NEW MOON, new director!

by Matt Holmes

It's simple really. The TWILIGHT franchise having made $159 million worldwide (and it's yet to open in the U.K. yet) at the box office from a budget of $37 million, is now too big for Indie director Catherine Hardwicke to continue. She has laid the groundwork but the franchise requires someone with a blockbuster touch now. Someone who could make this series the new HARRY POTTER. Hardwicke will say it's due to timing (which could be true, NEW MOON will begin filming in March time and needs to be in theatres no latter than early 2010) but I think Summit Entertainment wants a bigger name and Hardwicke isn't all that comfortable with helming a big franchise...

"I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct 'New Moon,'" said Hardwicke. "Directing 'Twilight' has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel-- it is a great story."
Summit said in the same official press release...
"Catherine did an incredible job in helping us to launch the 'Twilight' franchise and we thank her for all of her efforts and we very much hope to work with her on future Summit projects," said Erik Feig, Summit's President of Production. "We as a studio have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created. We are able to pursue an aggressive time frame as we have the luxury of only adapting the novels into screenplays as opposed to having to create a storyline from scratch."
Of course even before this announcement many "what if" scenario's had brought up the name Kathryn Bigelow, the rare female action director behind POINT BREAK and recently THE HURT LOCKER. A sore point for many with TWILIGHT was how Hardwicke dealt with the action sequences, Bigelow has a solid record in that regard. Her name comes up almost as a given because of the lack of female directors out there. No-one is yet to suggest giving this franchise to a man...
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Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.