Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? We consider the contenders for the sequel to the vampire sensation
Catherine Hardwicke exited Twilight sequel New Moon earlier this week. Whether she jumped or was pushed is open to debate, but one thing is for certain: Summit Entertainment is actively seeking a new director to continue their vampire saga. A shortlist has apparently been drawn up, but we thought we'd have a go at putting together our own list of potential candidates.
First of all, a few ground rules. No A-listers - Summit will ideally want a more malleable director. The director has to be free to go, with no commitments clogging up their immediate schedule. Though Summit has expressed a preference for another female director, we've thrown a few blokes in there as acknowledgement that that may be the direction the distributor ultimately goes in. And, ideally, any experience in the genre, be it romance, horror, or all things tweeny, will come in handy.
Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Chris Weitz Pros: Hotly tipped to be the actual next director since he's buddies with the head of Summit, Weitz is a talented director who has handled dialogue-filled movies (About A Boy) and special effects bonanzas (The Golden Compass). He also lacks a clear directorial imprint, so won't smother New Moon in stylistic quirks.
Cons: Although by no means a disaster, there's a sense that The Golden Compass was too big for him. Would he suffer with New Moon? And would he be able to make any changes to the book?
Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Kathryn Bigelow Pros: Probably the best female director around, Bigelow is back back back with Iraq-set thriller The Hurt Locker, which Summit picked up for release not too long ago. She'd make New Moon rock hard - and when it comes to vampires, she helped write the book with a little movie called Near Dark...
Cons: Romance has never been her strongpoint, she's pretty damn strong-willed and, visually, her take on New Moon would almost certainly represent a paradigm shift away from Twilight, which might alienate some of those fan(atics).
Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Lexi Alexander Pros: The German director's work on Punisher: War Zone and Green Street Hooligans showed that she can handle action - hardly surprising for an ex-stuntwoman. She's ready to make the step up to the big-time.
Cons: She's bold, brash and speaks her mind, allegedly one of the reasons why Summit might have had problems with Hardwicke. She might find the whole concept of Twilight too wishy-washy. Oh, and Punisher: War Zone, for all its technical excellence and inventive, well-staged action, utterly tanked at the box office last weekend, which might have damaged her reputation somewhat.
Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Mimi Leder Pros: One of the few female directors to get the chance to handle a big-budget, FX- heavy movie (Deep Impact), Leder also directed Pay It Forward, and so is no stranger to movies that wear their hearts on their sleeve. She's recently got back into directing after a relatively long hiatus.
Cons: She directed Pay It Forward.
Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Sofia Coppola Pros: A fine composer of sombre moods, which would be well-suited for some of New Moon's more downbeat passages. Her indie sensibilities should keep the budget down, which will please Summit.
Cons: She's used to doing things her own way, and might be another director who wants to make Bella more pro-active. Also, she hasn't worked with effects to any great degree.
Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Diablo Cody Pros: Who wouldn't want to see Cody sass up the Twilight franchise? Her involvement in New Moon might mean that Bella is more pro-active and less mopey than in the novel. Also, Cody is a bit of a horror nut, so we could expect some genuine scares.
Cons: Given that the entire plot of this book revolves around Bella being non pro-active, that might be a bad thing. We also can't help but shake the feeling that Cody would think Twilight is irretrievably lame - and, as yet, she's not a director.
Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Neil Marshall Pros: He knows his way around werewolves, as Dog Soldiers more than ably proved, has a keen visual sense, and may be looking to do something different from his usual all-out adrenaline fests. The Descent and Doomsday were also female-driven movies. He's just beginning to show signs of wanting to work in Hollywood, too.
Cons: For the life of us, we know that Marshall would knock this out of the park, but we can't see it happening. He's clearly a man who doesn't like his movies to pull punches - could he work within the framework of a PG-13, romance-heavy flick?
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Your Comments
RE: Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel?
xartsnarlx i totally agree with you! the first one was terrible but i watched new moon the other day, much better :) chris weitz did a better job than catherine watsherface :P ... Read More
oh god i watched twilight the other day and I didn't like it at all.The story wasn't well done in movie form.If there is a sequel I hope it will be better... ... Read More
RE: Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Chris Weitz will!
Seeing as Meyer is planning to re-do the series from Edward's point of view (cynical yet slightly genius move?), then maybe once the films have been done "properly", Verhoeven, Bay and Boll can give the reverse films a lash! ... Read More
RE: Who Will Direct The Twilight Sequel? Chris Weitz will!
Well, Chris Weitz got it in the end. It's all official 'n stuff (well, I read it on Nikki Finke! If it weren't for den Compass would look alright. That was a bit pants. I hope he gets a good CGI team to work with!
... Read More
first of all, i really resented the criticisms Ms Hardwicke got. if you have read the book, she couldnt have done a better job, both visually and in rendering the whole atmosphere (eerieness combined with the hight school romance bits) as well as story turns. the pace was good, music involving and big screen Bella (but also a less important character like Jess) sometimes are more likable than their literary omologues. Anyhoo, ranting aside, i'm not good at directors. but of the ones you mention,... Read More
first of all, i really resented the criticisms Ms Hardwicke got. if you have read the book, she couldnt have done a better job, both visually and in rendering the whole atmosphere (eerieness combined with the hight school romance bits) as well as story turns. the pace was good, music involving and big screen Bella (but also a less important character like Jess) sometimes are more likable than their literary omologues. Anyhoo, ranting aside, i'm not good at directors. but of the ones you mention,... Read More
i think sofia might be the right choice, she does romance, stillness and youthful depression like no other, and thats what really sums up new moon. she might have some trouble with the warewolves and action sequences though. bigelow could handle the warewolves i'm sure! ... Read More
Well done for not suggesting that Guillermo del Toro should direct it.
Also, the Golden Compass wasn't a disaster? If a boring, lifeless, 'two star' adaptation of a wonderful book isn't a cinematic disaster, then I don't know what is. ... Read More
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