Twilight fans rejoice! A first look at the third film installment to Stephenie Meyer’s wildly popular Twilight series has just appeared online. Check out the teaser trailer for Eclipse below or over at Yahoo in HD. Read the full story

According to Deadline Hollywood, the plans for the final Twilight book, Breaking Dawn film adaptation have been confirmed. Summit will be using the Warner Bros. Harry Potter model and separating the final book into two films  to go into production back-to-back. They are also apparently looking at “high-end” directors for the project. Shooting for the film will reportedly begin in mid-October. The third film in the series, Eclipse will be in theaters June 30th. Read the full story

With its release looming only five months away, post-production for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third film in the series, is underway and the film’s composer has just been pegged. While the first film was scored by Coen Brothers mainstay Carter Burwell (!), and the second had Alexandre Desplat, neither is the choice for the third installment.

Enter Howard Shore, composer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and co-writer of the theme for Late Night/The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. He’s also done work for David Cronenberg in the past, so his work should be held in a high regard considering his pedigree.

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Oscar-winning director Andrea Arnold has found her new project, reports Variety. She will directing an adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, with a script written by Olivia Hetreed. This is a first adaptation for Arnold, as she has written the script for her previous projects. Producer Robert Bernstein said: Read the full story

Recognizing five international and local actors and actresses that have inspired popular acclaim from the British public, the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award has been running for five consecutive years. This year Carey Mulligan, Kristen Stewart, Tahar Rahim, Jesse Eisenberg and Nicholas Hoult were named as the nominees for 2010.

The nominees must have featured in a film between the 1st of January to 31st December 2009 or within the extension period from the 1st of January to the 19th of February 2010.

Mulligan is the talented star of An Education, Hoult appears alongside Colin Firth in A Single Man, Rahim is the star of A Prophet, while Stewart starred in the Twilight Saga: New Moon and Adventureland for which her co-star Jesse Eisenberg was nominated.

The list has strong contention and it is hard to decide who has the greater chance of winning. If Mulligan does not win in the Best Actresss category she will most certainly take this award for Rising Star. The category description however, seems to indicate that popularity is worth more than talent, giving Kristen Stewart’s chances a great boost in the wake of Twilight fever.

The winner will be announced at the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday 21 February at London’s Royal Opera House.

According to a report in the LA Times the fourth and final (thank god) book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, could begin production in the fall for a 2011 release. According to producer Wyck Godfrey, it is unclear if the final installment is going to be one film or if it is going to go the Harry Potter route and split the final book into 2 films. He states that not much else will be known until Melissa Rosenberg finishes the script. The other interesting part of the report is in regards to the character of Bella’s half-human, half-vampire daughter:

“I keep having visions of ‘[The Curious Case of] Benjamin Button’ in my head,” Godfrey said, referring to David Fincher’s Oscar-nominated 2008 fantasy about a man who becomes physically younger as he ages. “It’s certainly going to be visual effects in some capacity along with an actor. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being a full CG creation, but it also may be a human shot on a soundstage that then is used to shrink down. I don’t know. We need a director. When we get a director, that director will need to come with a point of view of how they want to tackle it.”

You will also notice that this statement implies that they have yet to find a director and Godfrey said in regards to the rumors of a possible return by New Moon director Chris Weitz:

“I think everyone would be happy and excited if he came back, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

So that’s about it for now. Would a lot of people be happy if this movie just wasn’t made? Perhaps. Would there be a riot of tweens outside the Summit Studios HQ? Definitely. In any case, Breaking Dawn is happening, and it looks like they aren’t going to change much from the book.

What do you think of this? Do you want to see a Breaking Dawn movie?

According to Production Weekly, award-winning actress Christina Ricci will be taking on the role of Clotilde in Bel Ami, a drama to be directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod. The film also stars Robert Pattinson who will play Georges Duroy, a young man who rises to power in nineteenth century Paris using his manipulative skills over the city’s most influential and wealthy women. Bel Ami is based on a book written by Guy de Maupassant and is not slated for release until 2011. Read the full story

Thanks to a press release from Summit Entertainment, it is now known that the next film in the Twilight franchise, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, will be released in both conventional cinemas and IMAX theaters. Read the full press release below:

[SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT TO DISTRIBUTE THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE TO IMAX® THEATRES BEGINNING JUNE 30, 2010

Los Angeles, CA - December 9, 2009 - IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX; TSX: IMX) and Summit Entertainment announced today that The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third film in the studio’s Twilight franchise, will be released to IMAX^® theatres simultaneously with the film’s launch on June 30, 2010. Directed by David Slade (30 DAYS OF NIGHT, HARD CANDY) and starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience^® with proprietary IMAX DMR^® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie. The film franchise is based on the book series by Stephenie Meyer.

“Twilight moviegoers will have a whole new way to experience this next installment of the series, with the enhanced image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience putting them IN the movie,” said Richie Fay, Summit Entertainment’s President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution. “The IMAX release puts us on the event film calendar for 2010, and we’re very excited to work with IMAX to bring a new kind of film to the IMAX theatre network.”

“Our 2010 film slate continues to fill out with strong titles, and a film from this incredible franchise is a very welcome addition,” said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. “This title fills a valuable spot in our 2010 summer release window, and will no doubt thrill IMAX audiences.”

“We’re very excited to work with our new partners at Summit Entertainment to transport the very loyal and enthusiastic Twilight fans into the world of the Volturi via The IMAX Experience,” added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “With our growing theatre network, we’re poised to take advantage of the rapidly growing fan-base devoted to this dynamic, cutting edge series.”

In The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life.]

The technology being used to remaster the film is the same technology that was used to remaster Star Trek for IMAX as well as many other films that are not shot in the format.

Do I even need to express my complete disgust at this announcement? I’m sure every tween/teen girl is already prepping their wallets for the up-coming purchase. Hell I’m sure some of them are already on line at the box office. The power of this franchise is unbelievably stupid. Any self-respecting filmgoer knows that this was inevitable but no less pointless. The third film is due in theaters June 30th, 2010.

Do you want to see Twilight Eclipse in IMAX?

With New Moon, the second film in the Twilight saga (using that word to its lightest possible extent) setting the box office and the hearts of so many teenage girls on fire, and with the third film Eclipse scheduled for release in only less than seven months, the question of an adaptation of a fourth and final film, to be based on the last book Breaking Dawn, looms large. Sure, these movies are doing very well for themselves and all, but that last book is apparently supposed to be pretty terrible. Not that Twilight was a large creative success, but apparently even fans hate it. I wouldn’t know, as I have next to no association with the series. But with the impending release of the third film, a decision had to be made quick. And it looks like fans may get what they wanted. Or considering they hate the last book, dreaded. Read the full story

I haven’t seen New Moon. I’ve seen the trailers, and heard the instant purring of teen girls when that first shot of Robert Pattinson appeared on the screen, hair going every which way and the thin rouge lips of a Parisian prostitute puckered in a perpetual grimace. I could only fathom their attraction to this androgynous caricature when I saw the boys that accompanied these girls: matted hair in their eyes, milkworm skin with just the hint of pubescent stubble, bottomed by skinny jeans that would require pliers to pull up the zipper. Pattinson is their archetypal epitome. The ultimate in neo-goth trendsetting. I mean, he is a vampire. But his fan base goes beyond the obvious teenage girls (and the wiry, skinny jean wearing boys by extension) and hits an estrogenic demographic I have not witnessed in pop culture since Leo’s dirty blond locks bobbed on the scrim of an icy Atlantic. Read the full story