Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
Here's the short answer: Um, like, Robert Pattinson is still in it, right?
By now a majority of the universe is well aware that Catherine Hardwicke will not be returning as director on the next two Twilight films, New Moon and Eclipse, which may or may not be shot back-to-back so that Summit Entertainment hits it core audience before they grow up and have better things to do. Today, as Twilight has crossed the $150 million mark in worldwide box office grosses, folks wondered why Summit gave Hardwicke the boot, whether she was being difficult in demanding a little more time than, I dunno, a week to develop and plan out the next two sequels, or if there were other, more sensational reasons behind her exit. Needless to say, everyone (and their sexy vampire boyfriend) in our gossip-obsessed society wants to know what happened, and whether fans will drive a stake through Summit's wallet should they hire a male director to continue the franchise.
But does it really matter who directs the Twilight sequel? I mean, for something in the neighborhood of a twelve-dollar budget, Twilight hit the freakin' jackpot at the box office. Heck, New Moon could be all hand shadows and the flick would still pull in, like, 20 times more than Punisher: War Zone. Since Summit wants to introduce the Saw style of filmmaking to the series and churn out New Moon in one year (they're targeting a release date of late 2009, early 2010), chances are the film will feel rushed and rough around the edges no matter who's at the helm.
So here's our question: Does it matter who directs the Twilight sequel(s)? Does it need to be a female in order to retain the audience, or does gender not matter? Sound off below ...
Oh, and in other news: Here comes the Twilight conventions ...
