Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Trailer & Hysterical Fan Reaction

Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Elisabeth Reaser, Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 posterJuly 28 update: This The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 poster isn’t exactly the most creative or most original movie poster out there. In fact, it looks like an adaptation of several previous Twilight Saga posters in which we get to see the various characters staring ominously ahead of them.

Jackson Rathbone’s wig looks more in place this time around, but Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen still looks in dire need of a blood transfusion. Taylor Lautner’s caramel-colored Jacob Black could probably help him out in that regard.

Directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 opens on November 18. Also in the Breaking Dawn cast: Kristen Stewart, 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.

July 25

Comic-Con is for nerds. Comic-Con is useless as a marketing tool. Comic-Con is for geeks. Comic-Con is of no interest to Hollywood studios. San Diego’s Comic-Con 2011 is the place where you could find Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Bill Condon, Peter Jackson, Jon Favreau, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Andrew Garfield, Charlize Theron, Daniel Craig, and dozens of other celebrities from the film world.

About which The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 clips to show at Comic-Con, Bill Condon told the Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex blog:

“Once we decided that we didn’t want to show the wedding dress and once we decided we didn’t want to show her pregnant, we were limited to the honeymoon. Then the question was do we want to show the sex, which would have been crazy and great, but I thought we should hold back on that.”

Kristen Stewart got to flash a beautiful smile while telling Comic-Con attendees that her Snow White – in Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman – will be nothing like the apple-eater we’ve all grown accustomed to. More like a Damsel in Shining Armor.

“I wasn’t jumping at Snow White in advance, but this girl has an amazing ability to channel fear into energy. She’s the people’s leader and also not heavy-handed sincere; doesn’t let her heart cloud her mind but doesn’t let her mind stop things she feels strongly about. Also I get a sword.”

Snow White and the Huntsman hasn’t even begun filming, but Universal made available promotional shots. Stewart will be featured opposite Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Sam Claflin.

Footage of Ridley Scott’s much-anticipated Prometheus, a maybe/maybe-not prequel to Alien, left Comic-Coners eager for more. In his narration of the clip, Scott explained, “Basically, I just want to scare the shit out of you.” Prometheus features Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, and Guy Pearce.

Kristen Stewart quote: Empire Online; Ridley Scott quote via Collider.com.

Photo: Prometheus (20th Century Fox)

The most notable characteristic of the deleted opening scene from Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns is its feel, which is reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Much like some of the later scenes in Kubrick’s cryptic masterpiece, this introduction to Brandon Routh’s Superman has no dialogue. Instead, we’re treated to the sound of “space” music and stark, ice-cold visuals.

One difference between this Superman Returns sequence and 2001 is that Kubrick’s sci-fier lacks silly sound effects. Those can be heard here and there while Superman’s super-spaceship races out to safety.

Starring Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, and James Marsden, Superman Returns was considered a major box office disappointment upon its summer 2006 release. The problem wasn’t so much the amount of money the movie made – $200 million in North America; $398 million worldwide – but its out-of-control $270 million budget. The deleted opening scene alone cost a reported $10 million.

An upcoming Superman reboot, Man of Steel, to be directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent will come out in June 2013. Man of Steel had been initially scheduled for a December 2012 release.

July 21

If true, the most fascinating bit of information to come out of the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Comic-Con press conference earlier today was Bill Condon’s statement that Breaking Dawn – which stars Kristen Stewart as a human-turned-vampire, Robert Pattinson as a vampire, and Taylor Lautner as a werewolf – is supposed to come across as a “real horror movie.”

Condon added that he directed the two Breaking Dawn movies so as to keep building tension until each dramatic conclusion. Breaking Dawn – Part 1 should end with the gory birth of hybrid baby (hybaby? babrid?) Renesme. Breaking Dawn – Part 2 ends following a confrontation between two groups of vampires. It’ll be interesting to see how Condon and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg have handled the anticlimactic denouement found in Stephenie Meyer’s novel.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn opens on November 18. 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.

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.

Bill Condon quote via playeraffinity.com.

Photo via the Twilight Saga Facebook page.

July 21

Some time after the press panel featuring Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Booboo Stewart, Nikki Reed, and Julia Jones, the three leads and the director of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 – Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and Bill Condon – took their turn talking to the media at San Diego’s Comic-Con 2011. [Lautner photo via The Twilight Saga Facebook page.]

The quotes below are via hypable.com:

Regarding Breaking Dawn‘s Brazilian segment, Bill Condon said: “Filming in Brazil was great. It was amazing … That’s where Stephenie [Meyer] wrote the honeymoon. To actually go there was great. We found the area she described. We got stranded.” In Stephenie Meyer’s final (to date) Twilight Saga novel, Edward and Bella spend their honeymoon on Isle Esme, just off of Rio de Janeiro. The Breaking Dawn production shot sequences in Rio and in the small colonial town of Paraty.

As per Kristen Stewart, Bella’s wedding ceremony was the most secretive segment during the filming of Breaking Dawn – Part 1: “The wedding was insane. Secret service style. The crew was incredibly inconvenienced. No cell phone, etc. They wanted to keep the dress secret.”

Robert Pattinson on the infamous birth scene: “The birth scene is so different to everything else in the movie. For a fantasy it has a young audience but it goes quite far. It’s quite graphic. It was when we shot it anyway. There’s no other way to do it though.”

Among the major revelations at the Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Comic-Con press conference were Kristen Stewart’s outing Taylor Lautner as a hip-moving dancer and Robert Pattinson’s accusation that Kristen Stewart is a cooking-nerd.

July 5

According to belami.co.uk, Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod’s period comedy Bel Ami, based on Guy de Maupassant’s novel, and starring Robert Pattinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Uma Thurman, and Christina Ricci, will have its United Kingdom release postponed to sometime in early 2012. (Note: I couldn’t find the name of the actual source for the quote below.)

“It has now been confirmed that the release of BEL AMI will be moving to the start of next year due to talent availability.  The availability of the cast is obviously always a key consideration for any film campaign, and having them available to support in the run up to release is of course always preferable.”

Later this year, Robert Pattinson will likely be quite busy plugging The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, which opens November 18. Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner co-star in the Bill Condon-directed drama, the fourth installment in the Twilight Saga series.

As per the IMDb, Bel Ami already has distributors in Italy, France, Germany, South Korea, Russia, Brazil, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, and several other countries.

Photo: Bel Ami (RAI Cinema / 19 Entertainment / Redwave Films)

June 29

Robert Pattinson goes hmm

Robert Pattinson got a pie thrown at his face. No, it wasn’t an anti-Twilight anarchist. No, Kristen Stewart wasn’t mad at him. No, that guy who threw a pie on Bill Gates’ face was nowhere in sight. And nope, Pattinson isn’t starring in a remake of one of those Keystone Kops comedies. Pattinson’s pie is part of the plot of Cosmopolis (now say that five times, really fast). Inspired by the Gates incident, perhaps? Or by the Keystone Kops?

Directed by David Cronenberg, Cosmopolis is being shot in Toronto. Pattinson stars as a young billionaire who encounters all sorts of weird stuff when his limo gets stuck in traffic. Also in the Cosmopolis cast: Sarah Gadon, Juliette Binoche, Kevin Durand, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Paul Giamatti, and Mathieu Amalric.

Photo: via Cosmopolisfilm.com

Taylor Lautner at the Los Angeles Film Festival: ‘A Better Life’ movie premiere.

‘Twilight’ actor Taylor Lautner at Los Angeles Film Festival

Twilight actor Taylor Lautner was present at the June 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival’s presentation of Chris Weitz’s socially conscious drama A Better Life at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles.

Weitz, of course, directed Lautner, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson in The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), the second installment of the Twilight franchise based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novels. Lautner plays Jacob Black, a “shapeshifter” a.k.a. werewolf from the American Northwest.

‘A Better Life’: Universes away from ‘Twilight’ movies

Radically different from New Moon in both tone and theme, A Better Life depicts the non-supernatural travails of an undocumented Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles.

On the Los Angeles Film Festival’s website the plot of A Better Life is described thus:

A gardener in East L.A. [the heavily Hispanic part of Los Angeles] struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city’s wealthy landowners.

In the A Better Life cast:

Demián Bichir. José Julián. Dolores Heredia. Joaquín Cosío. Carlos Linares. Chelsea Rendon.

Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and Garrett Hedlund: Los Angeles Film Festival.

‘Twilight’ and ‘On the Road’ actors at Los Angeles Film Festival

The clip above features the L.A. band Ozomatli interspersed with Red Carpet images from the Los Angeles Film Festival screening of Chris Weitz’s A Better Life.

Among those attending the event were:

• Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, both of whom collaborated with Weitz on The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
• TRON: Legacy and On the Road actor Garrett Hedlund.
• Cowboys and Aliens actress Ana de la Reguera.
• Weeds actress Mary-Louise Parker.
• A Better Life cast members Demián Bichir and Chelsea Rendon.

Taylor Lautner photo at A Better Life premiere: Los Angeles Film Festival.

Los Angeles Film Festival website.

June 21

Gossip Girl‘s Penn Badgley has been cast as singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley in writer-director Daniel Algrant’s Greetings from Tim Buckley. Buckley released the album “Grace” in 1994. Three years later, the 30-year-old singer drowned after going for a swim in Tennessee’s Wolf River. Others mentioned for the Jeff Buckley role included Breaking Dawn‘s Robert Pattinson and 127 Hours’ James Franco.

There has been a lot of confusion because the co-producer of an actual Jeff Buckley biopic had denied that Penn Badgley was at all involved in her project. Just as confusing is trying to figure out if Pattinson, Franco, and whoever else are still up for the role in this other film project.

“To play a man who was singularly gifted as an artist, greatly misunderstood and mythologized as a human being … It’s something very special and sacred. I’m going to give all I can to this project,” Badgley said Monday in a statement released through producing company Smuggler Films.

The release adds that “Greetings from Tim Buckley follows the true story of the days leading up to Jeff Buckley’s eminent 1991 performance at his father’s tribute concert in St. Ann’s Church. Through a romance with a young woman working at the concert, he comes to understand the father who abandoned him.”

Greece is in the news nowadays for a lot of bad reasons: bailouts, debts, more bailouts, higher debts, possible default, another global economic crisis. So, here is some good news out of Greece: Thanks to an Alt Film Guide reader – who complained that we hadn’t mentioned the Robert Pattinson vehicle Bel Ami in over a year – we’ve discovered this Greek poster* of Bel Ami.

“Pomnet HatinEon” is, of course, Robert Pattinson. In case you haven’t practiced your Greek lately, the other names listed in the poster are those of Uma Thurman (seen with Pattinson), Kristin Scott Thomas, and Christina Ricci. I don’t know exactly what the Greek title means, but I was able to read the second word as “Pathos.” [Addendum: A Greek-speaking Twitter-er pointed out that Bel Ami‘s Greek title translates as “Dangerous Passion.”]

Directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, Bel Ami is expected – as per the IMDb – to come out in Greece on August 25. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Bel Ami will be released in the United States on Oct. 19, about a month before The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 hits theaters.

* As explained by the Greek Twiblog TeamEdwardPOV, the above poster is not the official Greek poster, but “was used in a greek magazine as an entry for the movie” (see comments section below).

June 20

In the clip below, a fan reacts to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 trailer, which briefly features the wedding ceremony of Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen.

“Esme! Island Esme!” the distraught fan exclaims at one point, referring to the tropical paradise in which Bella and Edward spend their honeymoon. The fan talks, screams, laughs, cries, curses, and then, now a reborn woman, goes wash her face. Who would have thought that The Twilight Saga would become a truly transcendental experience?

This hilarious clip has been around since the Breaking Dawn teaser trailer made the rounds on the day of the MTV Movie Awards. Summit Entertainment kept pulling the trailer from different youtube accounts; other youtube account holders kept uploading it at an even faster pace. Bill Condon directed the two-part feature from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, who adapted Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novel. Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed, and Dakota Fanning are some of the other featured players.

This transformational Breaking Dawn clip should be shown in theaters as a short film. It’s funny, sad, profound, insane, and even more deafening than Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. It would surely be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects – if shorts were allowed to get nominated in regular categories.

Note: When nuttymadam3575 warns you that there’ll be lots of screaming, pay heed. Turn the volume down if you want to finish this clip with your hearing intact.

(Sorry, the video has been removed from the source.)

Three comingsoonertv trailer critics review the trailer for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, a.k.a. “The Twilight where they finally do it.” They, of course, being Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan. (Taylor Lautner doesn’t do it; he’s the third wheel.)

Whether you find the trailer commentary below silly or funny depends on a) your sense of humor b) in case you’re a Twihard, your self-deprecating sense of humor c) if you enjoy the reviewers’ clipped accents.

I particularly liked the bit about clever use of five different people reading their mail to build tension. And I had no idea that Stephenie Meyer had a cameo in the wedding scene.

Directed by Bill Condon, 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.

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.

June 16: Starring Robert Pattinson as a multibillionaire stuck in a traffic jam, David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis has received $2.7 million from the Canadian government – by way of Telefilm Canada – according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on Don DeLillo’s novel, Cosmopolis also features Sarah Gadon, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton, Mathieu Amalric and Jay Baruchel. The film has been shooting in Toronto, where production will continue until mid-July.

Now, are Canadian government members and Telefilm Canada employees unabashed twihards? Could be, but the official reason for the Cosmopolis subsidy is that Cronenberg has steadfastly remained an All-Canadian filmmaker.

“David Cronenberg is the definitive Canadian artist,” says Carolle Brabant, executive director of Telefilm Canada, “who despite receiving many tempting offers to move to Hollywood, has remained in Canada to practice his craft.”

As quoted in the Reporter, Cronenberg’s response was the following: “Telefilm has made my career in Canada possible. Their continuous support of my work since my early days as a filmmaker has allowed me to remain and work at home.”

And there are those who claim that film subsidies should be abolished for good. It’s a good thing that at least in Canada they haven’t.

Photo: cosmopolisthefilm.com

June 14

Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner; Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers, with Logan Lerman, Orlando Bloom, Milla Jovovich, Christoph Waltz, and Matthew Macfadyen; and Chris Gorak’s alien invasion thriller The Darkest Hour, with Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby, are the three films Summit Entertainment will be promoting at San Diego’s Comic-Con International to be held July 21–24.

According to the Summit press release, “those who stop by will be able to speak live via phone with select actors and filmmakers from Summit films, as well as participate in contests and giveaways.”

Summit adds that they’ll be hosting “one of the first panels of the day in Hall H” on Thursday, July 21. Not surprisingly, the panel will be dedicated to the Twilight Saga franchise. What’s more: Summit may have Hall H (and perhaps a few others Halls as well) all to itself: Warner Bros, DreamWorks, Disney, and The Weinstein Company are skipping Comic-Con this year, according to the New York Times. Even Marvel, the Holy Grail of comic-book nerds everywhere, isn’t sure how big (or small) its presence will be this year, as some studios feels that the Comic-Con buzz seems to be restricted to Comic-Con-goers and, with luck, their families and most intimate friends.

Apparently, Summit disagrees with that assessment. In its press release, the studio says, “fans interested in [Breaking Dawn‘s] final chapters will be shown exclusive footage from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and be treated to a filmmaker and cast Q&A session providing details on the first half of the epic two part finale, in theatres November 18, 2011.”

And finally, authors Erin Morgenstern, Isaac Marion, and Veronica Roth will be signing books.

June 8

Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon in ‘Cosmopolis’: ‘Twilight’ star featured opposite trio of performers with Oscar pedigree.

Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon in ‘Cosmopolis’

Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon are seen above in the latest image from David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis made available online – sorry, no nudity, not even implied, like Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo poster.

Based on Don DeLillo’s novel, the New York-set thriller began shooting in Toronto in late May 2011. Pattinson – luckily having replaced Colin Farrell – plays young, arrogant billionaire Eric Packer, whose cab ride to get a haircut takes several bizarre twists and turns.

Oscar pedigree

Like Francis Lawrence’s Water for Elephants, in which Robert Pattinson found himself surrounded both in front and behind the camera by various Academy Award winners and nominees (e.g., Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Richard LaGravenese, Hal Holbrook), Cosmopolis has the Twilight star supported by a trio of players with Oscar pedigree:

• Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, 1996; and Best Actress nominee for Chocolat, 2000).
• Two-time Academy Award nominee Samantha Morton (in the Best Supporting Actress category for Sweet and Lowdown, 1999; in the Best Actress category for In America, 2003).
• Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man, 2005).

In addition to Kevin Durand, Mathieu Amalric, and Jay Baruchel.

David Cronenberg collaborators

Behind the camera, also aboard the Cosmopolis limo are:

• Three-time Academy Award winner Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001; two music category Oscar wins for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003).
• Cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, a frequent David Cronenberg collaborator (Naked Lunch, Dead Ringers) whose credits also include Irvin Kershner’s The Empire Strikes Back and Ulu Grosbard’s Falling in Love.
• Film editor Ronald Sanders, another frequent David Cronenberg collaborator – e.g., eXistenZ, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method.
• Production designer Arvinder Grewal (Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil: Afterlife).
• Costume designer Denise Cronenberg, a frequent collaborator on her brother’s movies – e.g., Crash, Spider, A History of Violence.

Cosmopolis is expected to hit theaters some time in 2012.

Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon Cosmopolis image: Alfama Films.

June 5

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn teaser trailer is out. Does it look good? It does. It sounds good, too. Instead of dialogue, we get some cool, ominous music. And we get to see a close-up of Kristen Stewart’s tummy, too.

Once again, Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen looks sullen, but for good reason: it’s not a torn muscle inside Bella’s belly. It’s a bouncing hybrid baby that’s going to wreak havoc in her bod. Now, one thing I noticed in this Breaking Dawn teaser trailer is that Edward looks less white than in Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. Perhaps Summit’s make-up people got his undead un-tanned look right this time around.

The teaser also features several shots of Rio de Janeiro (and Paraty’s Isle Esme), where Edward and Bella get to spend their honeymoon. But the most surprising – astonishing, really – thing about this trailer is that we get to see Taylor Lautner shirtless.

Directed by Bill Condon, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 opens on November 18. Melissa Rosenberg adapted Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novel.

Also in the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn cast: Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Elizabeth Reaser, Billy Burke, and Michael Sheen.