Categories
Images

Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart pose with UK fan

Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart recently posed with a UK fan outside a supermarket.

What’s nice about these photos is not only the time the two stars took out to pose with a fan, but the fact that a young girl with a camera phone managed to get pictures that a photo agency would envy.

The fact that it is also outside a Somerfield supermarket (not the most glamorous of retail establishments) makes it all the more charming.

UPDATE: Apparently, it was in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight (possibly this branch).

[Photos via Robsessed and Robstenlove and Simon Thompson (@ShowbizSimon) on Twitter]

> Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart at the IMDb
> Find out more about the Twilight films at Wikipedia

Categories
Cinema Thoughts

New Moon

New Moon tickets

For Twilight fans New Moon will be their equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back although for everyone else it’s going to be another teen vampire movie.

For the uninitiated the Twilight films are based on the mega-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer which have been translated into over 20 languages worldwide.

There are currently four books: Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007) and Breaking Dawn (2008) and they have a combined sale of over 25 million copies.

New Moon posterWhen someone at MTV films made the (now catastrophic) decision to pass on making the film adaptations, newcomer Summit Entertainment stepped up and a lucrative film franchise was born.

The first film Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, came out last year and starred Kristen Stewart as Bella, a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire, played by Robert Pattinson.

It grossed over $383 million worldwide, making instant stars of Pattinson and Stewart and also causing wild scenes of fandom at various premieres around the world.

I interviewed Pattinson last year and the resulting podcast was one of the most popular things on this site as Twilight fans downloaded it in droves.

At the premiere later that evening, the massed ranks of teenage girls screaming at him and the cast was something like The Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965.

The new film is expected to do even better: a ‘fan event’ attended by the stars last week in Battersea (complete with red carpet interviews) was so big some radio stations even mistook it for a premiere.

I got a sneak peak of New Moon yesterday at a press screening in London and the audience mostly consisted of media folk (like me), teenage girls and their parents.

The story involves Edward having to go away, Bella discovering new things about her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and a mysterious vampire from the past named Aro (Michael Sheen).

Bearing in mind that I am way out of the target demographic for this material, here are my main thoughts:

  • It is slightly more expansive in terms of the locations (the action even shifts to Italy at one point)
  • Technically, it is an improvement on the original as the supernatural action is more convincingly done.
  • The narrative drags here and there but mostly moves along in a brisk and accessible fashion.
  • Fans of Edward may be a little disappointed that he isn’t in the story for long stretches.
  • Anna Kendrick is funny – she should be given a larger role next time.
  • For people unfamiliar with the books, brush up on Wikipedia or some things are going to leave you a little confused.
  • As a middle story (like The Empire Strikes Back) it leaves a few threads to be tantalisingly picked up on in the next film.
  • The last line of the film is clever as it pushes all the buttons of the audience …all at once.

My basic take is that this is essentially another reasonably well made fantasy film – a franchise like Star Wars or Harry Potter but moulded especially for teenage girls.

But despite the lack of genuine magic, there is no doubt that it will dominate the box office this month and make those publishers and executives who originally turned it down continue to tear their hair out.

Categories
Amusing

Buffy Summers meets Edward Cullen

This mashup of perky vampire slayer Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and brooding vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is rather well done.

The visual pallete doesn’t match (for obvious reasons) but the editing is top notch.

> Find out more about Buffy Summers and Edward Cullen at Wikipedia
> Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight at the IMDb

Categories
Amusing Trailers

Trailer: New Moon

This is the trailer for the new Twilight film New Moon.

By the way, it is worth noting that Summit and MTV have been smart in allowing the above trailer to have an embed code.

This means it can be posted to any blog or website, which is a change from the ‘exclusive’ trailers that only show on Yahoo.

In those cases they may get some money to be exclusively shown on one site (even though they usually end up bootlegged on YouTube anyway) but surely the idea is to get as many views as possible all over the web.

In essence, it is better to have the viral nature of the Internet (and legions of Twilight fans) working for and not against you.

New Moon is out at cinemas on November 20th and has already inspired some fans to go a bit crazy.

> More on New Moon at Wikipedia
> Listen to my interview with Robert Pattinson about Twilight

Categories
Amusing

Twilight With Cheeseburgers

A spoof of Twilight which replaces Kristen Stewart with a cheeseburger.

It was created by The UCB Midnight Show 

> The original Twilight trailer
> More on the film at Wikipedia
> My Twilight interview with Robert Pattinson

Categories
Amusing

The Twilight Puppet Saga

Twilight done in 3 minutes with puppets.

[Link via Anne Thompson]

Categories
Cinema Interviews Podcast

Interview: Robert Pattinson on Twilight

Twilight is the film adaptation of the novel by Stephenie Meyer and it Kristen Stewart as Bella, a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire, played by Robert Pattinson.

I recently spoke to Robert in London about the film, his character, the Twilight phenomenon and his previous work in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Listen to the interview here on Soundcloud:

You also can download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here

Twilight is out in UK cinemas on Friday 19th December

UPDATE 14/07/12: Twilight became a huge hit and made enormous stars of its cast. It also took my site down as thousands of people tried to download it.

Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Robert Pattinson at the IMDb
Official site for Twilight
Find out more about the novel at Wikipedia
> Listen to our interview with co-star Cam Gigandet on Twilight

Categories
Box Office Cinema News

Twilight set to rule the US box office

Twilight is the film adaptation of the novel by Stephenie Meyer that looks set to rule the US box office this weekend. 

The book is an international bestseller which has been translated into over 20 languages worldwide and there are currently four ‘Twilight’ novels: Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007) and Breaking Dawn (2008).

They have a combined sale of over 25 million copies, which helps to make this one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year and the start of a lucrative franchise for Summit Entertainment.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke it stars Kristen Stewart as Bella, a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire, played by Robert Pattinson.

It opens in the US tomorrow (and on the UK in December 19th) and pundits are already predicting that it will take a huge bite out of the box office competition. 

Steven Mason of Fantasy Moguls is predicting a $60 million weekend opening, calling it: 

… a phenomenon in industry tracking and advance sales, and two separate competing studio sources are telling me that they expect the film adaptation of Bella and Edward’s forbidden romance to top $60 million in its opening three days.

He has also writes that the film is skewing towards females:

Industry tracking indicates that Females Under 25 will make up the core audience for Twilight, but Females 25 Plus, including moms, have “Definite Interest” in seeing it.

It’s not entirely surprising, considering that there is even a website called TwilightMoms.com.

Interestingly, although there aren’[t many Males Under 25 who name Twilight as their “First Choice” in tracking data, an industry insider tells me that the “Definitely Not Interested” score with young males isn’t through the roof.

If Twilight is not especially objectionable to teenage guys, then they are more likely to be dragged to see it by girlfriends and dates this weekend.

Earlier this week Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that pre-sales of tickets doing a brisk trade:

Summit Entertainment will be running the pic in 3,386 theaters and has arranged with the major theater circuits for Thursday midnight or Friday morning shows.

As of noon ET today, Twilight has already sold out 389 performances at MovieTickets.com, including more than 140 this past weekend alone. 

Four days prior to its release,Twilight is already No. 20 on MovieTickets’ Top-20 Pre-Sale List of All-Time. The pic has accounted for 85% of tickets sold on the site today. 

She had already reported the following facts:

  1. The official film website has received over 11 million views since October. 
  2. The trailers have garnered over 12 million views on MySpace, which is a record. 
  3. The debut of the final trailer in the Twilight widget and on MySpace Trailer Park generated over 3.5 million views in the first 48 hours. 
  4. It’s the 3rd most searched movie on IMDb Pro’s MOVIEMeter (others above it are already in theaters).
  5. The Entertainment Weekly “Twilight Saga” cover was the best-seller of the year for the mag, surpassing the Dark Knight and Harry Potter covers. 
  6. The Twilight soundtrack is #1 (on Top 200, Soundtrack and Alternative charts) after one week of release. It’s the first soundtrack to accomplish this feat in 6 years (since 8 Mile was released). 

All of which has taken Hollywood a bit by surprise. Although it was expected to do well, in recent weeks the buzz has reached fever pitch.

Whatever happens it looks like it will be a major hit, which will be impressive for a film with an estimated production budget of $37 million.

Plus, it will be the first major film for Summit Entertainment, which has had a series of box office duds since they got into production, acquisition and distribution.

The execs at MTV Films must be kicking themselves as they originally had the film rights but passed on the project before selling it to Summit.

Will it deliver the goods? I’m seeing it on Sunday so I’ll write some thoughts then.

Twilight opens in the US tomorrow and in the UK on December 19th

> Official Twilight website
> Find out more about the Twilight books at Wikipedia
> Listen to our interview with Cam Gigandet (who plays the main villain in the film)

Categories
Cinema Interviews Podcast

Interview: Cam Gigandet on Twilight

Twilight is the upcoming film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.

The book is a bestseller, which has been translated into over 20 langauges worldwide, and is one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year.

It is directed by Catherine Hardwicke and stars Kristen Stewart as Bella, a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire, played by Robert Pattinson.

I recently spoke to Cam Gigandet, who plays James, the leader of a group of nomadic vampires who intends to kill Bella.

Listen to the interview here:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Cam_Gigandet_ on _Twilight.mp3]

You can download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here

Twilight is out in UK cinemas on Friday 19th December and in the US on November 21st

Download this interview as an MP3 file
Cam Gigandet at the IMDb
> Official site for Twilight
> Find out more about the novel at Wikipedia