Kristen Stewart & Taylor Lautner: Tough Snow White & Thriller Premiere

Don’t want mess with her: Kristen Stewart is tough Snow White

Sept. 30: Is that Marie Falconetti? Ingrid Bergman? Michèle Morgan? Jean Seberg? Hedy Lamarr? Florence Carrez? Nope. Heck, that’s not even Joan of Arc – but Kristen Stewart (via Just Jared) as none other than famous apple-eater Snow White while filming Snow White and the Huntsman.

Obviously, Stewart’s Snow White will have very little in common with the Disney-ified fairy tale princess we all know. Directed by feature-film first-timer Rupert Sanders, and written by Evan Daugherty (with rewrites by Hossein Amini and Evan Spiliotopoulos), Snow White and the Huntsman follows Snow White (Kristen Stewart) and the Huntsman (Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth) as they flee from bounty hunters at the service of the Evil Queen (Charlize Theron). Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ Sam Claflin will be Snow White’s Prince Charming.

The extensive Snow White and the Huntsman cast also includes Ian McShane, Nick Frost, Ray Winstone, Lily Cole, Toby Jones, Bob Hoskins, Eddie Marsan, Dave Legeno, and Vincent Regan. The Universal release is scheduled to open June 1 next year. It will be preceded by Tarsem Singh’s untitled Snow White project starring Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, and Armie Hammer, which opens via Relativity Media on March 16.

Attention twihards, and assorted members of Team Edward, Team Jacob, Team Bella, Team Booboo, etc. etc. Advance tickets for Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 go on sale online on Oct. 1 at midnight. Screening times will be made available then.

Starring Kristen Stewart as human Bella Swan, who marries vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) while leaving werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) nursing a broken heart, Breaking Dawn – Part 1 chronicles Bella’s wedding, honeymoon, pregnancy, and metamorphosis. Special emphasis, one assumes, will be given to the MPAA-friendly tropical honeymoon and the labor pains of poor Bella, whose heart remains intact but whose bones are torn to pieces by a monster of a hybrid fetus inside her fast-growing tummy.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 opens November 18. Melissa Rosenberg adapted Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novel – the fourth and last installment in the Twilight series, following Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Also in the Breaking Dawn cast: Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Elizabeth Reaser, Billy Burke, and Michael Sheen.

Sept. 18

Taylor Lautner

In the last five years, apart from Catherine Hardwicke’s sleeper hit Twilight, Chris Weisz’s New Moon, David Slade’s Eclipse, and Bill Condon’s upcoming Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Taylor Lautner has been seen only as one of the many stars in Garry Marshall’s ensemble romantic comedy-drama Valentine’s Day. John Singleton’s thriller Abduction is Lautner’s first solo star vehicle. The film’s premiere was held last Thursday at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. (Taylor Lautner Abduction trailer.)

Abduction follows Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner), a young man whose life is turned upside down after he finds his baby photo on a missing-persons website. From then on, it’s one narrow escape after another for Nathan.

Written by Shawn Christensen, Abduction also features Lily Collins, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, Sigourney Weaver, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s Michael Nyqvist, Alfred Molina, and William Peltz. The Lionsgate release opens September 23 in the United States.

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Taylor Lautner, Sigourney Weaver

Taylor Lautner, a.k.a. Twilight‘s Jacob Black, greets Sigourney Weaver at the Hollywood premiere of Abduction, a thriller directed by John Singleton from a screenplay by Shawn Christensen. The Abduction premiere took place last Thursday evening at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, a stone’s throw from the Kodak Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held.

Among Sigourney Weaver’s movies in the last three decades are Ridley Scott’s Alien, Peter Weir’s The Year of Living Dangerously, James Cameron’s Aliens and Avatar, Mike Nichols’ Working Girl, Michael Apted’s Gorillas in the Mist, Ivan Reitman’s Dave, Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm, and Andrew Stanton’s Wall-E (voice only). Weaver also starred in Russell Mucahy’s television drama Prayers for Bobby.

Lautner’s movies include his trio of Twilight Saga films with Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart – Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse – and Garry Marshall’s Valentine’s Day. In November, Lautner will be seen once again with Pattinson and Stewart in Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.

In addition to Lautner and Weaver, Abduction also features Lily Collins, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s Michael Nyqvist, Alfred Molina, and William Peltz. The Lionsgate release opens September 23 in the United States.

Taylor Lautner, Sigourney Weaver photo via Abduction‘s Facebook page.

Taylor Lautner

Abduction is Taylor Lautner’s first star vehicle away from his werewolf Jacob Black of The Twilight Saga movies with Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Lautner is seen above at the Hollywood premiere of the John Singleton-directed thriller. The Abduction premiere was held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard last Thursday evening.

As quoted in the Los Angeles Times, John Singleton said the following about his handling of Lautner: “We studied Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon – I mean, we even studied James Dean – because I wanted him to see people that were kind of in his position when they were young and how they evolved and changed as artists, just so he could get a sense of what his own path would be.”

Written by Shawn Christensen, Abduction also features Lily Collins, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, Sigourney Weaver, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s Michael Nyqvist, Alfred Molina, and William Peltz. The Lionsgate release opens September 23 in the United States.

Taylor Lautner photo via Abduction‘s Facebook page.

Aug. 31

The Water for Elephants Blu-ray and DVD will be available in the United States on November 1.

Directed by Francis Lawrence and adapted by Richard LaGravenese from Sara Gruen’s bestselling novel, the circus-set romantic drama stars Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz. Hal Holbrook plays an older version of Pattinson’s character.

The Blu-ray disc features include:

• Robert Pattinson spotlight
• Reese Witherspoon featurette
• Audio commentary by director Francis Lawrence and screenwriter Richard LaGravenese
• Visual effects special feature
• Inside look at script development and set design
• Historical circus trivia

Though hardly a major domestic box office hit, so far this year Water for Elephants is the top-grossing straight drama (non-fantasy, sci-fi, action, thriller) in North America. (Tate Taylor’s The Help is a comedy-drama.) The Witherspoon-Pattinson-Waltz movie has collected $58.7 million domestically, in addition to $56.43 million overseas for a worldwide total of $115.14 million.

Recently, Water for Elephants received some unwelcome publicity when several animal rights activists accused the trainers of Tai the Elephant (Rosie in the movie) of viciously mistreating the animal when not on the film set. Tai plays a crucial role in the movie.

Aug. 5 update: Daiana Santia, the 24-year-old Argentinean woman who allegedly hacked into Summit Entertainment’s computers, and stole and distributed images and videos of the Robert Pattinson-Kristen Stewart-Taylor Lautner vehicle The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, has denied any involvement in the incident. Yesterday, Santia held a press conference in her hometown of Posadas, located near the Paraguayan border at about 800 km northeast of Buenos Aires.

While talking to the media in the presence of her attorneys, Santia affirmed:

“I’m a fan of the film [The Twilight Saga film series]. I love the film. I like the Internet, so I’m always looking for information, photos … about the actors in the film. What I saw was in a casual manner … and if I were to try to repeat [that process] today, I wouldn’t be able to do it again.”

Answering a reporter’s questions about how she found the Breaking Dawn images, Santia said she “kept going, going, going until I reached the images. I didn’t save anything, I didn’t distribute them like it’s been said. I didn’t store them. After I saw them, I closed the page.” She added that there were only images on the site, no Breaking Dawn videos. [Clarification: In this paragraph, Santia wasn’t talking about Summit’s website; she was referring to a non-specified Twilight fansite.]

“They said a lot of things,” the Economics student continued. “That I’m part of a [hackers’] network, that I’m a hacker. That has nothing to do with who I am. And the people who know me are aware that I don’t have that type of know-how and that [the accusations] can’t be true.”

Santia also said that she practices her English skills by reading interviews with the Twilight Saga actors, and berated Summit for involving her father in the lawsuit. (Hector Santia and “John Does” have been named in the suit, in addition to Daiana Santia.) She added that her parents “aren’t doing well because they don’t like it that people are accusing their daughter of being something she’s not.”

Additionally, Santia’s lawyers declared they will demand that the trial take place in Argentina in case Santia is brought to court by Summit and accused Summit’s legal representatives of using intimidating tactics to force Santia to turn in the family’s computer. One of the attorneys also blasted the Hollywood studio for using the lawsuit as an “online condemnation” of his client and as a “scuzzy” Breaking Dawn marketing tool. And finally, the Santia family is considering filing charges against Summit for harassment and defamation of character.

Summit Entertainment responded to Santia’s and her attorneys’ remarks last night. The studio stated that Santia had previously admitted to stealing the images, but later refused to cooperate with the investigation.

On her Facebook page, Santia had listed the Robert Pattinson-Reese Witherspoon romantic drama Water for Elephants as one of her favorite movies. Her info page is no longer available for viewing.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 opens on November 18. Also in the Breaking Dawn cast: Peter Facinelli, Dakota Fanning, Billy Burke, Michael Sheen, Maggie Grace, Lee Pace, Anna Kendrick, Christian Serratos, Sarah Clarke, Michael Welch, MyAnna Buring, Booboo Stewart, Christian Camargo, Julia Jones, Casey LaBow, Bronson Pelletier, Omar Metwally, Joe Anderson, and Alex Meraz.

Aug. 4

Daiana Santia , the 24-year-old Argentinean woman accused of stealing and distributing online images and videos of the upcoming The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn movies, held earlier today a press conference in her town of Posadas, about 1,100 kms north of Buenos Aires. Santia denied the accusations, claiming she didn’t have the computer savvy to steal the Breaking Dawn images. She also threatened to sue Summit for defamation of character.

Summit Entertainment responded to Santia’s remarks in a memo published at Deadline.com. Below are a couple of segments from Summit’s Breaking Dawn hacking-case memo:

First and most important this is NOT about greed or the Studio wanting to bully a woman from a small town in Argentina – rather, it is about stolen material that is private and sensitive which was obtained by illegally accessing private/secure servers as well as personal email accounts. Ms. Santia’s actions came to light after these materials began appearing on the internet towards the end of March, 2011. Since Summit learned of Ms. Santia’s involvement in late May 2011, Summit has been in contact with Ms. Santia and her representatives with no resolution or further good faith efforts on their part, thus the only alternative left was to pursue legal action to ascertain that Ms. Santia no longer holds the images and video in any shape or form.

…

Specifically on June 8, 2011 Ms. Santia confessed in the presence of her attorney that she accessed servers and email accounts via a systematic attack – stealing photographs, unfinished images and video footage over several months. Additionally there is indisputable evidence linking her directly to IP addresses that were used in the unauthorized access. Her actions appear to be premeditated and not done on a whim, but rather using technology and tactics that require thought as well as time and skill.

Directed by Bill Condon, and starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 opens on November 18. Also in the Breaking Dawn cast: Peter Facinelli, Dakota Fanning, Billy Burke, Michael Sheen, Maggie Grace, Lee Pace, Anna Kendrick, Christian Serratos, Sarah Clarke, Michael Welch, MyAnna Buring, Booboo Stewart, Christian Camargo, Julia Jones, Casey LaBow, Bronson Pelletier, Omar Metwally, Joe Anderson, and Alex Meraz.

Aug. 1

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart in Breaking Dawn‘s Isle Esme

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn images were leaked online in late March. At the time, director Bill Condon, author Stephenie Meyer, and co-producer Wyck Godfrey appealed to Twilight Saga fans not to “view or pass on these images. Wait for the film in its beautiful, finished entirety to thrill you.” Breaking Dawn star Robert Pattinson later said fans should hack into the hacker’s computer, while remarking on the petty motives for the leak. Today, about four months after the leaks first surfaced online, Summit announced that it has begun copyright infringement civil and criminal action in the United States and Argentina against alleged hackers Daiana Santia, Hector Santia, and “John Does.”

The epicenter of the Breaking Dawn image leak was the northern Argentinean town of Posadas, in the province of Misiones. According to Deadline.com, the investigation is ongoing, as others may be involved in the incident.

“While we very much appreciate the legions of committed fans of the franchise and encourage them to create community online, we cannot ignore that property was stolen,” said David C. Friedman, Summit Entertainment’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “It is not fair to the majority of fans that want to see the final chapter of the Twilight Saga film franchise fully realized by the filmmaker and dedicated cast and crew to have these images out and available on the Internet.”

In a written statement, Summit affirmed that the charges prove that “those who steal images, video and other intellectual property will be identified and prosecuted globally.” Now, the questions I have about this matter are: Is it necessary for Summit to prove that the image leak caused either financial or artistic damage to Breaking Dawn? If so, can Summit prove that’s the case?

Directed by Condon from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 opens on November 18. Part 2 opens a year later. The Breaking Dawn cast includes Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene, Elizabeth Reaser, Billy Burke, and Michael Sheen.

In addition to Maggie Grace, Lee Pace, Anna Kendrick, Christian Serratos, Sarah Clarke, Michael Welch, MyAnna Buring, Booboo Stewart, Christian Camargo, Julia Jones, and Alex Meraz. Stephenie Meyer, who had previously dealt with a leak of her manuscript for the unfinished Midnight Sun, wrote not only Breaking Dawn, but also its three bestselling predecessors: Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Photo: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Andrew Cooper / Summit Entertainment)

Follow-up Post

Back in early April, Robert Pattinson told MTV’s Josh Horowitz that he hadn’t seen Kristen Stewart/Bella’s wedding dress for the Bill Condon-directed film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. More importantly, he wanted Twilight fans to “punish” those who leaked photos and screengrabs from the Breaking Dawn set, which first surfaced online at the end of March.

“I want the Twilight troops to mobilize, the good fans, and find out who these little shits are, and just hack into their computers and destroy them!” Pattinson then adds: “I think it’s like a little ring, and they behave as if … They have this little clique, and they keep to themselves. It’s so disgusting… Why do this maliciously? You’re not a fan. You’re just a dick.”

Pattinson ends his (fully understandable) rant with the following:

“I’d understand it more if they sold the stuff. But, it’s like, ‘Oh, you just want to be annoying.’ Especially when you work on something for eight months. It’s an exciting movie. Everything is so different. A lot of people work really, really hard. And it’s raw footage. It’s not even what people are going to see. Idiots!”

Today, about four months after the leaked images first surfaced online, Summit announced that it has begun copyright infringement civil and criminal action in the United States and Argentina against alleged hackers Daiana Santia, Hector Santia, and “John Does.” In a written statement, Summit stated that the charges prove that “those who steal images, video and other intellectual property will be identified and prosecuted globally.”

Directed by Condon from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 opens on November 18. Part 2 opens a year later. In addition to Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, the Breaking Dawn cast includes Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene, Elizabeth Reaser, Billy Burke, and Michael Sheen.

In addition to Maggie Grace, Lee Pace, Anna Kendrick, Christian Serratos, Sarah Clarke, Michael Welch, MyAnna Buring, Booboo Stewart, Christian Camargo, Julia Jones, and Alex Meraz.