Chris Weitz Talks New Moon...What Does He Regret?

Chris Weitz answered some questions about the New Moon DVD and Twilight on BuzzSugar.com.

When you go back and watch it again, are there things you'd like to change if you could? I would like to never have shot Rob and Kristen running through the forest and Kristen's just turned into a vampire. Because everybody always laughs and it makes me feel terrible. [Laughs] I would have shot it a different way so it wouldn't get that response. But otherwise, I'm very happy with things.

Ah, sorry Chris, I did laugh the first time I saw it. Read the full interview here.

10 Things Hidden in the New Moon Movie

Chris Weitz has released 10 things that they 'hid' in the New Moon Movie...check it out here!

New Moon DVD Details

The movie just hit the theaters a few days ago, but MTV and Chris Weitz have some details about the DVD which is expected to hit stores in the first quarter of 2010. Is it wrong that I can't wait for the DVD?? (I am particularly excited to watch the movie with the commentary, that is seriously the best way to watch Twilight on DVD)

"There will be a commentary track," Weitz revealed, saying that he'll soon head into the recording booth with his three big stars, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner. "It'll just be us riffing off each other in our intimate way," he grinned. "We kind of like each other, so that should be fun."

There will be probably about 20 minutes of deleted material," he explained, promising some meaty footage. "It really is good stuff and a bonus for the fans." Among this bonus footage could be several moments MTV knows was shot but did not make the final "New Moon" cut, including:
» A scene with Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria driving to Forks in a car, snacking on a dead human. It was one of the final moments the actress filmed as the
nomadic vampire.
» A scene with the human characters eating Burger King.
» Another scene with the humans, this time with Justin Chon and Michael Welch expressing jealousy over Edward's car.
» More scenes with the Volturi in Italy.
» An extended cut of the scene where Mike Newton quotes Shakespeare to Bella in the Forks High parking lot; in it, he does a Marlon Brando impersonation.
» Scenes alluding to the ongoing breakup between Newton and Anna Kendrick's Jessica.

"When I made the film, I wanted it to arrive at a certain kind of flow and cadence," Weitz said of why he had to leave so many scenes on the cutting-room floor but hopes to restore many for the DVD. "[They would have affected] how the movie worked, and they didn't completely fit. But there'll be some groovy stuff in [the DVD]."

LOL...Groovy.

Read the article / watch video here

Rotten Tomatoes Talk Chris Weitz

Rachelle Lefevre on Weitz: "Chris is much quieter and calmer anyway, he just has a different style, but also he's come into a world that somebody went through all of that to bring to life. And so I feel like part of the reason he came in maybe a little more quiet was just sort of respect the fact that he didn't just show up and go, 'All right guys. It's Chris Weitz's Twilight now.' He didn't do that at all. He completely respected that somebody else had laid the foundation and he was like, all right, here's where I'm going to take it within the realm of what's already been established. And so it's a different job, you know? It's something that he's executing beautifully because we all really feel both directed and respected in terms of what we've already done. We love him."

Read the whole article here.

MTV Talks to New Moon Director Chris Weitz

MTV has posted a new interview with Chris Weitz. He talks about "Apparition Edward", Dakota Fanning as Jane, Taylor Lautner as Jane and much more.

Check out interview here.

Naked Volturi

Earlier this week Jamie Campbell Bower (Caius) did an interview with MTV in which he spoke about a nude scene with Caius, Aro & Marcus. He was sort of joking, but sounded pretty serious. Tonight His Golden Eyes is reporting the Summit / Chris Weitz released the following.

LOL

Dear all,
I would like to put everyone’s mind at rest and let them know that the Volturi are not naked! Jamie (Campbell-Bower) has what you might call a dry sense of humor and almost managed to convince me — which is why he’s such a good actor. Anyway, be assured that, even though we do want the look of the Volturi to be a bit of a surprise, they are always — as in the book! — fully clothed.
best,Chris Weitz

Hollywood.com - 21 Questions with Chris Weitz

I think at least some of this has been reported on earlier this week, but Hollywood.com has a nice (and informative) interview with New Moon Director, Chris Weitz.

Check it out here.

New Picture of Bella, Jacob, Alice Filming New Moon

Check out this new picture from the set of New Moon; Bella, Alice and Jacob in Bella's living room. I think it's safe to assume this is when Alice comes back to Forks after "seeing" Bella die (or not lol). Maybe the night of the cliff dive or the day the phone call from Edward comes in. Also, in the foreground is director Chris Weitz.

I have to be honest with you, seeing this makes me want to eeeeeeeeeeeeee like a little school girl! Only 122 days to go until we can finally see this movie!!

Source: NewMoonMovie.org

HitFlix Exclusive: 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' Director Chris Weitz reveals all

HitFlix has posted a really great interview with Chris Weitz, director of New Moon. It's very long but absolutely worth reading.

Some highlights for me are him confirming the proposal WILL be part of the film, maybe it'll play out a bit differently than in the book, but it will be there; talking about the music (score and soundtrack) and oh heck, there are too many things for me to mention.

Check it out here.

A really BIG article with lots of tidbits buried inside

The South Florida Sun Sentinel has a new article by By Gina McIntyre (Tribune Newspapers) who was lucky enough to spend some time in Vancouver on the set of New Moon. It's a pretty long article, but has a bunch of good stuff in it. You can see the entire article here or check out, what I consider to be, the highlights below, with my comments in bold red :-) (Note: I had a really hard time getting this post to format right sorry if it looks kinda wonky)

They put a lot of effort into making the 'fleeting Edward images' and I am very excited about that!! Since Bella didn't see him in the book, I was skeptical, but if done right I think this could be fabulous.

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is shooting, the lanky English heartthrob stands in front of a tall, wide green screen murmuring a tender admonition, "You promised me nothing reckless." Motion capture cameras hurtle toward him across a length of track affixed to the stage floor, while a team of technicians studies his stance and the tilt of his head. The plan is to digitally insert Pattinson, who plays swoony good guy vampire Edward Cullen, into a scene that was filmed much earlier—one in which he appears as an apparition to his costar, Kristen Stewart, cautioning her headstrong character Bella Swan against hanging out with some unsavory-looking biker types. For the effect to work, Pattinson's image will need to be dropped in at exactly the right position, so despite the cast and crew nearing the end of a very long early May day, perfectionism is still the standard.

Director Chris Weitz really cares about the book, the literature. He is genuinely invested and cares about the book to film aspect of this movie! He was saddened by what happened with The Golden Compass.

Between takes, Pattinson chats with the crew while director Chris Weitz stands several feet away, his arms folded behind his head. Visual effects, "that's not my thing," he concedes with a wry smile.What does interest him is literature. Due in theaters Nov. 20, "New Moon" will mark his third consecutive literary adaptation.

.....During post-production on "Compass," concerns over the story's take on organized religion and its grim ending caused studio New Line to take control of the $180 million movie.....Weitz still despairs that he was unable to faithfully execute Pullman's vision....."It's one of the great sadnesses of my life that it didn't turn out the way I intended it," he says. "New Moon," a story about surviving the ultimate heartbreak and loss, is Weitz's chance to heal his wounds and find a new creative path.

The level of fame brought on by Twilight makes it's two lead stars very uncomfortable (not that that's news, but it's still sad) as EVERY aspect of their lives has become public, in a big way.

.....a stratospheric level of stardom that seems to make both actors deeply uncomfortable. Their reticence about fame is understandable: The nature of their off-screen relationship has become the frequent subject of tabloid speculation. These days, they've taken to declining a number of interviews, politely refusing to answer questions posed even by journalists invited to visit the set.

You get a sense from Taylor of how much they appreciate the fans, but feel overwhelmed by it all.

"I don't know if you can get used to it," the baby-faced Lautner says of the unbridled ardor the series inspires. "We have seen the passion and dedication in the fans. It's fantastic. We wouldn't be here without them, but they're everywhere."You're always experiencing the fans," adds Lautner, who spent nearly a year in the gym training for the physical demands of his "New Moon" role. "Sometimes it does get a little overwhelming."

Finally something about the Volturi scenes!!!! I have been dying to know something more about them!! (Actually I am torn between wanting to see/hear about the Volturi scenes and keeping them a surprise. Imagine how cool it would be to see them on the big screen for the very first time without having been spoiled??)

....the "New Moon" cast and crew are about to spend the better part of a 12-hour day inside the elaborate fiction of an Italianate marble hall complete with columns and engravings in Latin. Today, that vampire ruling council is ruminating over the fate of Edward and Bella. Walking forward with his arms extended, Aro, played by British actor Michael Sheen, sporting blood-red contact lenses, offers a vaguely sinister greeting to his reluctant guests.

Weitz seems to be really vested in the actors and their characters, he wants to hear and consider that they think and how they feel about scenes, lines, etc. That's Great!

....with Pattinson at one point leaving the set to consult with Weitz about a particular line of dialogue. Standing by the monitors, the pair run through a number of options, while Stewart sits on the floor looking a little bored as she waits for the cameras to resume rolling. After several minutes, Pattinson, wearing a long, red robe and fake bruises painted beneath his eyes, returns to his mark, and filming resumes. "I promised the actors that no matter what, we would have time to discuss every single line," Weitz explains. "There was a line that he felt was repetitive, and Rob wasn't feeling where he was in the scene. We worked it out and came up with some alternate dialogue. I can work on the fly a bit because I'm a writer-director, which is helpful. I don't feel stuck or panicky when an actor is not down with a particular piece of dialogue."

BREAKING DAWN! As much as I love some parts and don't love other parts of this book I am hoping, (praying!) as are you, that it will be made into a movie. God, just think about the first 1/4 of the book and how amazing it could be!! (Note: Godfrey is Producer Wyck Godfrey)

A bigger question mark hangs over what is the most adult entry in Meyer's series, "Breaking Dawn." Godfrey was mum as to specifics, saying only that everyone involved fully intends to make what would be the fourth movie. (The Web site imdb.com lists "Breaking Dawn" as in development with a tentative 2011 release date.)"We're shooting 'New Moon,' prepping 'Eclipse,' doing all the marketing—it's a little overwhelming to really think in a detailed manner of how we're going to crack this, but we have every intention to," he said of "Dawn."

A hint at what scenes will be revealed at Comic-Con! Can't wait to see them - Thank Goodness for YouTube.

... in only a few days, Weitz will face 6,000-plus screaming fans as he unveils some never-before-seen footage from "New Moon" at Comic-Con International ..... The two sequences he's readying for the event—one, an action scene that will feature some of those effects, the other, a love scene sure to elicit a certain amount of hysteria from the crowd—will be ready in time.

OK so, I feel even better about Chris Weitz; sadder for Robert and the fandemonium he faces; excited about the Volturi scenes; happy to hear some official yet unofficial word on Breaking Dawn, and again really excited to see the scenes that will come out of Comic-Con! Any speculation on what scenes they will show???

Interview with Chris Weitz

Metro Canada has posted the third installment of their behind-the-scenes look at the filming of New Moon, an interview with the Director Chris Weitz. (The second installment was an interview with Taylor Lautner, there wasn't really anything new to report, you can find that interview here.)

You can access the interview with Chris Weitz here. I have included some of the highlights. I love the way he answers the Stephen King question, what he says about sticking to the book and his thoughts on the music. Everyday I wait to hear something more about the music, wonder when the soundtrack and/or score will be released.

Q. What was your reaction when you were first offered the job?
A. .......Kristen, Rob and Taylor were great' - that’s what convinced me to do it. And I read the book and I thought I saw my way of making a good version of the book. It’s really a question of whether I can do justice to the book and to please the readers. That’s my job. It’s not to run away with it and just do my version of things. It’s to be faithful to their experience of reading it.

Q. “Twilight”, the first installment of the series, received some criticism for not being 100 per cent true to the book. Are you addressing some of these issues?
A. It’s impossible to be completely faithful to every single page of a book because movies don’t have enough time. So you end up cutting things and combining things. But I would say that we’re definitely using the book as our bible. My take on this film is the film is the book and Stephanie Mayer is my main resource for everything in this. I’m constantly checking with her to see if it’s something a character would do or a detail is right. You can never absolutely please everybody but my main intention is to satisfy the fans of the book.

Q. You’re a very visual director. What’s your vision for New Moon?
A. We’ve got an amazing visual effects team. The whole idea is to use the full palette of colors, to have our shadows be very dark and to have our colours be very rich so that we can experience the full range of emotional texture. The idea is that this will look like a Victorian narrative painting in a way, with those medieval jewel-like colours as well as very glossy deep blacks, and for the composition of the frames to be classical. In some ways, this is going to be a rather old-fashioned film. There are elements that incorporate the latest technology and there are things that are very dynamic in the action scenes. But it’s more Dr. Zhivago than Iron Man.

Q. Is it a way of aiming at older audiences?
A. I think that would be nice, too. Actually, I think there’s an older audience for the books as well -- which is the hidden demographic that people don’t acknowledge, that people’s mom’s are reading this as well! I want to render a version that satisfies the fans of the book but also appeals to an older audience as well. Alexander Desplats is going to do the music, which is another great thing for me. He’s someone I worked with before. I think he’s immensely talented. So the idea is to make something beautiful.

Q. Is the music very important in this kind of film?
A. It is. The book itself is a very internalized narrative and music can be extraordinarily helpful in conveying those kinds of nuances of emotion which otherwise what you would rely on is voiceover or people flat out stating what they feel, which they never, ever do. So it helps you avoid exposition and it can make it intro a really gorgeous nuanced affair. Films enjoy more senses that almost any other art form, so music is going to play a tremendous role in this.

Q. Stephen King wrote in a column that there is no substance, nor emotion in these books, unlike Harry Potter that he loves. What are the qualities of the books in your opinion?
A. The books address the feelings of love and loss that Stephen King isn’t particularly concerned with. (Laughs) I’m not terribly surprised that he says that. I would say, “physician, heal thyself.” Actually, the reason that they’re so successful is that people identify with the main character, with her sense of insecurity, with her sense of being singled out by someone extraordinarily special, with the sense of being broken up with, which is something everyone has experienced unless they are terribly, terribly lucky, and with the deep value of friendship as a way to heal. So I must respectfully disagree with Stephen King. (Laughs)