Official: David Slade To Direct The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse

No more rumors of Drew Barrymore or Juan Antonio Bayona directing the third Twilight movie – for the decision of who will helm Eclipse has been made!

Erik Feig, Summit Entertainment’s President of Production officially announced today that David Slade (30 Days of Night, Hard Candy) has been hired to helm The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

This isn’t very surprising considering we reported this morning that this might be happening alongside the first picture of the Wolf Pack members who will be featured in this year’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Some snippets from the Press release:

Meyer stated, “I am thrilled that David Slade will be directing ECLIPSE. He’s a visionary filmmaker who has so much to offer this franchise. From the beginning, we’ve been blessed with wonderful directorial talent for the Twilight Saga, and I’m so happy that ECLIPSE will be carrying on with that tradition.”

Feig said, “Stephenie Meyer’s ECLIPSE is a muscular, rich, vivid book and we at Summit looked long and hard for a director who could do it justice.  We believe we have found that talent in David Slade, a director who has been able to create complex, visually arresting worlds.  We cannot wait to see the ECLIPSE he brings to life and brings to the fans eagerly awaiting its arrival in summer of 2010.”

In ECLIPSE, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge.  In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob — knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf.  With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life.

So, Twilight fans, what do you think of who’s in charge of bringing the third book of Stephenie Meyer’s successful series to the big screen? He’s certainly got some vampire experience on his resume – some very gruesome vampire experience at that.

New Moon began principal photography last week and is set for release November 20, 2009. Eclipse is currently scheduled as a summer tent-pole for next year, opening June 30, 2010.