There won't be any musical numbers - Bill Condon writes message to Twilight fans

I adore Bill Condon, and have since his film Gods and Monsters.  I was a bit surprised that Summit was looking at more than one Oscar nominated director for Breaking Dawn.  I think Bill Condon is a very intriguing choice to direct what will likely be two final films (why kill the cash cow early after all?)  Young fans likely only know him from Dreamgirls, but he started in horror films, (Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh) and Gods and Monsters is a film about the last part of legendary film director Jim Whale's (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) life.  Bill Condon won an Oscar for the screen play of Gods and Monsters, and it garnered Oscar acting nominations for Lynn Redgrave and Ian McKellan (who as robbed!).  Any Twilight fan should run out and rent Gods and Monsters, one of my all time favorite films.

I love how Bill Condon starts this note to the fans on Facebook as I am certainly one of those Twilight Moms:

Greetings Twihards, Twifans, Twilight Moms, Team Edward, Team Jacob and Team Switzerland,

I just want to say hello to all of you and let you know that I'm stoked to be getting underway on the adventure of making BREAKING DAWN. As you've probably heard, I've been given a very warm welcome by Stephenie and Team Summit - who are super-focused, as you know, on getting these movies right.

I'm pretty busy bringing myself up to speed on what you already know by heart: I've read BREAKING DAWN twice, rewatched Catherine's and Chris's movies 2-3 times each, have all four CDs playing in my car, and have Catherine's notebook, Mark Cotta Vaz's companion books, and even Volume 1 of the graphic novel here on my desk - a corner of my office is starting to look like Hot Topic. I realize that this barely qualifies me for "newborn" status in the universe you've been living inside for a few years now, but a guy's gotta start somewhere.

Like many of you, I've always been slightly obsessed with vampires, dating back to the prime-time series DARK SHADOWS, which I followed avidly as a kid. But that alone hadn't been enough to get me interested in making a vampire movie, even though my early screenwriting and directing efforts grew out of a great love for horror movies and thrillers. Since making GODS AND MONSTERS thirteen years ago, however, I've been yearning for a return to a story with Gothic overtones.

The wonderful world that Stephenie has created has obviously struck a chord with you, and I don't think it's difficult to see why. For me, her characters are simultaneously timeless, yet very modern. Rooted in a beautiful, real landscape with a great sense of place, Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of the Forks/La Push menagerie, experience emotions that are primal, and universal: desire, despair, jealousy - and it all comes to fruition in BREAKING DAWN. This is a final chapter in the best sense; not just wide in scope and scale, but emotionally charged and intense throughout.

I'm a huge admirer of the already-iconic Kristen, Robert, and Taylor, and wanted to be the one to work with them as they face the challenges of bringing your beloved characters to the end of their journeys. Really, what could be more fun than that?

Please feel free to ask questions in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to answer them. I hope that this will be the first of many occasions I'll get to check in with you as we set to work bringing BREAKING DAWN to the screen. I am excited and grateful to have all of you alongside me for my TWILIGHT journey.

All best,

Bill Condon

P.S. Answer #1: No, there won't be any musical numbers.

It's Official - Breaking Dawn will be Two Films

It's official! According to Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood, the deals have been struck to make Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer's longest novel in the Twilight series, into two films. They will be shot back to back in October. No word yet on the director.

Breaking Dawn is being adapted by Melissa Rosenberg, who has adapted the scripts for all the other Twilight movies.  She'll have a bit more of a challenge with Breaking Dawn, as several of the scenes in the book are definitely not PG-13.

I'm not at all surprised that they decided to go with two films.  It's just like The Hobbit.  Why wouldn't you milk the franchise for all you can, if you can get the actors to sign on for both?  Wonder how much Summit had to pay to make this happen, as the three main actors had only signed for four films.

Eclipse is due out June 30th.

Simon Pegg as Renesmee?

Simon Pegg is hilarious in the movies, and also very funny in his twitter posts! Here's what he tweeted this week:

• Yes!!!! I've been accepted into Hogwarts to do a post grad in technical drawing. Second choice after Bristol Uni but hey, cute witches.
• Oh great they don't allow dogs. It's either cats or toads. That's fucking disgraceful. I'm making a formal complaint to UCCA. Magic that!
• They've made an acception because Minnie can speak German. Yay!!
• They've revoked the offer due to my inability to distinguish between 'exception' and 'acception'. I'm doing a B-tech at Cheltenham Ladies.
• Dear news vultures picking thru my banal tweets for scraps of relevance, I am NOT in Harry Potter but I am the new Q in James Bond. (FALSE).
• And I'm playing Renesmee in Breaking Dawn. Using MoCap to turn me into a creepy, psychic baby. It's tough on Kristen, she has to carry me.
• I actually got the part because I am an exact cross between Rpattz and Kstew. Who knew such beauty could in combination produce this face?
• Me and Taylor had coffee last week. We had a couple of croissants then he imprinted. Haven't been able to get rid of him since. So method!

ROFLMAO!!!

Producer says there is "every intention" of making Breaking Dawn

/Film pointed out this short film clip on the Making Of site, where producer Wyck Godfrey talks about the plans for making Breaking Dawn:


Breaking Dawn is a very different book from the others in the series. It's definitely an adult book with the marriage of Bella and Edward leading to sex scenes and a bizarre new relationship for Jacob. Adapting that script to keep the movie PG-13 could be much more of a challenge. Really though, with the extreme financial success of the first two Twilight movies, was there any doubt they'd adapt the fourth book?

There are four clips of producer Wyck Godfrey discussing New Moon and Twilight, including breaking down the cliff jumping scene in New Moon. My favorite was this one about the casting difficulties of Twilight. "Why don't we look at some of those Harry Potter kids..." lol!