Kristen Stewart News: Post-Twilight Years’ Indie Road?

Kristen Stewart news.

Kristen Stewart news

April 3: Kristen Stewart news of a while back … In the above picture you can see none other than Kristen Stewart, a.k.a. Bella Swan a.k.a. Snow White a.k.a. KStew a.k.a. the second half of Robsten, at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Nov. 3, 2011. Stewart and fellow Twilight players Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner were present to get their hands dirty in wet cement.

Some were highly critical of the Twilighters becoming immortalized at the Chinese Theatre, but one of us at Alt Film Guide clearly disagreed with the naysayers. Among those who had their hands and/or feet set in cement before Stewart, Pattinson, and Lautner were Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Joan Crawford, Tyrone Power, Mary Pickford, Carmen Miranda, Daniel Radcliffe, Bette Davis, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, and Doris Day.

• In June, Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman, with Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, Lily Cole, Vincent Regan, Noah Huntley, and Nick Frost.
• Walter Salles’ On the Road, with Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, and Viggo Mortensen. On the Road will probably screen at the Cannes Film Festival, and already has opening dates in various countries including France, Portugal, and Brazil. There’s no US release date (or distributor) as yet.

Kristen Stewart Chinese Theatre photo via Chinese Theatres’ Facebook page.

Christina Ricci, Robert Pattinson, Bel Ami

The American Bel Ami trailer, prominently featuring Robert Pattinson, has been launched online. (Please scroll down.) It looks exactly – or rather, almost exactly like the British Bel Ami trailer released last December. The one difference that I could find: The US version begins with the Magnolia Pictures logo; the British version begins with the StudioCanal logo.

So, as mentioned in our previous article on the Bel Ami trailer, instead of making romantic – and mostly quite chaste – love to Twilight‘s Kristen Stewart, in Bel Ami we get to see Pattinson seducing (and being seduced by) the likes of Kristin Scott Thomas, Uma Thurman, and Christina Ricci. British stage veterans (but film newcomers) Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod directed this most recent movie adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s classic 19th-century novel about an impoverished but ambitious ex-soldier who, and I’m quoting from André Soares’ Bel Ami article here, “uses his drive, his wit, and his penis to get ahead in life.” And get ahead he does.

Adapted by Rachel Bennette, the R-rated Bel Ami also features Colm Meaney, Natalie Tena, Holliday Grainger, Pip Torrens, James Lance, and Todd Peterson. Bel Ami opens in the United States on June 8.

Christina Ricci, Robert Pattinson / Bel Ami photo: Magnolia Pictures (via belamifilm.com).

Can’t say I enjoy featurettes as they’re nothing more than movie infomercials. The interviews are likely staged or, at the very least, carefully planned. Those interviewed aren’t going to be impartial, and if they do say anything that could be perceived as negative, that will be edited out of the final featurette talking-head-and-torso compilation. I much prefer watching the actual trailers, as they give you (or at least they’re supposed to give you) an indication of what the movie is actually about – and how it has turned out.

Anyhow, those who are into featurettes may enjoy this one. Among the interviewees are Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Monster), Twilight‘s Kristen Stewart, Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ Sam Claflin discussing the making of Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman.

Distributed by Universal, Snow White and the Huntsman opens June 1. Also this year, Kristen Stewart will be seen opposite Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, and Viggo Mortensen in Walter Salles’ On the Road, which will quite possibly be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May. In mid-November, Stewart will be seen with Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner in Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, the last installment in the Twilight movie saga.

Charlize Theron will next be seen in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror thriller Prometheus, co-starring Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace. Among the busy Chris Hemsworth’s upcoming movies are Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, with Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner, and Drew Goddard’s horror thriller The Cabin in the Woods.

Snow White and the Huntsman‘s screenplay is credited to Killing Season‘s Evan Daugherty, The Blind Side / The Rookie‘s John Lee Hancock, and Drive / The Wings of the Dove‘s Hossein Amini. In addition to Stewart, Theron, Hemsworth, and Claflin, the Gothic adventure / fantasy features Hugo / The Sweeney‘s Ray Winstone, Jack the Giant Killer / Sexy Beast‘s Ian McShane, Mona Lisa / Mrs Henderson Presents’ Bob Hoskins, and The Hunger Games / Captain America: The First Avenger‘s Toby Jones.

Also: Sherlock Holmes / Vera Drake‘s Eddie Marsan, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus / The Moth Diaries’ Lily Cole, Clash of the Titans / 300‘s Vincent Regan, Your Highness / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe‘s Noah Huntley, Attack the Block / Kinky Boots’ Nick Frost, and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen / The Young Victoria‘s Rachael Stirling.

Relativity Media’s comic retelling of the Snow White tale, Mirror Mirror, opened to poor reviews and disappointing box office ($18 million) this past weekend. Directed by Tarsem Singh, Mirror Mirror stars Lily Collins as Snow White, Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, and Armie Hammer as Prince Charming.

April 4

Multiple Razzie winner Adam Sandler has a comedy sequel in the works, Grown Ups 2. Sounds bad? Well, it’s about to get either better or worse – depending on your take on the Twilight movies and its stars: according to The Hollywood Reporter, Taylor Lautner (photo), the werewolf Jacob Black, is “in talks” to play opposite Sandler.

Thematically quite similar to Mario Monicelli’s Amici miei (and perhaps to some extent to John Cassavetes’ Husbands), Grown Ups – about men who grow old without growing up – featured Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Maya Rudolph, Maria Bello, and Salma Hayek. The original cast members are expected to be back, and so is director Dennis Dugan. Project X‘s Oliver Cooper has been announced as another addition to the cast.

Though massacred by critics, the original Grown Ups grossed more than $162 million in North America and $109 million overseas. Sandler’s Jack and Jill, however, was a box office disappointment. Sandler, who turns 46 next September, is perhaps in need of a younger face in his movies.

Besides Grown Ups 2, Lautner has also had his name linked to the likes of Michael Bay and Gus Van Sant. Stretch Armstrong was to have earned him $7 million according to reports of a year or so ago, but this past January it was announced that Lautner was no longer attached to the project.

Now, before Lautner goes imprinting his mark on Sandler – and I’d rather see that than the other way around – he’ll be paired for the last (?) time with fellow Twilight co-stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 next November 16.

April 5

Kristen Stewart in On the Road.

Kristen Stewart looks great as Marylou in this On the Road picture posted earlier today on the movie’s website. Best known for playing Bella Swan in Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Stewart has recently been featured in several independent productions.

Kristen Stewart pre-‘On the Road’ indie movies

Most notably among those was a supporting role in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (which led to Stewart being cast in On the Road), and leads in Greg Mottola’s well-received Adventureland, opposite Ryan Reynolds and Jesse Eisenberg; Floria Sigismondi’s The Runaways, with Kristen Stewart as singer Joan Jett next to Dakota Fanning’s Cherie Currie; and Jake Scott’s little-seen Welcome to the Rileys, with Stewart as a pole dancer/sex worker “rescued” from a fate worse than death by James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo.

Directed by Walter Salles, and adapted by José Rivera from Jack Kerouac’s classic 1950s novel, On the Road will probably be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May. In addition to Kristen Stewart as Marylou, On the Road features TRON: Legacy‘s Garrett Hedlund as Dean Moriarty and Woman in Love‘s Sam Riley as Sal Paradise, plus Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss, and Kirsten Dunst.

On the Road opens in France on May 23. The film should hit US shores some time in 2012, though it still lacks a North American distributor.

Kristen Stewart On the Road image: Gregory Smith / Jerry Leider Company.

Kristen Stewart, On the Road.

Kristen Stewart reads – or pretends to read – Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way in this photo on the On the Road “set.” Based on Jack Kerouac’s classic novel, On the Road was directed by Walter Salles from a screenplay by José Rivera (Salles’ collaborator on The Motorcycle Diaries).

Stewart’s On the Road co-stars are TRON: Legacy / Inside Llewyn Davis Garrett Hedlund and Byzantium / Control / Woman in Love‘s Sam Riley. Also in the cast: Enchanted / Doubt / Man of Steel‘s Amy Adams, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King / Eastern Promises’ Viggo Mortensen, Effie / Being Julia / Waiting for Forever‘s Tom Sturridge, Off the Hook / Ideal‘s Danny Morgan, Elysium / Predator‘s Alice Braga, Mad Men / Get Him to the Greek‘s Elisabeth Moss, and Marie Antoinette / Melancholia‘s Kirsten Dunst.

Mostly shot in late 2010 (in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Argentina), On the Road opens in France on May 23. Prior to its French release, the film will in all likelihood be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. (The official Cannes selections will be announced on April 19.) On the Road should hit US shores some time in 2012, though it still lacks a North American distributor.

Though best known as the Twilight movies’ Bella Swan, torn between vampire Edward Cullen (Pattinson) and werewolf Jacob Black (Lautner), Stewart has appeared in several independent productions. Among those are a supporting role in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (which led to her being cast in On the Road), and leads in Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, with Ryan Reynolds and Jesse Eisenberg; Floria Sigismondi’s The Runaways, as singer Joan Jett opposite to Dakota Fanning’s Cherie Currie; Udayan Prasad’s The Yellow Handkerchief, with William Hurt, Maria Bello, and Eddie Redmayne; and Jake Scott’s Welcome to the Rileys, co-starring James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo.

Kristen Stewart / On the Road photo via the On the Road website.

Robert Pattinson as Georges Duroy, Uma Thurman as Madeleine Forestier, Bel Ami.

Robert Pattinson’s Georges Duroy is about to be seduced by Uma Thurman’s Madeleine Forestier in the Bel Ami online clip below (please scroll down). While getting ready for some erotically charged entertainment, Thurman’s Madeleine tries to come up with a new name and origin for Pattinson’s Georges, an impoverished ex-soldier thrown into the living rooms (and boudoirs) of Parisian high society.

Directed by Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan, and adapted by Rachel Bennette from Guy de Maupassant’s classic 19th-century novel, Bel Ami also features Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, Colm Meaney, Natalie Tena, Holliday Grainger, Pip Torrens, James Lance, and Todd Peterson. Bel Ami will be available on VOD in the United States on May 4. It opens in the US on June 8.

Also in 2012, Robert Pattinson will be seen in two other movies:

• David Cronenberg’s likely Palme d’Or contender Cosmopolis, featuring A Dangerous Method‘s Sarah Gadon, A Monkey on My Shoulder / Certified Copy‘s Juliette Binoche, Sideways / Win Win‘s Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth: The Golden Age / The Messenger‘s Samantha Morton, Real Steel / X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s Kevin Durand, A Christmas Tale / The Diving Bell and the Butterfly‘s Mathieu Amalric, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice / How to Train Your Dragon‘s Jay Baruchel.
• Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

Uma Thurman, for her part, has three upcoming movies:

• Oliver Stone’s Savages, with John Carter‘s Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Blake Lively, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, A Better Life‘s Demián Bichir, Kick-Ass’ Aaron Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, Joel David Moore, and Trevor Donovan;
• Gabriele Muccino’s Playing the Field, with Gerard Butler, Judy Greer, Jessica Biel, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Dennis Quaid;
• Movie 43, with Gerard Butler, Emma Stone, Elizabeth Banks, Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Kristen Bell, Seann William Scott, Kate Bosworth, Chloë Grace Moretz, Anna Faris, Naomi Watts, Richard Gere, Josh Duhamel, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, and others.

Robert Pattinson / Uma Thurman / Bel Ami photo: Magnolia Pictures.

April 9

Charlize Theron wishes Kristen Stewart (photo) a Happy Birthday in the video below. Stewart, one of Theron’s co-stars in the upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman, turns 22 today. I’m not used to hearing a woman being referred to as “dude” or “man,” but perhaps I’ve been hanging out with the wrong crowd?

Stewart’s 23rd year (do your math: this is the beginning of her twenty-third year on this planet) will be a busy one on screen. She has three movies coming out: Walter Salles’ On the Road (as Marylou), Rupert Sanders’ aforementioned Snow White and the Huntsman (as Snow White), and Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (as Bella Swan). Snow White comes out on June 1; Breaking Dawn 2 on November 16. On the Road will likely be screened at the Cannes Film Festival; it opens in France on May 23, but it has no US released date yet.

Among Stewart’s previous movie appearances are those in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, with Emile Hirsch; Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, with Ryan Reynolds, Jesse Eisenberg, and Kristen Wiig; Floria Sigismondi’s The Runaways, as singer Joan Jett opposite to Dakota Fanning’s Cherie Currie; Udayan Prasad’s The Yellow Handkerchief, with William Hurt, Maria Bello, and Eddie Redmayne; and Jake Scott’s Welcome to the Rileys, co-starring James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo.

Via strictlyrobsten.com, which also features birthday wishes from Chris Hemsworth and Sam Claflin.

April 14

Bill Condon, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Guillermo Navarro are some of the cast and crew of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 heading back to Vancouver for a few pick-up shots that Condon (and/or the film’s editing/production team) has deemed necessary for the film’s continuity. Condon (or someone writing for him) posted the news earlier today on the Breaking Dawn 2 Facebook page. (Please scroll down & check out: image of Bella kissing Edward in Breaking Dawn 2.)

According to online rumors, the Breaking Dawn 2 pick-up scenes will be shot April 30-May 3. If so, it’ll not interfere with the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 16 and will quite likely feature films starring both Kristen Stewart (Walter Salles’ On the Road) and Robert Pattinson (David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis).

Bill Condon’s announcement follows. Note that although Condon makes no mention of Taylor Lautner, that doesn’t necessarily mean Lautner won’t be needed for the pick-up shots.

Hello Twihards!

Greetings from Los Angeles, where we’re hard at work on Breaking Dawn – Part 2. It’s truly crazy to think that it’s been a year since we wrapped production in Vancouver, since for those of us in the editing room the work has never stopped.

A film is a lot like a puzzle, with each piece – each shot, no matter how brief – needing to fit exactly with the ones around it. Our Part Two puzzle is finally coming into full view, and in a few weeks we’ll be heading back north to pick up some additional shots – the last tiny missing pieces. We’re not shooting any new scenes or dialogue, just some technical work with some of our cast and stunt actors.

I am really looking forward to being back on set with some of the friends I’ve made on my Twilight journey, like the great Guillermo Navarro, our cinematographer, and his crew. And yes, Rob and Kristen will be there too, to pop in those gold contacts one last time…

I’m excited to report that before too long we’ll have another trailer for you to decode. And wait until you see the first posters – they’re unlike any Twilight images you’ve seen before. And then November 16th will be upon us and the final film will be yours!

Until then, have a very happy spring, and I’ll check back in with you soon.

Best wishes,

Bill

Robert Pattinson: Breaking Dawn 2 ‘reshoots.’

April 29 update: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Michael Sheen are back in Vancouver for the Breaking Dawn – Part 2 “reshoots” – or rather, “pickup shots.” A couple of weeks ago, Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon announced that he, Pattinson, Stewart, and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro would be heading back to Vancouver to work for a few days on a handful of shots. (Inevitably, there are already Twitter stories claiming that Pattinson’s bodyguard assaulted a couple of people upon Pattinson’s arrival.)

Bill Condon’s companion, Jack Morrissey, later explained that Condon had not been responsible for the missing (or mismatched) footage, placing the blame on Breaking Dawn 2‘s second-unit crew.

“The coming additional photography is stuff that was conceived, developed, and was to be executed by the second unit during the period of principal photography,” Morrissey told his podcast listeners. “For various reasons, it was not executed by the second unit … So, now, because it was not executed by the second unit, up you all go … to get what should’ve been gotten [during] principal photography.”

As per Morrissey, no dialogue is involved. And if his information is fully accurate, Condon, Pattinson, Stewart, Sheen, and Navarro should be returning home (or going elsewhere) before next weekend.

Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart in Cannes

That’ll give Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart a few days to get ready for the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 16, and where both Twilight stars have films screening in the Official Competition: Pattinson stars in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, with Juliette Binoche, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, and others; Stewart has one of the leads, alongside Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley, in Walter Salles’ On the Road, which also features Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, and Amy Adams.

Robert Pattinson photo source, which has several more Pattinson Vancouver images.

April 27 update: Kristen Stewart is set to star in Cali, written and co-produced by 30 Minutes or Less’ Michael Diliberti. Previously only an unsourced rumor, this time around, the news about Kristen Stewart-Cali comes from Variety‘s Jeff Sneider, who describes Cali as a “gritty action pic” set in Los Angeles. Voltage Productions and New School Media will handle the independently made film.

Diliberti’s screenplay tells the story of a young San Fernando Valley couple, Mya (Stewart) and Chris, who enjoy living dangerously. They sell a fake snuff film (explicit mix or sex and murder) and leave town, but Mya has to return to Los Angeles to rescue her younger sister and deal with “angry former business partners, homicidal porn stars, stoner vet techs, an unstoppable killing machine in a cowboy hat and their own contentious relationship.”

In addition to Diliberti, the film’s producers include 300 / Immortals’ Craig J. Flores (who describes Stewart’s role as “edgy and sexy”) and Killer Joe / Game of Death‘s Zev Foreman. The list of executive producers features New School Media’s Brian Levy, Voltage top guy Nicolas Chartier (the one who wrote the “vote for Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, not for James Cameron’s Avatar” letter to Academy members) and, for the first time, Kristen Stewart herself.

Once they get a director and co-stars on board, Cali – which refers to California, not to the Colombian city – should start filming in late summer.

Kristen Stewart, Snow White and the Huntsman photo: Universal pictures.

April 27

Starring On the Road‘s Kristen Stewart, The Avengers’ Chris Hemsworth, Prometheus’ Charlize Theron, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ Sam Claflin, Rupert Sanders’ Gothic adventure drama Snow White and the Huntsman is such a huge hit that Universal is already planning a sequel.

Oh, but wait! That movie hasn’t opened yet. The Snow White currently on screens around the world is the one found in Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror, distributed by Relativity Media in North America. And that particular Snow White movie, which happens to be a frothy comedy, hasn’t exactly become a major blockbuster – though $133.13 million worldwide ($56.6 million in North America, and solid performances in Russia, the United Kingdom, and Brazil) is nothing to be sniffed at.

Anyhow, according to Deadline.com‘s Mike Fleming, Universal “is already in discussions” with David Koepp to write a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman. Koepp, who hopefully will have a collaborator (is Pan’s Labyrinth‘s Guillermo del Toro available?), has written mostly highly commercial, lowbrow fare such as Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park and War of the Worlds, the Tom Hanks vehicle Angels & Demons, in addition to the original Spider-Man and Mission: Impossible, and the upcoming Premium Rush and Men in Black III.

Fleming adds that “the word is the studio hopes to fast track the project” to make the SWATH sequel Rupert Sanders’ next directorial job.

Now, from the get-go Snow White and the Huntsman was supposed to have been a trilogy. That’s not news, as producer Joe Roth made clear in July 2011. Still, that may have been news to NBC Universal head Ron Meyer.

As paraphrased by The Hollywood Reporter in early April, Meyer told conference participants at UCLA’s Anderson Business School that the studio was considering SWATH sequels “based on” the character of the Huntsman (played by Chris Hemsworth).

July 2014 update: ‘The Huntsman’ & Kristen Stewart.

Chris Hemsworth / Kristen Stewart / Snow White and the Huntsman photo: Universal Pictures.

As a result of the Hollywood Reporter article, the Internet became abuzz with rumors and speculations that Snow White (Kristen Stewart) would thus fall by the sidelines in the Snow White and the Huntsman sequel(s).

Of course, everything is possible. But that would be a bizarre, myopic move on the part of Universal both in terms of story cohesiveness and box office. After all, not only is Snow White the central element in the tale – her very being sets the plot in motion – but Kristen Stewart’s box office pull in a major movie would be underestimated only by total fools. (Not that Hollywood doesn’t have its large share of those in positions of power.)

Those who claim that the Twilight movies would have become worldwide blockbusters with or without Stewart as Bella Swan – and/or Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and/or Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black – clearly do not know much at all about either movie franchises or turning bestselling franchises into blockbuster franchises. I mean, does anyone remember what happened to the big-screen versions of The Clan of the Cave Bear, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, or, at the domestic box office, The Golden Compass?

And let’s not forget that unlike, say, The Hunger Games or The Bourne Identity, or even most of the Harry Potter movies, Twilight and its sequels were usually lambasted by critics. The films got no help from them. Fans of the movies – who are invariably fans of (at least one of the) Twilight stars – made The Twilight Saga the cultural and financial phenomenon it has become.

A Snow White and the Huntsman sequel not featuring Snow White (or Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen, for that matter) would be akin to a Jaws sequel without sharks, a Spider-Man sequel (or reboot) without webs, or a Star Wars sequel without either stars or wars.

Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror, which stars Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, and Armie Hammer opened in late March.

Kristen Stewart / Snow White and the Huntsman photo: Universal Pictures.

Florence and the Machine’s Florence Welch.

Grammy-nominated band Florence and the Machine has just released the lead song for Snow White and the Huntsman (please scroll down), Rupert Sanders’ upcoming Gothic fantasy-adventure tale starring On the Road / The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2‘s Kristen Stewart, The Cabin in the Woods / The Avengers’ Chris Hemsworth, Prometheus / Young Adult‘s Charlize Theron, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides / United‘s Sam Claflin.

The Florence and the Machine song is called “Breath of Life.” It’s mostly a mournful pop song “belted out by Florence Welch, with drums beating in the background. Those are later followed by a choir accompaniment featuring touches from medieval / religious hymns.

Whether or not you’ll find “Breath of Life” appropriate for a fantasy tale in a medieval setting depends on whether or not you watch many Hollywood movies – as pop tunes of various sorts have become an intrinsic part of movie scoring in the last two or three decades, as studios have come to the realization that they reap solid profits from soundtrack sales. Had Milos Forman’s Amadeus been released today, Mozart would have been set aside so the soundtrack could feature songs by, say, Céline Dion, Lady Gaga, or Beyoncé Knowles.

Now, seriously: competition will be fierce and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Music Branch is, too put it mildly, both quirky (downright bizarre?) and cliquish. Even so, don’t be too surprised if “Breath of Life” finds its way into the five (or three or two) Oscar-nominated songs of 2012.

Kristen Stewart, Snow White and the Huntsman‘s Snow White, has a previous connection to Florence and the Machine. In 2010, David Slade’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in which Stewart co-stars with Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, featured the British band’s song “Heavy in Your Arms.”

The soundtrack for Snow White and the Huntsman should be available in the U.S. on May 29. Universal will release SWATH on June 1.

Bear in mind that the Stewart / Hemsworth / Theron movie has very little in common with Tarsem Singh’s lighthearted comedy Mirror Mirror, which stars Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, and Armie Hammer.

April 26

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in ‘Breaking Dawn 2’: The facts of vampire life.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in ‘Breaking Dawn – Part 2’

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, both wearing what looks like reddish-golden contacts, are seen in one of the two The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 images released earlier today (April 26, ’12).

The other one features Taylor Lautner sporting a black shirt but no contacts. Directed by Bill Condon (Kinsey, Dreamgirls) from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg – who adapted Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novel – Breaking Dawn 2 is the final installment in the Twilight movie series.

Kristen Stewart discovers the facts of vampire life

In Breaking Dawn 2, Bella Swan-Cullen (Kristen Stewart) has become a vampire. Her husband, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), has been a vampire for a long time; something like nine decades or so. But if you’re a vampire you don’t grow old, you don’t become impotent – and that means you can still procreate.

The result of all these evolutionary traits is Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), a hybrid human-vampire baby who, like so many creatures of mixed “ethnic” heritage, must endure all sorts of prejudice. In fact, her mere existence could mean the very end of the Cullen Clan.

Breaking Dawn 2 will be released on Nov. 16.

April 26

Taylor Lautner in ‘Breaking Dawn 2’: Jacob Black takes the imprinting route.

Taylor Lautner in ‘Breaking Dawn – Part 2’

Taylor Lautner a.k.a. Jacob Black – not shirtless for a change – gives you The (Were)Wolf Look in this The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 image released earlier today (April 26, ’12).

Another just released Breaking Dawn 2 image shows Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen and Bella Swan-Cullen wearing vampire contacts while looking into the distance.

Jacob Black ‘Twilight’ series role

In Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight, Taylor Lautner had a minor supporting role as a teenager infatuated with Bella Swan (then still a human). He became a full-fledged leading man in Chris Weitz’s New Moon and David Slade’s Eclipse, in which he and Robert Pattinson’s vampire fight for Bella’s hand, body, love, and life. (It’s really all that.)

In Breaking Dawn 2, things are different because Bella is no longer human. As a vampire, she’s out of Jacob’s reach; but then again, he seems to have lost interest. After all, there’s Edward and Bella’s newborn Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), a hybrid human-vampire baby that – at least in Stephenie Meyer’s novel – has been “imprinted” by Jacob.

Now, don’t panic. Imprinting sounds kinkier than it actually is.

April 23

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2‘s teaser poster is the blue version of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1‘s teaser poster. It’s easy to see why Summit Entertainment (now part of Lionsgate) opted to have the red version for Breaking Dawn 1 and the blue one for Breaking Dawn 2. Had it been the other way around, people might think they were looking at the teaser poster for Dan Bradley / Chris Hemsworth / Josh Hutcherson’s Red Dawn, which also opens next November – but that features nasty North Korean soldiers instead of nasty European vampires.

Those with a good eye will notice another difference in the Breaking Dawn 2 poster: But it’s in Italian! Is that because of the Volturi?

No, silly. For starters, the poster is in Spanish. And no, it’s not in honor of some ancient Mexican or Chilean vampire. It’s merely a marketing-savvy approach to movie posters: print them in the language of the country where your movie is going to be released. In this case, Spain, Mexico, Central America, and a good chunk of South America.

April 19

The previously announced The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 “reshoots” should actually be called “additional photography” or “pickup shots,” according to Jack Morrissey, director Bill Condon’s companion. (One site explains: “Condon is openly guy [sic].”)

In the Twilight Examiner, Amanda Bell has transcribed much of a Morrissey podcast on the upcoming Breaking Dawn 2 shoot. Among the key points discussed by Morrissey is that filming – involving Condon, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Michael Sheen (who plays one of the Volturi vampires) – should take place in Vancouver within the next two weeks and that this additional work should last about four days. Morrissey adds that the issue wasn’t anything done – or not done – by Condon (“Nothing that he directed has been reshot or will be reshot…”), placing the blame squarely on the second unit crew.

“The coming additional photography is stuff that was conceived, developed, and was to be executed by the second unit during the period of principal photography,” Morrissey told his listeners. “For various reasons, it was not executed by the second unit … So, now, because it was not executed by the second unit, up you all go … to get what should’ve been gotten [during] principal photography.”

What remains unclear is why Condon himself will have to shoot those brief “second-unit” pickup scenes, what those scenes entail, why they must be shot in Vancouver (and not at a studio), and why Pattinson, Stewart, and Sheen will be needed back.

As a rule, second-unit crews shoot vistas, action scenes, establishing shots, close-ups of body parts, and the like. Second-unit directors don’t usually “direct” the stars of a movie. Particularly intriguing is that, as per Morrissey, Condon will be guiding his actors through dialogue-less bits.

Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro is also expected to travel to Vancouver for the shoot, which should not interfere with the likely presence of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-May. Both Twilight stars have films in the Official Competition: Pattinson stars in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis; Stewart has one of the leads, alongside Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley, in Walter Salles’ On the Road.

April 18

Kristen Stewart movie casting rumor: ‘Thanks for Playing’ lead?

Kristen Stewart rumor: ‘Thanks for Playing’ lead?

Kristen Stewart to get the lead in the Diablo Cody-scripted Thanks for Playing?

Well, that’s what The Tracking Board claimed in an “exclusive” posted yesterday, April 17, ’12. The following day, the same site announced – another “exclusive” – that Robert Pattinson was to join David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen in Maps to the Stars.

Neither article provides any sources. Even so, that hasn’t deterred a number of sites and blogs from passing on the information as fact.

Unlike Maps to the Stars, a Cronenberg project from six years ago, Thanks for Playing is indeed listed elsewhere as a Diablo Cody project. However, I could find no information about Kristen Stewart “circling” the project – except from those using The Tracking Board as a source.

I also failed to find any info on Stewart having “recently attached herself” to star in Cali – according to the same article, a comedy penned by 30 Minutes or Less screenwriter Michael Diliberti. In fact, I couldn’t find anything at all on Cali.

Kristen Stewart as purple-haired lesbian?

Back in October last year, I posted an article using The Tracking Board as the source. The article referred to Kristen Stewart being “rumored” to play a purple-haired lesbian in A Taxonomy of Barnacles, based on Galt Niederhoffer’s novel.

The word “rumored” is the key here. I’m not sure – I really can’t remember – if at the time I also saw the New York Times’ production notes on the movie, which made the Tracking Board piece sound believable.

But I’m now wondering whether the Times’ movie database people got their info from The Tracking Board. Or worse: from Alt Film Guide.

Facts and rumors

Update: The Tracking Board did get both the Kristen Stewart-Cali connection and the Robert Pattinson-Maps to the Stars connection right.

The Kristen Stewart-Thanks for Playing connection, however, remained just a rumor – much like the one about the Twilight actress starring in A Taxonomy of Barnacles.

Kristen Stewart upcoming movies

Anyhow, the thus far confirmed future/upcoming Kristen Stewart movies are the following:

Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman opens June 1. Stewart’s co-stars are:

• Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers) as the Huntsman.
• Charlize Theron (Prometheus, Young Adult) as the Evil Queen.
• Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Prince Charming.

Walter Salles’ On the Road, which opens in France on May 23 and will quite likely be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Based on Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel, On the Road also features:

• Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy, Inside Llewyn Davis).
• Sam Riley (Byzantium, Woman in Love).
• Amy Adams (Doubt, Man of Steel).
• Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence, Eastern Promises).
• Tom Sturridge (Waiting for Forever, Being Julia).
• Danny Morgan (Off the Hook, Ideal).
• Alice Braga (Elysium, Predator).
• Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, Get Him to the Greek).
• Kirsten Dunst (Bring It On, Melancholia).

April 18

Stephenie Meyer, best known for her Twilight Saga novels, and Meghan Hibbett’s Fickle Fish Films have optioned Lois Duncan’s 1974 book Down a Dark Hall. According to Variety, Meyer and Fickle Fish Films intend to adapt Duncan’s supernatural suspense / crime novel into a film. Hotel for Dogs, Held for Ransom, and I Know What You Did Last Summer are all based on Duncan novels.

In addition to having a hand in the Twilight movies, Meyer recently produced Jerusha Hess’ romantic comedy Austenland, in which a woman (Keri Russell) obsessed with Pride and Prejudice travels to a Jane Austen theme park to find her perfect man. Meyer is also a credited producer in Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Breaking Dawn – Part 2, both starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner.

Meyer’s novel The Host is currently being made into a movie. Meyer is acting as one of the film’s producers, while Andrew Niccol is directing the sci-fi / thriller, which he also adapted. Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Jake Abel, Frances Fisher, Max Irons, and William Hurt star. The Host opens March 29, 2013.

April 17

Kristen Stewart in ‘Snow White’ movie

Kristen Stewart is seen above as Snow White in one of the recently released images from Rupert Sanders’ fantasy adventure Snow White and the Huntsman. Despite the sunny, lush feel of this particular shot, this latest version of the ancient fairy tale looks and sounds like a dark, fantastical story aimed at adults.

Distributed by Universal, the same company that will be bringing you Taylor Kitsch and Brooklyn Decker in the Battleship movie, Snow White and the Huntsman opens June 1, ’12.

Kristen Stewart’s co-stars are Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers) as the Huntsman, Best Actress Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Monster, 2003) as the Evil Queen, and Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Prince Charming.

Charlize Theron, by the way, was also recently seen in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and Jason Reitman’s Young Adult.

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ movie credits

The Snow White and the Huntsman screenplay is credited to three people:

• Evan Daugherty (Killing Season).
• John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, The Rookie).
• Hossein Amini (Drive, The Wings of the Dove).

In addition to Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Sam Claflin, the Gothic tale features several actors who have previously dabbled in the fantasy and/or period genre:

The other Snow White

Relativity Media’s comic retelling of the Snow White tale, Mirror Mirror, opened to poor reviews and disappointing box office a couple of weekends ago. Even so, the lightweight comedy fantasy has been holding up surprisingly well, with a global take of $113.71 million.

Kristen Stewart Snow White and the Huntsman movie image: Universal Pictures.

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ Trailer: Kristen Stewart = Joan of Arc

Snow White and the Huntsman is one of the (very) few Hollywood movies I’m eager to watch next summer – Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises are the other two that come to mind. Directed by feature-film newcomer Rupert Sanders (formerly a director of commercials) from a screenplay by Killing Season‘s Evan Daugherty, The Blind Side / The Rookie‘s John Lee Hancock, and Drive / The Wings of the Dove‘s Hossein Amini, Snow White and the Huntsman is definitely far, far different from the bowdlerized, sentimentalized Disney fairy-tale we’re used to. [See Snow White and the Huntsman trailer #2 below.]

Sanders’ film, in fact, probably looks and feels more like the original Snow White, as imagined by some creative (and twisted?) mind in the Europe of the Middle Ages, long before the Brothers Grimm put the story down on paper. One crucial difference, of course, is that this Snow White becomes a warrior along the lines of Joan of Arc. And besides, Snow White and the Huntsman offers touches from Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen, moments that resemble the magical world of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, and even bits that reminded me of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time book series.

Needless to say, the trailer is gorgeous. I can’t imagine Snow White and the Huntsman not being shortlisted in a variety of categories come next awards season. As in previous teasers, Oscar winner Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen gets the most screen time and nearly every line, though in this latest trailer we get to see quite a bit more of Kristen Stewart’s Snow White as well. We even get to hear her utter a couple of lines.

Kristen Stewart / Snow White and the Huntsman photo: Universal Pictures.

Charlize Theron as Queen Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman.

“She can level you,” Kristen Stewart says about Charlize Theron’s performance as the Evil Queen Ravenna in Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman (a.k.a. SWATH). “The Queen is Death. She has no heart,” explains Sanders. Stewart’s Snow White, however, does. Would that make her a good transplant donor? Not exactly. That heart doesn’t want to beat in somebody else’s body, as can be attested by the SWATH video promo below.

Sanders elaborated some more on Charlize Theron’s incarnation of the Evil Queen while talking to Collider‘s Christina Radish at WonderCon this weekend:

When you’re playing an Evil Queen, you can go into pantomime very quickly. What she did and what’s indicative of the film we tried to make is that she grounded that in reality. She found a way of playing this character in a very modern, realistic and gritty way. She’s not, “Off with her head!” She’s not the Alice in Wonderland kind of queen. It’s not that kind of film. She’s playing it pretty straight, as a very disturbed character who’s desperately got to find this heart because she needs to live forever. It’s as simple as that.

Charlize Theron / Snow White and the Huntsman photo: Universal Pictures.

Contrasting with Kristen Stewart’s dreamy Snow White movie close-up (see further below), here is a ragged, somewhat older-looking Stewart as Snow White 2012. Things don’t look very good for her, surrounded by fog and menacing trees and all that unflattering make-up.

Apparently, the above takes place before Snow White is transformed into Joan of Arc, fighting alongside (Thor and The Avengers‘) Chris Hemsworth – as the Huntsman – against the Evil Queen Charlize Theron. I may have said this before, but I’m much more looking forward to Snow White and the Huntsman than to Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Judging by the pictures and the trailers, Rupert Sanders’ film looks more adult, more menacing, and more gripping (see link above) than The Hobbit‘s Hollywoodized fairy-tale. Here’s hoping Snow White and the Huntsman is as good as I expect it to be.

Snow White and the Huntsman also features Sam Claflin as Prince William, plus Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, Lily Cole, Vincent Regan, Noah Huntley, and Nick Frost. The film opens June 1.

Relativity Media’s own retelling of the Snow White fairy tale, Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror, opens March 30. It stars Lily Collins as Snow White, Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, and Armie Hammer as Prince Charming.

Kristen Stewart ‘Glamour’ outtake photos: Not quite the Bella Swan look.

Kristen Stewart photo shoot outtakes

Outtakes from Kristen Stewart’s 2011 photo shoot for Glamour magazine surfaced online a few weeks ago. Apparently, the striking image above is one of them.

Stewart will be just about everywhere in 2012:

• Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, co-starring Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, opens in November.
• Walter Salles’ On the Road, with Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley, will quite possibly (highly likely?) have its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Also in the cast: Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Alice Braga, Tom Sturridge, and Elisabeth Moss.
• Rupert Sanders’ adventure fantasy Snow White and the Huntsman, with Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, and Sam Claflin.

Toby Jones on the ‘very dark’ ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’

“People say, ‘Oh, which one are you, Sleepy?’” Snow White and the Huntsman actor Toby Jones laughingly told ifc.com. Seems like if Jones were Sleepy, there’d be a good chance he’d never wake up.

“It’s very dark, the film,” he explains. “And we’re all kind of killers. So that was great fun. And the actors, the other dwarves, it was a great group of actors. It was really good fun.”

Toby Jones’ pals are Ian McShane, Johnny Harris, Bob Hoskins, Eddie Marsan, Brendan Gleeson, Ray Winstone, and Nick Frost.

In Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart plays a warrior-like Snow White, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth is the hunter who becomes her ally, and Young Adult actress and Best Actress Academy Award winner Charlize Theron (Monster, 2003) is the Evil Queen who fears Snow White’s Beauty Power. Sam Claflin, for his part, plays the (inevitably) handsome Prince Charming.

Regarding comparisons to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies, Jones said the following about the Rupert Sanders-directed fantasy adventure:

I suppose there’s a quest element to it. It’s very hard to judge a movie before it’s cut, but at the time it [felt] very, very dark and very unlike any other version of Snow White I’ve ever seen, which is exciting.

Agreed.

Snow White and the Huntsman opens June 1 in North America.

Monster and Kristen Stewart Snow White and the Huntsman image: Universal Pictures.

Chris Hemsworth announces that a new Snow White and the Huntsman trailer is coming out soon – Monday. He then offers a “sneak peek” (please scroll down) at what we’re about to see. And what we’re about to see looks and sounds quite impressive.

Elsewhere on this site, we’ve posted previews for Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror and Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Both are also “fairy-tales” set in a fantasy world resembling Europe during the Middle Ages. Judging by the trailers, as far as I’m concerned Snow White and the Huntsman (a.k.a. SWATH) is the most esthetically appealing of the three. It’s also the most intriguing; in other words, the one I’d most like to check out at a movie theater.

The tone is dark – perfectly appropriate for a fantasy tale set in the Dark Ages. The score is both thrilling and evocative. The visual effects are classy, i.e., beautifully accomplished but without making you go Ooh-aah so you forget what’s going on around them. And the acting looks first-rate.

Hemsworth’s Huntsman and Kristen Stewart’s Snow White don’t have any lines in the “sneak peek,” but Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen sure does. I’ve never been a fan of Theron’s acting (admittedly, I haven’t watched Young Adult, yet) – but in the Snow White and the Huntsman previews I’ve seen, Theron looks and sounds flawless. (Hemsworth and Stewart can be heard in other recently released clips that we’ll be posting shortly.)

In addition to Hemsworth, Stewart, and Theron, Snow White and the Huntsman features Sam Claflin as Prince William, Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, Lily Cole, Vincent Regan, Noah Huntley, and Nick Frost. Distributed by Universal, SWATH opens June 1.

Relativity Media’s “rival” version, Mirror Mirror – which is clearly aimed at a quite different crowd – opens March 30. The comedy-fantasy stars Lily Collins as Snow White, Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, and Armie Hammer as Prince Charming.

Chris Hemsworth will be seen just about everywhere in 2012. His upcoming movies include Drew Goddard’s unconventional horror thriller The Cabin in the Woods; Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, with Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Hiddleston; and Dan Bradley’s Red Dawn, with Josh Hutcherson and Isabel Lucas. Currently, Hemsworth is starring in Ron Howard’s Rush, with Daniel Brühl and Olivia Wilde. And within the next year or two, he’ll be back as the God of Thunder in the Thor sequel Thor 2.

Charlize Theron, for her part, has only one other movie coming out this year, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. The possible Alien prequel co-stars Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Logan Marshall-Green, Rafe Spall, Kate Dickie, and Patrick Wilson.

This Kristen Stewart as Snow White as Joan of Arc photo was released weeks ago. We’re finally posting it now that the Snow White and the Huntsman trailer has been released. Stewart is one of the most beautiful actresses around – even without make-up, with or without her Bella Swan wig. As Twilight‘s Bella, she has been oftentimes fragile and teenager-ish. As Snow White she’ll obviously be anything but. That’s a good thing.

Joe Roth is one of the producers of both Snow White and the Huntsman and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Perhaps it’s only a coincidence, but I wonder if Roth’s influence is to be felt in both movies, as Mia Wasikowska’s Alice also donned armor and took part in battles.

Directed by Rupert Sanders, Snow White and the Huntsman also features Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen, Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman, Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, Lily Cole, Vincent Regan,Noah Huntley, and Nick Frost. The period adventure-fantasy is slated to open June 1.

Relativity Media’s rival version, Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror, stars Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, and Armie Hammer. Mirror Mirror opens March 16.

Kristen Stewart as Snow White picture: Universal Pictures

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ trailer: Focus on Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart a ‘mysterious’ heroine

The Snow White and the Huntsman trailer is out. (See below.) It’s good-looking, cleverly narrated, and doesn’t give you the whole plot of the movie, which is supposed to be part one of a trilogy. That’s all good.

The curious thing is that the trailer focuses on a character absent from the film’s title: that’s the youth-obsessed Evil Queen played by Charlize Theron, sporting a high-class British accent (she inevitably gets to say “Mirror, Mirror…”) and loads of make-up.

Kristen Stewart’s Snow White is seen briefly looking befuddled here, trying not to get bumped off there, donning armor elsewhere. Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman at least gets to grunt something or other.

Perhaps that’s the point: to keep Stewart’s Snow White beautiful and oh-so-mysterious.

https://youtu.be/VY67V0wOlz8

Kristen Stewart’s first big-budget star vehicle

Rupert Sanders directed Snow White and the Huntsman, which happens to be Kristen Stewart’s first big-budget production since becoming a worldwide superstar thanks to the Twilight Saga movies.

In fact, I’m assuming it’s no coincidence that the Snow White and the Huntsman trailer is coming out days before the world premiere of Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, also featuring Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

Both Pattinson and Lautner have already had their own big(ger)-budgeted star vehicles: Water for Elephants and Abduction, respectively. Admittedly, both titles were much more modestly budgeted productions than Stewart’s costly period fantasy.

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ cast

Also in the Snow White and the Huntsman cast:

Sam Claflin. Ray Winstone. Ian McShane. Bob Hoskins. Toby Jones. Eddie Marsan. Lily Cole. Vincent Regan. Noah Huntley. Nick Frost. Sam Spruell. Johnny Harris. Brian Gleeson.

SWATH is slated to open June 1, ’12. Relativity Media’s rival version of the Snow White story, Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror, opens March 16. It stars Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, and Armie Hammer.

Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Kristen Stewart in Snow White and the Huntsman trailer and banner: Universal Pictures

Above is a stunning close-up of Kristen Stewart as a warrior Snow White in Rupert Sanders’ upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman. Some have remarked that Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen would never have been jealous of a little girl like the Bella Swan of the Twilight movies – but this picture proves them dead wrong. In fact, it’s easy to see why the Evil Queen’s mirror, mirror would find Snow White the most beautiful of them all.

Snow White and the Huntsman, which also stars Thor and The Avengers’ Chris Hemsworth as the second half of the title, opens (via Universal) on June 1. Others in the cast are Sam Claflin as Prince William, Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, Lily Cole, Vincent Regan,Noah Huntley, and Nick Frost.

Relativity Media’s “rival” version, Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror, opens March 30. It stars Lily Collins as Snow White, Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, and Armie Hammer as Prince Charming. I have “rival” between quotes because anyone who has seen the trailers for both Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman know that those movies are as different as, say, Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight and Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula.

Also in 2012, Kristen Stewart will likely be seen in Walter Salles’ eagerly awaited On the Road, co-starring Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, and Viggo Mortensen; and in the final installment of the Twilight Saga movies, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, with Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, and dozens of other vampires and werewolves – plus a scattered few humans.

Kristen Stewart/Snow White movie photo: Universal Pictures.

‘On the Road’ Trailer & ‘Breaking Dawn 2’ Teaser + ‘Snow White’ TV Spot: Kristen Stewart Triple Whammy

As to be expected, the just released trailer (see below) for Walter Salles’ On the Road looks classy – beautiful, subdued cinematography by Eric Gautier – and offers believable performances by a strong cast that includes Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, and Kristen Stewart. The film’s target audience is clearly not the popcorn-eating Cineplex crowd; else, the trailer wouldn’t have featured any old typewriters or lines such as “the only people that interest me are the mad ones. The ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, desirous of everything at the same time. The ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing.”

In fact, the most interesting aspect of the On the Road trailer is that, unlike most movie trailers out there, it gives words the same emphasis as images. To say that’s because it’s based on a book – Jack Kerouac’s – is nonsense. Just look at the trailers for myriad other novel adaptations, from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to the Robert Pattinson vehicle Bel Ami. Their focus is on the images, whether those are of sweeping vistas and action scenes, or the faces of the actors involved in the drama (or comedy, as the case may be). Note: I have nothing against images. Just look at the above photo. That one image says 1,000 words – or more, depending on how wild your imagination is.

Anyhow, although I’m sure there have been more, right now I can think of only one other trailer of a film adaptation of a literary work that placed a strong emphasis on words: Fred Zinnemann’s 1977 drama Julia, starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, and based on Lillian Hellman’s (highly fictionalized) autobiographical book Pentimento.

Wrapping this up: when I post my list of “most eagerly anticipated 2012 releases” – hopefully I’ll get that done before December 31 – On the Road will definitely be there. The film, by the way, still doesn’t have a US distributor. If The Weinstein Company (or some other savvy distributor) gets this one, don’t be too surprised if On the Road and its talent become key 2012/2013 awards-season players.

In addition to Hedlund, Riley, and Stewart, On the Road features the following: Man of Steel‘s Amy Adams, Melancholia‘s Kirsten Dunst, A Dangerous Method‘s Viggo Mortensen, Effie‘s Tom Sturridge, Ideal‘s Danny Morgan, Elysium‘s Alice Braga, and Get Him to the Geek‘s Elisabeth Moss. Additionally, Hustle & Flow‘s Terrence Howard and Boardwalk Empire‘s Steve Buscemi apparently have cameos in the film. The Motorcycle Diaries’ José Rivera penned the screenplay adaptation. Brokeback Mountain‘s Gustavo Santaolalla composed the score.

Kristen Stewart Bella Swan poster: Fan-made Born Again Vampire in Breaking Dawn 2.

Kristen Stewart ‘Breaking Dawn 2’ poster: Fan-made, humanized vampire Bella Swan-Cullen

The “fan-made” poster above features Kristen Stewart as the transformed Bella Swan-Cullen in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

Created by Deviant artist RyoDambar, this new and improved Bella looks human – in the sense that she could walk around town without having people flee for their lives. At the same time, she seems different.

Whereas Summit Entertainment had their make-up people throw tons of white powder on the faces of the Twilight movie vampires, the look of this Bella the Vampire is quite subtle. As it should be.

In fact, Stewart’s Bella looks like a character out of one of the classier Hammer productions.

And there’s more Breaking Dawn 2 news. See below.

‘Breaking Dawn 2’ trailer: Teaser introduces Kristen Stewart as a Born Again Vampire

Ominous music. “After 18 years of being utterly ordinary,” says Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan-Cullen, “I finally found that I could shine.”

More ominous music. Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen apparently agrees with Bella: “So beautiful. We’re the same temperature now.”

Yet some more ominous music. Cut to a close-up of Stewart’s/Bella’s white-powdered face and reddish eyes.

Boom!

In case you haven’t guessed (or checked out the video clip above), that’s the teaser trailer for Breaking Dawn – Part 2, which also features a smartly dressed Taylor Lautner (“I didn’t expect … You seem so … You”) as the hunky werewolf Jacob Black.

‘Breaking Dawn 2’ to break box office records?

Twihards are surely already organizing a moviegoing army to eviscerate the opening weekend domestic box office of Gary Ross’ The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth; Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, starring Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Hardy; and Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, starring Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Mark Ruffalo.

Heck, if these fans turn out to be as powerful as the Born Again Bella, they may even succeed.

Either way, Lionsgate will be thrilled. Both The Hunger Games and The Twilight Saga franchises – the latter bankrolled by the now defunct Summit Entertainment – now belong to them.

‘The Hunger Games’ vs. thirsty vampires

This weekend, The Hunger Games opened to the tune of $155 million. Part of the film’s appeal to a certain segment of the moviegoing public (i.e., Twilight fans) was the fact that the Breaking Dawn 2 teaser trailer preceded the feature.

Anyhow, come next fall Lionsgate will surely be praying for even bigger numbers for Breaking Dawn 2.

Now, if only Bella wouldn’t go after a beautiful deer in the forest. If vegetarian vampires can’t survive on lettuce and carrots, why don’t they try protein bars?

Cast & release date

Directed by Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Kinsey) and adapted by Melissa Rosenberg from Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novel, Breaking Dawn 2, the final installment in the Twilight Saga movie franchise, opens in the U.S. and Canada on Nov. 16, ’12.

Besides Kristen Stewart, Breaking Dawn 2 features:

Robert Pattinson. Taylor Lautner. Peter Facinelli. Elizabeth Reaser. Ashley Greene. Nikki Reed. Dakota Fanning.

Michael Sheen. Jackson Rathbone. Booboo Stewart. Billy Burke. Maggie Grace. Jamie Campbell Bower. Julia Jones.

Christopher Heyerdahl. Mackenzie Foy. Lee Pace. MyAnna Buring. Angela Sarafyan. Cameron Bright. Rami Malek.

Noel Fisher. Mia Maestro. Ty Olsson. Charlie Bewley. Daniel Cudmore. Kiowa Gordon. Omar Metwally. Christian Camargo.

Casey LaBow. Bronson Pelletier. Erik Odom. Guri Weinberg. Lisa Howard. Alex Meraz. Joel Anderson.

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ TV spot: Despite misleading dialogue, not a no-holds-barred lesbian romance

This Snow White and the Huntsman TV spot features a few moments not seen before. Or at least that I hadn’t seen before. Brief, fleeting moments, but new (to me) all the same – e.g., Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen Ravenna (my fingers keep going for “Rihanna,” but she’s in another summer movie: Peter Berg’s Battleship) telling Kristen Stewart’s Snow White: “I feel that you and I are bound … forever!”

Later on, the Evil Queen demands (again): “Bring me her heart.”

She means it, too.

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ cast

Snow White and the Huntsman was directed by Rupert Sanders from a screenplay by Evan Daugherty (Killing Season), John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, The Rookie), and Hossein Amini (Drive, The Wings of the Dove).

In addition to Kristen Stewart and Best Actress Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Monster, 2003) – who’ll soon be seen in Ridley Scott’s sci-fier Prometheus – the dark adventure fantasy features the following:

• Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Cabin in the Woods) as the Huntsman.
• Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Prince William a.k.a. Prince Charming.
• Ray Winstone (Hugo, The Sweeney).
• Ian McShane (Jack the Giant Killer, Sexy Beast).
• Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa, Who Framed Roger Rabbit).
• Toby Jones (The Hunger Games, Captain America: The First Avenger).
• Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes, Vera Drake).
• Lily Cole (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Moth Diaries).
• Vincent Regan (Clash of the Titans, 300).
• Noah Huntley (Your Highness, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe).
• Nick Frost (Attack the Block, Kinky Boots).
• Rachael Stirling (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Young Victoria).

Distributed by Universal, Snow White and the Huntsman opens June 1, ’12.

More Kristen Stewart & Snow White

Also this year, Kristen Stewart co-stars opposite Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley in Walter Salles’ On the Road. The indie drama will quite possibly be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

And later in the year, there’s the aforementioned Breaking Dawn 2.

Stewart, by the way, will not be the only actress to be seen as Snow White on the big screen in the coming months: Relativity Media’s humorous retelling of the fairy tale, Mirror Mirror, opens in four days: March 30.

Directed by Tarsem Singh, Mirror Mirror stars Lily Collins as Snow White, Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, and Armie Hammer as Prince Charming.

Kristen Stewart a.k.a. the Born Again Vampire Bella Swan-Cullen Breaking Dawn 2 poster via shockya.com.

Breaking Dawn – Part 2 trailer: Summit Entertainment / Lionsgate Pictures.

Snow White and the Huntsman trailer/TV spot: Universal Pictures.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart Breaking Dawn 2 image: Andrew Cooper / Summit Entertainment.