In a new interview with Collider, New Moon director Chris Weitz talks about the DVD’s features, including deleted scenes and the commentary, which does not include actors Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner.

The first thing though is a lot of people wanted to know…you might not remember me at the junket for New Moon. I’m the one who followed you up in the elevator and sort of…I sort of talked to you about what to expect on the DVD.

Chris:  I remember we spoke, yes.

And you told me at that point that there was going to be about 10 minutes of deleted scenes and there was going to be a commentary with Kristin, Rob and Taylor.

Chris:  I know and they blew me off. (laughter) By the time it came to record the commentary, I think that they were so exhausted because they had done even more press than I had. And I recall….we did it in New York and they were either on their way there or, you know, getting ready for some fancy function that evening and it just wasn’t going to happen. And so even though I think it’s probably terribly disappointing it’s just me and editor talking about things, but actually I think we’re rather funny.

So basically you’re telling me that the reason why the actors are not on it is due to time or just…

Chris:  Just due to time. It’s funny, you know, you sort of have to plot out amongst all the bejillion other things that they’re doing including getting ready to shoot Eclipse. Whether there is two hours for them to get to the studio to watch the film and then talk through it or not. And it just didn’t work out that way.

Okay, but this now leads to the next things which is forgetting about the actors, you mentioned about 10-12 minutes of deleted scenes. I looked at the DVD last night and I’m going to be honest, I couldn’t find those deleted scenes.

Chris:  No?

Were they on the DVD?

Chris:  Yeah. Well you’ve got a scene with Victoria in the car. Let me see…I’m trying to think…

I will…by the way I’m not criticizing or anything.

Chris:  Oh not at all. You’re trying to confirm.  I know that there is at least 10 minutes of extra material. Whether they’re actual entire scenes that got cut-probably not very many entire scenes were cut, but that’s a good thing. It’s because we were kind of happy with what we’d shot. But there are extended scenes which have more to them that ended up in the theatrical version.

Read more at Collider.

In honor of New Moon being released to DVD later this month, Chris Weitz tells MTV five tidbits of information that we don’t know about New Moon.

Going for the Gold: In “Twilight,” RPattz and the rest of his vegetarian vampire cohorts have gold-colored eyes as a result of abstaining from consuming human blood. For “New Moon,” the vamps’ eyes were clearly more golden. Why’d Weitz have his actors switch to brighter contact lenses?

“It’s a more noticeable gold,” Weitz said. “I thought that in the first film they hadn’t popped quite enough and I wanted to have that sense of otherworldliness carry through more.”

The Silent Vampire: Actress Rachelle Lefevre was notoriously replaced in her role as the vampire Victoria following “New Moon,” with Bryce Dallas Howard taking over the part for “Eclipse.” In “New Moon,” Lefevre is seen but does not speak. Is there a connection between her lack of lines and what happened with the casting decision?

“It wasn’t so much that,” Weitz said. “There was a dialogue scene with her, and eventually that will show up whenever they release deleted scenes. It was one of those scenes that, when you look back at it, it’s kind of a surplus to the whole storytelling requirement of the movie. So there was no ill intent there. I wrote Rachelle and explained why that scene didn’t end up in the film, and in terms of filmmaking I can’t regret it, although I do regret it very much if it hurt Rachelle’s feelings.”

Why So Torn Up, Edward?:At one point in the film, Pattinson’s Edward Cullen appears in a ripped T-shirt, but we never learn why. So … what the heck happened?

“What it’s supposed to be is that he’s essentially been wearing the same clothes for several months, and that eventually they’ve just worn out because, as you I’m sure know, his body is like stone. So he must’ve rubbed up against something and it ripped,” Weitz said.

Our Lord?:In its Italian-set portions, “New Moon” features a significant amount of religious iconography, and Edward certainly suffers a great deal. Is he supposed to be a Christ figure?

“I think that he is in a sense he’s doomed to suffer eternally,” Weitz said. “He actually thinks of himself as a damned figure, but he’s wrong about that. So in some senses, yeah, he is a martyr figure.”

Black Eyes: In Stephenie Meyer’s book, Edward’s eyes go black in Italy. Why don’t his eyes turn in the film?

“It’s because I screwed up!” Weitz admitted.

Really? He just forgot?

“Well, yeah, I kinda did,” he said. “Well, there are two reasons. One is that I messed up. The other reason is that I actually thought that onscreen it would be quite bizarre to see his eyes go completely black, and that it would be more satisfying and less jarring to have that moment of reunion be a reunion with revivified Edward. But probably, the long and the short of it, there are many details that I did not drop the ball on, and there are some that I did.”

Source

Gossip Cop has confirmed that Chris Weitz is out of the running for director of Breaking Dawn.  Here’s the scoop.

• “I have absolutely no idea whether “March” will translate to “early March” or “the end of March.” The decision could be announced today, for all I know. Or maybe they will make us all wait until March 31. The Ides… well, maybe not. I don’t know if I can wait another fifteen days, and anyway that date has ominous connotations. “Beware the Ides of March,” and all that. So please let us know before that, HBO.” Martin said on his “not blog” Monday morning. By Tuesday afternoon he was at a presumed loss for words, and simply posted a classic Peanuts video.
• HBO has requested a total of ten episodes, including the existing pilot. Filming is said to resume this June, locations include Northern Ireland and Morocco.
• Although the number of actual seasons is dependant on ratings, it’s said each season will cover the storyline of at least one book.
• The cast includes Mark Addy ( A Knight’s Tale, Still Standing, The Full Monty), Sean Bean (Troy, Percy Jackson & The Olympians) Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent, Elf), Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd, Rocknrolla), Jennifer Ehle (Wilde, Pride and Prejudice), Lena Headey (300) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven) among others.

BuzzSugar has a new interview with Chris Weitz in which he discusses his New Moon regrets (the running Bella-is-a-vamp vision), as well as his thoughts on Breaking Dawn.

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.

What was your favorite scene to shoot in New Moon? I’m very fond of the memories that a lot of the scenes invoke in me. My favorite scene is probably somewhere between the very last scene, and the cliffhanger that it’s left on, and the scenes in Italy. Just the experience shooting those scenes was so magnificent. We were in this beautiful hillside town in Tuscany, and going home to fresh-made pasta every night, and surrounded by thousands of fans of the series while we were shooting it. I know I’ll never experience anything like that ever again.

Read the full interview here.

I think I linked to part of this interview back in November, but I never posted the full video. So here is a really funny interview with the New Moon cast from No Good TV with Carrie Keagan. Oh, and a warning: NSFW.

Thanks to Laura!

[Fan art by Grodansnagel]

The Twilight Saga producer Wyck Godfrey talked with the LA Times about Breaking Dawn.  He had some interesting things to say.

Wyck Godfrey, the producer of all the films in the “Twilight” saga, admits that the creative team still doesn’t know how they’ll handle the character [Renesmee] in the “Breaking Dawn” movie, but said that the plan is absolutely for the production to go forward — as either one or two installments — with an eye toward beginning to shoot in Vancouver this fall. All three stars are signed for “Breaking Dawn,” he said, meaning that Stewart and Pattinson will be dealing with the joys and woes of interspecies parenting and newly minted heartthrob Taylor Lautner will return as often-shirtless shape-shifter Jacob Black.

At the moment, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who’s penned all the “Twilight” movies, is working on the “Breaking Dawn” script(s). “It’s a work in process,” Godfrey said in an interview Friday. “The issue [of whether there will be one or two movies] is not going to be resolved until we get the full treatment and see whether it’s organic. If it’s not organic, I don’t think it will be done, and if it is, it will be. It really has to do with how much level of detail from the books there is, with all of these new vampires that appear in ‘Breaking Dawn,’ the whole section about Jacob… It’s a very long single movie if it does become a single movie.”

Although there’s been a great deal of online chatter about whether Chris Weitz, director of the second and most recent movie, “New Moon,” would return to helm “Breaking Dawn,” Godfrey downplayed that possibility, saying, “I think everyone would be happy and excited if he came back, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Read more here.

So, to sum up:

1) The PLAN is to move forward, but they don’t know how many films it will be yet. It will hopefully begin filming in the fall in Vancouver.

2) Kristen, Rob & Taylor are all signed on for the film.

3) Melissa Rosenberg is currently working on the script.

4) Director decisions have not been made, and it is unlikely that Chris Weitz will be able to return for the last installment(s).

Via Larry at ProNetworks

Hey Twilighters! Remember the Twitter Twilight Sweepstakes? Well, the lucky winner, Jenny Brutal, made a blog post about her phone call with Chris Weitz!

The following, due to demand and my own desire, are my questions and Chris Weitz’s answers! (some parts are paraphrased)

1.) How nerve-racking was it to know you had to relocate several location for New Moon?

A.) It was really nerve-racking because I thought people would notice and be upset, it was a puzzle to get it just right. The outside of the school is all CGI, we built the stairway for the school and took stills. In the Cullen’s house I also tried to show different rooms in the house to add to the feeling of the house. When Taylor was traveling during Twilight a fan gave him a hand-carved Native American ornament. We used that ornament in Jacob’s room in New Moon.

Go here to read the whole thing. What a lucky girl!

In case you aren’t familiar, easter eggs (in this use of the term) are secret goodies hidden in movies and shows for the viewer to find. I see them in Lost ALL the time. So it seems Chris Weitz has a few he wants to point out in New Moon. He is bringing this to us exclusivle via the Twilight Tracker App for iPhone (download the app here), as well as in Entertainment Weekly.

3. Emotional baggage?
”When Bella is looking for the meadow where she and Edward are seen lying down together, she carries a golden compass clipped to her backpack — part of my baggage!”

Read more of them here! And look for it in this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, available on newsstands now!

Thanks to Barry at EW!