point of view. I actually found the first one to be watchable, if not memorable. The sequel (yes, dragged to the theater by the GF) was so astonishingly poor I actually had to pinch myself a few times to be sure it wasn’t a nightmare. Zero conflict, no chemistry between any of the plastic looking leads, no pacing, bloated exposition, and a whole lot of eye-boinking the camera. The performances: Pattinson (and to a lesser degree Stewart) are so over the exercise you can almost read their vampiric thoughts: how many more installments of this shit-show am I contractually bound to? It was like a two hour soap opera but with worse lighting. I actually was shocked when it ended because it was as if they just got tired of the whole exercise and said “ok, we’re done now”. And lest ye think I’m just a cold hearted bloke, I’m a sucker for a quality romance. Give me “The Notebook” , “When Harry Met Sally” or “The Way we Were” and I’m there, blubbering right along with the rest of you saps.
Net net: the studio is mass producing sugared shit on toast and all the zealots of the series are buying it and declaring it angel food cake. This is what irks me and I’m guessing a few others. Enjoy the books for what they are, but don’t try and sell us that the films are quality and we just don’t get it.
Parting prediction: Condon drops out in six months when he realizes they won’t let him develop the script into a real movie.
I was a Twilight rejecter for a long time, but then read the books to see if my 12 yr old could read them… and began to understand why so many are into them.
I think many who have posted have not given the films and filmmakers enough credit. The books are poorly written and have plenty of cheese, but what Meyer does manage to do is to create an overall structure out of universal themes: love against all odds, self-sacrifice and unrelenting attraction… which is why I believe they strike a chord with so many girls and women.
In the hands of lesser, these movies could have been some real crap had they concentrated on the cheesiest of Meyer’s story. But both films thus far have had that universal love story front and center, while forgoing ALOT of the crappy parts (well with the exception of the baseball scene in the first movie… I mean that was dreadful).
I agree that the casting of Robert Pattinson was a key component to the success of these films. He plays the role with a lot more depth and angst than the character in the books. Think of another young actor in that role and again, you could easily see how the movies could have been a big miss. The franchise depends a lot upon both he and Kristin Stewart. They have chemistry that works.
The films are not great, but having read the books, I am grateful to the filmmakers for fixing up many of Meyer’s misses and restructuring to tell a better story.
I am looking forward to another director’s take on these themes and more importantly, how Condon will take the book with the most Meyer crap and weave that into something watchable. Because while the Breaking Dawn is the most crappy, it is the book with fulfillment in it… fulfillment of the love against all odds, namely, they have sex (albeit in a boring Meyer way), she finally becomes a vampire, they finally then have ultimate fulfillment of an eternity together and what appears to be great vampire sex (again in Meyers boring way). These themes are what attract women, that and Robert Pattinson…
I completely agree with Me in Miami. I too had issues with Meyers’ books being somewhat slow and a tad too mild for such a strong and powerful love between Edward and Bella. There is no doubt Breaking Dawn should be two movies; there’s far too many things that need to be recognized on film to make into one movie. I’m hoping Condon doesn’t stray too far from the essence of the book though. There’s lots of action in it and I would hate to see the love story overtaken by it. By the way, I am a very happily married grandmother (53) who has the most amazing husband ever of 32 years! I would not watch the movie, or read the books until my 30 year old daughter begged me too. I saw the first movie at Christmas time 2009). I just read all four books in 9 days, finishing last week. Then read Midnight Sun in a couple of hours. I am totally-totally addicted to this awesome love story. My loving husband has watched both movies several times and loves them too. He about to start the book series and yes he’s a grandpa of 56 years old. Fortunately for me, his name is “Edward”……now if I can just find a way to make him “sparkle” for me………..
At the end of Breaking Dawn, Bella is pregnant with a supernatural baby. As Bella is giving birth, the baby – being super strong – is killing Bella as it is being delivered. To save Bella, Edward uses his fangs to slice open Bella’s stomach, performing a vampire C-Section. Bella is on the verge of death, so Edward makes her a vampire. Meanwhile, the werewolf boy takes one look at the baby and immediately “imprints” on it, meaning he falls instantly in love, but decides he will wait until the baby is 17 before he has sex with it and marries it.
Have fun filming that, Bill Condon. Pedophilia and Vampire C-Sections.
“The demographic cuts through all four quadrants.” Did you make that up out of thin air? The only men who see these movies are either A) fathers bringing their tween or younger daughters B) boyfriends dragged by their girlfriends or C) gay men. The rest are staying faaaaaaarrrr away.
Nonetheless whether Twilight is for teenage girls or sad, lonely, loveless older women the films are TERRIBLE. Watching Twilight I felt that this it was sub-par even on a TV-movie level. Kristen Stewart who has shown to be a talented actress outside of Twilight appears to be comatose, emotionless. Talk about the writing, I can’t believe the woman that writes Dexter (Melissa Rosenberg) wrote those trashy screenplays but then again how far can a good writer elevate a horribly written trashy book series.
Sure, the third film will gross 250+ million and yet again it will get horrible reviews and no one above a certain IQ will enjoy it or deem it as a decent film. I would have to be paid a considerable amount of money to see any future Twilight film no matter if Bill Condon directs or not. The first film made me feel like Alex De large in A Clockwork Orange forcing my eye lids open to watch that drivel.
The movies and the books are utter tripe, i.e. perfect for Hollywood. The actors are decent enough, it is the soft-core emotion porn that revotls me. (BTW, I have no problem with other people liking stuff I dislike…be aware, I am not attack folks who like this, thats your right. Don’t attack our right to call it the garbage we see it as.)
HOWEVER, if anyone can take crap books, and turn it into a great movie, it is Mr. Condon. I seriously will consider seeing it if he directs. He is that good.
The first Twilight was a great small movie that had an indie feel to it and no one had any idea how well it would do. The film wasn’t perfect (what movie is?) but it was enjoyable to watch and the music selection was awesome. You could feel it was directed by a woman, it had dimension. On other other hand, New Moon was boring, dry and pedestrian and the music was forgettable. It’s logical that it did better because it was tapping into the hype not just from the books but the first movie. The franchises’ fanbase grew. A monkey could have directed it and still made that much BO. Summit forgets that the books were written by a woman, for women, the film was written and directed by women for women and so what do they do? Nickle and dime the director and crew, hire a guy and screw up the franchise. Yes they film earned more money but not because it was a better film. It sucked from start to finish.
Since when is Sofia Coppola an a list director???
I think BD was a terrible book but if anyone can turn it into a good movie its Bill Condon. I have hope for it now. He does get good performances from his actors too.
Yeah Twilights not for everyone but theres no need to bash it if you don’t like it. Just don’t watch it. Simple.
Besides, this movie is going to make a lot of movie anyway because people will want to see the Kristen stewart and rob pattinson sex scene when “edward” and “bella” get married. Its a voyeuristic society and people are obsessed with those two.
Summit better pony up some gross % sharing for them to grab such a high profile director.
“But in all fairness, it would be tough for any director to turn these poorly written novels into a truly great film. Maybe David Fincher, or Chris Nolan could if they made the subject matter a bit darker.”
Or Guillermo del Toro. Shoot, I’d beat a path to the theater to see a Nolan/Fincher/del Toro TWILIGHT version, and I’ve avoided these movies like the plague thus far.
“But I highly doubt Stephanie Meyer would allow that, nor would those directors be interested.”
Hee. I would have given a million to hear the offer reaction of those on this series’ creative shortlist.
These novels were written very well in my opinion. The books are phenomenal just ask just about every household in America and you will see. Everyone I know loves the books and owns them. Most of them have read them more than once. So funny that one person out of every hundred (who probably hasn’t even read the book) says they were poorly written. You are hilarious and really bored with no life yourself because you have time to come on here and put others down. I agree that they would be better if they were a little darker but they were not poorly written.
“As a grandmother myself, it is a great story to share with my sons and daughters in law, and my grandkids.”
So you want your kids and grandkids to believe that true love means having no life outside of being at some stalkery-dude’s beck and call. Hoo, boy…
I just don’t understand why people would come on here and criticize others for showing interest for something. I have read many offensive remarks about mothers not having a life if they read the twilight saga. That is so off base to say the least. Mothers do have lives but need a get away just like everyone else and it is so shallow for someone to put them down for enjoying an interesting story.I know the movies are NOTHING compared to the books. I also know that the movies should have catered more to the 17 and older groups so they could stay true to their writing but they were not. Now people say that older women should not like them because they were meant for tweens. Anyone who has read breaking dawn knows that these books should have been meant for an older crowd. Anyway, I just think that some of the people on here have really crappy personalities, are rude, and insensitive and need a good swift kick in the mouth for some of the things that they say about others. One comment said you would have to UGLY to read these books. Are you serious? Now someone has to have no good looks to them to enjoy reading a book. Unbelievable!!!!
Your grammar is appalling, no wonder you love this tripe. You can’t write, you can barely read. Your damaged chromosomes are sending you a message received from the ether of all mankind — please do not breed.
There is such a plethora of sour pusses on this page that one could easily suspect most of them of being English.
Who else indeed could be so pretentious, so snobbish & so up their own backside to be utterly incapable of understanding what escapism is.
Well, evidently, half the people on here.
Who gives a flying F about NuttyMadam3575 007 666′s comments about grammar & god knows what other poo she’s talking about (seriously stop snorting any old stuff you find lying around, it’s bad for you)or Deering who hasn’t even watched the movies.
Yawn, yawn, yawn, all the hip crowd for which hating anything that comes across as upbeat has become an essential pastime.
Yawn, yawn, yawn as all these guys wouldn’t know a good cinematic effort if it hit them & crushed them dead in a corridor.
Both 1st & 2nd parts were very well written screenplays, ambitious direction, harmonious cinematography.
Bill Condon doesn’t have any experience so far as fantasy & CG are concerned, that might be the biggest worry to keep in mind.
We all know what happened with Quantum of Solace when Marc Foster who had never directed action was given the job.
However, good luck Bill Condon, don’t mess it up.
Twilight is srs. business yo!
One of the main argument is how Twilight is Oscar material, which it really isn’t, is why Summit got Bill Condon. They want to make Twilight seem as though it is just as good as any movies that goes to the Oscar. Blame the fans and the fact that Summit is a joke by producing these movies, now they want to play with the big boys.
Remember Breaking Dawn is the book that broke the fandom. This movie is going to bomb, as for the parents, seriously wtf are you thinking sharing this with your kids.
BD has pedophilia all over it! Which is why the fans IQ are always questioned.
Also, I’m a 23 year old woman and I hate this book. If I want escapism, I go straight to Halo live.
I love the books but the movies could have been better if they had taken the time to make them great if only they had found someone to be a better actress then kristen stewart i cant say that i like any of her movies.
Obviously some ppl have not actually read these books because any sexual content is you makeing it up in your head, it is done tastefully there r no porn scenes at all. What happens in between is all left to imagination so i think breaking dawn will be great especially with stephanie meyer working so closely with it.
Catherine Hardwicke was great because she is emotionally open and able to bring it on to a movie.
Twilight BOOKS have very little action. It’s more relationship stuff, conversations between people…
David Slade was a wrong choice. Why males should be pleased with everything? Most action films are extremely boring. Car crashes… Whoaaa! Time of my life life, said Tom, 5 years old. Why should I live life that is designed by males to males? Can I start existing as a female, with female choices? I choose Twilight by Hardwicke.
Heroes can be many. Some see that the main opponent of any individual is themselves. No need for external opponents in any movie. In Twilight the opponents are the cold, violent, cruel, power hungry Volturis. The story has many layers: don’t miss that.