Summit Entertainment is pretty happy with themselves this weekend with their Twilight sequel New Moon already breaking loads of sales records in just the first day. It surely seems now that rushing the film into production after last November’s success of the first book in Stephanie Meyer’s vampire novel series was a good idea. Continuing the momemtum and hype, the third installment Eclipse has already wrapped filming and is set for a summer release, only half a year away.

Check out after the jump for a list of ridiculously high financial stats for New Moon coming in from reports everywhere.

With the expected (and now realized) opening success of New Moon, I am surprised that in my screening of the movie, there were no trailers for other major upcoming films – What we saw instead was all just for upcoming movies from Summit and E1 Entertainment and no other studios took advantage of the masses of eager moviegoers sitting in packed theaters everywhere.

Here are the numbers reported from Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood as of this morning:

• Debuted at around $72 million in 4024 theaters but results still coming in.
• Breaks the record for Friday opening and single day sales ($67 million from The Dark Knight).
• The Friday totals include the insanely high midnight screenings that brought in 26.27 million from 3514 theaters – this beats both The Dark Knight and the latest Harry Potter.
• Tracking for a $125 opening weekend which is still under numbers for the third Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight or Spider-Man 3.
• Last year’s Twilight brought in just under $70 million so this one is destroying it as well as expectations which had the movie likely getting close to Iron Man numbers around $100 million.

Fandango is reproting that New Moon is 10 tickets/second throughout Friday and it’s the number one advanced ticket seller of all time for them.

What do you think of the box-office success of the Twilight films so far and what do you expect from next year’s installment?

If you missed it, check out Screen Rant’s New Moon Review.

Directed by Chris Weitz, New Moon stars Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Ashley Greene – it’s playing everywhere currently. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opens June 30, 2010 and is directed by David Slade.

Source: Deadline Hollywood

• New Moon Wolf Pack Pic; Update on Eclipse Director Search
• Robert Pattinson Confirms Twilight’s ‘Breaking Dawn’
• Eclipse Director Hates Twilight?
• Twilight Saga: Eclipse to Start Shooting Yesterday
• ‘Half-Blood Prince’ Advance Tickets Outselling ‘Twilight’
• New Moon Stills, Clip and Twilight Re-Release Info

Short version: Like Twilight, New Moon is strictly for fans of the book – for the rest of us, it’s actually worse than the first film.

Screen Rant reviews The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Well, maybe the third time will be the charm.

In an earlier article we speculated whether New Moon might turn out to be a good movie not just for fans but for general audiences (maybe even guys!). With the replacement of Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke with Chris Weitz on New Moon, many people were hoping for a more exciting film this time around. Unfortunately, if anything what we’ve gotten is a film that is even slower than the first one.

As New Moon opens things seem to have fallen into as close to normalcy as they can get in Forks, where Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) are a couple, even though Bella’s circle of friends still finds him and his family creepy. Bella hasn’t seen Jacob (Taylor Lautner) in quite a while and is shocked to see how he’s beefed up when he turns up. There’s a rivalry between Edward and Jacob, but nothing compared to what it will be by the end of the movie.

Bella still (idiotically) wants to be “turned” – be bitten so she can become a vampire and live forever with Edward at the physical age of 18. Edward refuses because obviously he’s smarter than she is – he’s 109 years old and with that apparently has come some wisdom. They actually joke about the fact that an 18 year old girl is dating a 109 year old guy – while it may seem silly, it’s actually true and quite creepy. You’d think he’d be (as a 109 year old) more interested in hooking up with a woman in her 30s, who’s actually experienced more of life and matured.

Edward tells Bella that the Cullens are leaving, ostensibly to protect their identities, but in reality he believes that as long as he’s around her he puts her in danger. Before he leaves he tells her not to do anything reckless – and the only reason to say something as non-sequiter as that is to set up what comes up later in the movie. Saying she doesn’t take it well would be an understatement. Bella is depressed and morose, doing nothing but sitting in her bedroom moping for months.

Eventually she pretends to snap out of it, just to make her dad happy, and while out with a friend discovers that if she contemplates doing something dangerous, risky (or hey, reckless!), Edward appears to her to tell her not to do it. So she becomes a bit of an adrenaline junkie, looking for dangerous things to do just so Edward will appear to her to tell her NOT to do it. This is a major point in the film, and frankly the more I thought about it, the more it seemed pretty stupid. First, let’s just reverse what I said earlier about Edward being wise – appearing to her ONLY when she’s about to do something risky, with the fact she misses him so much, guarantees she will engage in that behavior. Second, isn’t Bella the only person who he’s not able to “read?” He can’t read her thoughts, can’t tell what she’s planning on doing, etc? Then how the HECK does he appear to her when she’s about to do something stupid? Of course if he’s not appearing to her and she’s imagining it, then she’s having pretty vivid hallucinations and has even bigger problems than we thought.

Meanwhile back on the (Indian) ranch, there are a bunch of guys who hang together and seem to worship the gang leader. This particular fellow seems to be waiting for Jacob to join them even though Jake isn’t interested. Of course there’s a reason they’re called the “Wolf Pack” and soon enough Jacob will be joining them (once he joins them, he spends the rest of the film shirtless just like them). He comforts Bella, who takes advantage of their friendship because it’s obvious he has serious feelings for her, and she allows things to progress as far as closeness and some physical affection, but keeps him at arm’s length. Eventually he, too tells her he can’t be friends with her any more and Bella is now 0 for 2 on people who said they’d never leave her – and do.

Click to continue reading our New Moon review.

• New Moon Character Posters & Image Gallery
• Twilight Fan-Made New Moon Posters
• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters
• Robert Pattinson Confirms Twilight’s ‘Breaking Dawn’
• First Photos Of Twilight Saga’s New Moon
• ‘New Moon’ Starts Shooting (Plus: New Cast Members)

Crazy numbers are coming in from Fandango, claiming that The Twilight Saga: New Moon is now the official record holder for most advanced tickets sold on the site, ever. You heard right: New Moon has sold more advanced tickets than The Dark Knight, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith or Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – and even more tickets than a little movie called Twilight, which hit theaters around this same time last year.

Now of course some of you hear that statistic and think to yourselves “So what? No big surprise there…” New Moon is the bigger, (seemingly) better chapter in a wildly popular franchise of books-cum-movies, and, like every other film in that advanced tickets listing above, is simply doing what it should: building on its own success.

Oh, but this is just the beginning, my friends; matter of fact, with New Moon busting into theaters this week, these record ticket sales aren’t even the beginning – they’re just a warning shot. New Moon is poised to be huge phenomenon, perhaps even outside of the previous borderlines of the of die-hard Twilight fan (aka teen girls and their mothers) demographics.

This begs the timely question: Is New Moon changing The Twilight Saga’s image?

…AND TWILIGHT FOR ALL

So let’s be up front: The Twilight Saga isn’t really in need of a major PR makeover as it stands: the books sold like crazy and the last year’s movie adaptation earned over $350 million worldwide off a $37 million production budget, in spite of the fact that it was (at best) a B-Movie.

(Let’s just pause a sec, and give the Twilight fans a chance to rip me apart for calling the first film a B Movie…)

…OK, so, it’s pretty obvious that author Stephenie Meyer’s universe of vampire/virgin/werewolf coupling and conflict has grown legs of its own to stand on. No debate about that here. However, it’s also been clearly evident – throughout the dozens of posts we’ve dedicated to covering the cinematic development of The Twilight Saga here at Screen Rant – that beyond the initial (albeit HUGE) pool of tweens, teens, and mothers of tweens/teens who worship this series, The Twilight Saga has faced a challenge when it comes to appealing to those beyond the strictly designated boundaries of its genre (teen romance) and demographic (teen romantics).

If you think I’m off base when I say that, then you need to flashback to last year when Summit Entertainment tried HARD to market Twilight as an “action” film, repeatedly advertising that one vampire-on-vampire fight scene (which looked like a 3-year-old shot it) as some sort of validation for guys to see the film. And while our own Vic Holtreman tagged the film as (barely) “guy approved,” many other guys did not. Compared to say 30 Days of Night or True Blood, many of you said Twilight looked like little girl’s stuff.

“See, would a wimpy vampire do this?”

But does that opinion still hold true for New Moon? Because my movie barometer/Spidey-sense is telling me, Not Necessarily…

A GOOD FILM IS A GOOD FILM

When the first trailer for New Moon dropped, the reaction was certainly less divided than a year prior when audiences got their first look at Twilight. When the full, final trailer for New Moon was released shortly thereafter, that gap in opinion narrowed even further. Having been the one to post about that final trailer (and as a longtime anti-Twilight proponent) even I had to admit two things:

1. New Moon director Chris Weitz has put together a movie that is much more polished and visually sophisticated than Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight adaptation.
2. This second installment offers much more than just schmaltzy, awkward, shirtless, teen romance. There is actually a story at work here.

Now don’t get me wrong, New Moon certainly isn’t above criticism; fans and non-fans alike have already agreed that some of the werewolf visual effects we’ve seen look slightly cheesy, for instance. But on the whole, this film is already a few steps ahead of Twilight, for the simple fact that more people are judging it by the merits of what is and is not a good film. Twilight was pretty much seen as a cash-grab endeavor by Summit Entertainment – a small studio cranking out a hot dog-quality movie based on a super-hot franchise, with fat profits all but lining Summit’s shallow pockets before the film ever debuted.

And, regardless of the low-quality of the product, the money came pouring in as expected.

Despite the blink-and-you-missed it production schedule of New Moon, it certainly seems like Summit Entertainment is taking those fat profits and putting them toward a higher purpose: making a much better film the second time out – one that could possibly be loved by those who are NOT already screaming, sobbing, drooling fanatics of the books; the audience that DOESN’T simply love the movies for the fact that they exist. This time around, the filmmakers want to win over the haters and lovers alike.

But can it be done? Keep Reading…

• Twilight Saga: Eclipse to Start Shooting Yesterday
• New Moon’s Record-Breaking Opening Day
• New Moon Wolf Pack Pic; Update on Eclipse Director Search
• Eclipse Director Hates Twilight?
• New Moon Official Final Trailer Is Here!
• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters

The Twilight Saga’s New Moon is just over a week away so we’re in the midst of the final marketing push to help bring in the crowds. A week ago we got a new clip alongside some new still for the movie and on Monday we put up some behind-the-scenes, cast interviews and some DVD release info.

Summit Entertainment has released a pair new TV Spots for New Moon over the last few days and we have them here for you. If you’re on Team Jacob, then you’ll dig these promotional videos.

Check them out after the jump.

New Moon is directed by Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass, About A Boy) and stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Billy Burke, Christian Serratos, Jackson Rathbone, Michael Sheen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Daniel Cudmore, Edi Gathegi and Dakota Fanning among many others in the very large cast.

Watch and enjoy:

“Never Hurt You”

“Battle”

The CGI certainly isn’t impressive but that won’t be slowing down the Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner fans. Have you pre-ordered your tickets already?

New Moon opens November 20, 2009.

• Jamie Campbell-Bower Cast in Twilight Saga’s ‘New Moon’
• New Moon Official Final Trailer Is Here!
• ‘New Moon’ Starts Shooting (Plus: New Cast Members)
• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters
• Twilight Saga: Eclipse Cast List & New Moon Volturi Pics [Updated]
• New Moon Character Posters & Image Gallery

The guys over at Collider spent what seemed like the entire weekend covering The Twilight Saga: New Moon – and why not, when you have access to the film’s stars, director and some great behind-the-scenes footage?

If you Twilight fans haven’t already been mobbing Collider trying to feast on all the good stuff they dug up, you’re in luck – I’m going to boil Collider’s novella length transcripts down into an on-the-go sampling of the best and meatiest bits.

We’ll start with some new behind-the-scenes footage from New Moon and move on to news about which deleted scenes and extras will be included with the New Moon DVD release; we’ll end things off with some quotes from New Moon’s cast, including Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Volturi actors Dakota Fanning, Michael Sheen, Jamie Campbell and Cameron Bright.

NEW MOON BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOOTAGE

A lot of you have already checked out the recent clips we posted from New Moon, featuring such eye-grabbing scenes as Bella’s near-fatal birthday celebration with the Cullens, Bella getting on the hairy side of the wolfpack and Edward battling the Volturi to save Bella’s life. If you’ve enjoyed those clips, the first question that probably comes to your mind is “How’d they make it look so good (or bad)?” Well, we’ve now got a great behind-the-scenes video courtesy of Collider, which shows you just how the filmmakers are bringing New Moon to life on the big screen.

Check it out:

NEW MOON DELETED SCENES

Whenever you start watching behind-the-scenes footage, it’s hard not to think about what other little ‘peaks behind the curtain’ you’ll be getting once a movie becomes available on DVD/Blu-ray. Well, it’s never to early to start marketing your home releases, and New Moon director Chris Weitz talked exclusively with Collider (in an elevator, no less) about what kind of New Moon extras fans can expect.

Said Weitz:

“On the DVD there will be some deleted scenes, there will be a commentary with me and I think Kristen, Rob and Taylor at the same time, and some making of and behind the scenes type stuff….I’d say a good ten minutes of groovy stuff [fans] haven’t seen.”

Weitz also elaborated that there will actually be twenty minutes of deleted footage included with the DVD release – however, about half of that footage will be in the form of extended scenes, which in reality equals out to the aforementioned ten minutes of  never-before-seen footage cut from the theatrical release in order to slim down the runtime and even out the pace of the film.

I, for one, have come to the opinion that 99.9% of deleted scenes should remain that way (deleted), but I know some of you rabid New Moon fans out there will want to comb over every filmed second of this flick, so get excited, I guess…

Next up: Interviews with cast of New Moon…

• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters
• Twilight Fan-Made New Moon Posters
• New Moon Character Posters & Image Gallery
• New Footage from The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Updated]
• New Moon Official Final Trailer Is Here!
• First Official ‘New Moon’ Poster

Twilight fans grab your life-size Robert Pattinson stuffed doll, call all of your friends, gather around your computer monitors and giggle together in anticipation because Screen Rant has got some skin-tingling news for you. Last week MTV showed its first ever Halloween special, Ulalume: Howling at the New Moon. During the show, MTV showed an exclusive clip from the upcoming Twilight sequel New Moon and in case you missed it (if you are a Twilight fan, then I seriously doubt you missed it) you can watch the clip over at MTV or just check it out after the jump.

All the popular kids were on hand to debut the new clip, including every girl’s (and a few oddball boy’s) favorite brooding teenage vampire hunk, Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen). Oh yeah, in case you care, Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan) and Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) were there too. But seriously, did you see the dreamy, pale-skinned, red-eyed Edward? That man just exudes sexy, in an “I want to drink your blood” type of way.

But before we get to the video, there is another piece of information that dropped that is sure to make you sparkle. Coming Soon is reporting that due to the huge success of the first installment of Stephenie Meyer’s young love vampire angst series of novels , Summit Entertainment has to decided to re-release Twilight in select theaters nationwide on November 19^th.

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This is a rare event; the studio decided to offer this re-release because of the number of requests to see Twilight in theaters again, despite the fact that it is already available on DVD. The movie will be shown right before New Moon hits theaters (most likely a double feature) and the tickets will be available at a discounted price. Bottom line, don’t go anywhere near the mall on November 19^th or 20^th.

OK, enough yammering, time for the video clip:

MTV also released 3 new stills from New Moon (the first of which you saw above) and you can see the other two below. New Moon is direct by Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), and stars Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Kristen Stewart (Adventureland), and Taylor Lautner (Twilight) in a story about a supernatural love triangle between Bella (Stewart), Edward(Pattinson) and Jacob (Lautner). Who will Bella ultimately fall in love with? Can she ever get over the hunky dreaminess of Edward to love the every-so-often super-hairy Jacob? You’ll just have to read the books or wait a couple of weeks to find out for sure. I know I’m biting my fingernails in anticipation.

Here are the other two stills as promised.

Admittedly, I’m not a fan of the films and neither the clips nor the pictures have me giddy with excitement to watch New Moon or the third Twilight installment, Eclipse. I even tried to read the books but never made it past the first couple of chapters. The whole thing reads like a morbid twist on Romeo and Juliet, with a dash of 90210 drama and just a hint of Sweet Valley High. Good thing I’m not the target audience, I guess. New moon will do very well in theaters because it managed to pick up a huge fan base. It’s just not my cup of tea but if it is yours, then I’m sure the film will not disappoint.

I would ask if you are planning to watch New Moon when it comes out in theaters but if you are reading this post, then chances are you already bought your advance tickets at Fandango.

New Moon fangs its way into theaters and makes you gush with excitement November 20^th, 2009.

Source: MTV, Coming Soon

• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters
• New Moon Character Posters & Image Gallery
• Twilight Fan-Made New Moon Posters
• New Moon TV Spots Favor Team Jacob
• New Footage from The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Updated]
• First Official ‘New Moon’ Poster

The Twilight Saga: New Moon promotional train just keeps on steamrolling along with news/details of an upcoming mall tour, as well as two new TV spots and a clip.

You’re probably in one of two camps with regards to this Twilight sequel: either you couldn’t give a crap about anything Twilight related, or you are fully on-board and you welcome the avalanche of promo materials. If you’re the former, please bear with us; If you’re the latter, here’s our latest Twilight treat for you!

New Moon TV Spots and Clip

Here’s the latest New Moon TV spots and the clip I mentioned. The TV spots each focus on two of the storylines that are part of New Moon. The first concentrates on Bella (Kristen Stewart), Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and the wolf pack; while the second focuses on the newly introduced Volturi, featuring Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning. Check them both out, thanks to Fandango and ETOnline (by way of TrailerAddict):

And finally, here’s the 45 second clip from New Moon, which shows a rather tense looking scene where the Volturi, led by Aro (Sheen), decide what to do with Bella. Personally I think it looks pretty damn good – take a look, thanks to Yahoo:

We’ve still just under a month to go before the promo machine (including images, trailers, clips, posters etc.) from New Moon dies down after the movie itself hits theaters. Of course, after that we have more Twilight stuff to come as the process starts all over again for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

But for now, let’s just stick with New Moon’s upcoming Mall Tour….(keep reading).

• Twilight Saga: Eclipse to Start Shooting Yesterday
• Eclipse Director Hates Twilight?
• New Moon Wolf Pack Pic; Update on Eclipse Director Search
• New Moon Stills, Clip and Twilight Re-Release Info
• Robert Pattinson Confirms Twilight’s ‘Breaking Dawn’
• Twilight Saga’s ‘New Moon’ Reveals The Wolf Pack

This past Saturday, October 17th, I attended my second year of Spike TV’s annual Scream Awards. Not only did I attend, but I had been hand-picked by the casting director to sit front row center for the show! As a fan-focused awards show, it’s much more enjoyable being seated amongst JJ Abrams, Karl Urban, Elijah Wood and Woody Harrelson. My favorite personal surprise of the evening came when the Best Science Fiction Actress nominees were being announced. I cheered (maybe a little too loudly for my girlfriend’s tastes) for Eliza Dushku when her name was announced, only to discover she was sitting right in front of me. She turned around and flashed me her lovely smile. Good thing my girlfriend isn’t the overly-jealous type.

As for the show itself, it seems as though the winners have already been leaked online, and the best surprises have been revealed, even on Spike’s own website. So keep in mind there be spoilers here.

Starting off the show was the “Most Anticipated Movie” award. I’m sure everyone there was utterly surprised by the winner. After a black and white checkerboard “red” carpet, and a Wonderland-esqe stage design, who would have guessed it would be Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland?

In all seriousness though, having Johnny Depp there was very cool. After his extremely brief appearance at the San Diego Comic Con panel this summer, I half-expected that to be his only appearance for this show. Thankfully I was wrong and he came back onstage one more time to present the Rock Immortal award to Keith Richards. Johnny was very gracious on his way up to the small center stage, shaking hands with many of us in the pit next to the stage. Keith Richards was very spry on stage, bounding up the steps to receive his award from his former on-screen “son.” Johnny reiterated the old axiom that after the End of the World, “all that will be left are cockroaches… and Keith Richards”. Take that, Nancy Reagan!

Megan Fox, as I’m sure you all have already heard around the net, was apparently trying to smooth things over with Michael Bay. Here’s her speech:

“I would like to take this moment to actually say something genuine. There have been a lot of false reports concerning how I feel about this movie and I just want to be very clear that I’ve always felt that I am a very ordinary part of an extraordinary film. These movies took me out of obscurity and they gave me a career and I am completely grateful to everyone involved with this franchise. I don’t know why you guys keep voting for me for these things. I don’t feel like I deserve them but thank you and I love you so much, thank you.”

At first, it seemed as though she was setting us up for a SNL-style gag. I thought we’d see her then jokingly refer to Jennifer’s Body, since she never once uttered the names Transformers or Michael Bay. But then, after the disappointing box-office on Jennifer’s Body, it’s no surprise she wants to be a part of Transformers 3. Her speech did sound genuine, it just sounded odd not hearing either name.

Vampires and Werewolves were very well represented this year, from stand-out series True Blood, to the new movie Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant. But judging by the cheers, it was Twilight that had the best reception. Representing the franchise was Taylor Lautner, star of the upcoming The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The footage shown to us was more behind-the-scenes than actual movie footage. After Depp and Lautner, my girlfriend had all but forgotten my earlier Dushku encounter.

Harrison Ford presented the Best Director award to JJ Abrams. It would be exceedingly cool to see these two Hollywood titans do a project together. I wonder if having Ford in the next Star Trek movie would cause some kind of mass nerd head-explosions? William Shatner was also present at the show. He practically begged JJ to be in the next movie. I would have given anything to have been a fly on the wall of that green room! Just imagining Shatner and Ford having drinks and talking shop, I’m reminded of a line from Free Enterprise. When the young character in that movie complains that a kid at school “said that Han Solo was cooler than Captain Kirk”, Shatner, playing himself, remarked “kick the little f&@ker’s @$$”. Seriously though, it would be pretty mind-blowing to see Ford play a Trek villain.

Click to continue reading “Scream Awards 2009: A Report From Front Row Center “

• Tim Burton Unveils ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Footage & Surprise Guest!
• 2009 Scream Award Nominations
• The Hottest Things To Come Out Of Comic-Con
• New Footage from The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Updated]
• ‘Kick-Ass’ Footage To Premiere at Comic-Con
• Peter Jackson To Promote ‘District 9′ At Comic-Con ‘09

[Update: We now have a hi-res New Moon clip to share]

New footage from The Twilight Saga: New Moon debuted this weekend at the 2009 Spike TV Scream Awards, and, of course, made its way online shortly thereafter.

The new footage is a pretty lame quick-glimpse of The Wolf Pack that main character (and shirtless muscle boy) Jacob (Taylor Lautner) belongs to. Jacob of course plays a much more central role in New Moon as the boy-creature who Bella (Kristen Stewart) begins to fall for after her boy-creature-lover, Edward (Robert Pattinson), breaks up with her (sob).

We here at Screen Rant don’t like to post any bootlegged and/or pirated material, and since this leaked New Moon footage was basically shot by somebody sitting waaay back in the Scream Award audience, and then cut up into YouTube videos, needless to say we won’t be posting the footage here.

If you Twiehards would like to check it out, though, feel free to go here:

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LEAKED NEW MOON FOOTAGE

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UPDATE: Sit back and enjoy this hi-res (and hair-raising) New Moon clip, featuring The Wolfpack:

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NEW MOON HI-RES CLIP

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Ummm, Twilight fans, is that enough of something to get you excited about New Moon? I don’t see how it possibly could be – but hey, you never know.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon will be in theaters on November 20, 2009.

Source: Ace Showbiz

Update Source: itunes via Cinema Blend

• Sneak Peek(s) at New Moon’s New Trailer
• New Moon TV Spots Favor Team Jacob
• New Moon Wolf Pack Pic; Update on Eclipse Director Search
• First Official ‘New Moon’ Poster
• New Moon Official Final Trailer Is Here!
• Twilight Saga: Eclipse to Start Shooting Yesterday

Happy Friday everyone! For the second Friday of October 2009, we’ve again gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for Toy Story 3, The Lovely Bones, Drive Angry, Ninja, Ong Bak 3, The Missing Person, The Princess and the Frog, The Box, Boondock Saints 2, New Moon and Pirate Radio.

In addition to that we have two bonus images from a cool looking period action film, titled Centurion.

Let’s get to it.

To start, here are a few posters for Toy Story 3 which have been popping up all over the web today, along with the official Toy Story 3 theatrical trailer:

Here’s none other than the lovable piggy bank, Hamm, voiced by John Ratzenberger:

Source: /Film

Toy Story 3 comes out June 18, 2010.

Continue through the pages for the other Toy Story 3 posters and much, much more!

• Poster Friday: Saw 6, Legion, Daybreakers, Parnassus & More!
• Poster Friday: New Moon, Caprica, The Crazies & More!
• Poster Friday: Toy Story 3, Saw VI, A Christmas Carol & Many More!
• Poster Friday: Moon, Tooth Fairy, Parnassus & More!
• Poster Friday: Kick-Ass, Avatar, Green Zone, Wolfman & More!
• New Posters: Where The Wild Things Are, Michael Jackson & More!

Today we have a treat for all you Twilighters out there:two new character posters for The Twilight Saga: New Moon showcasing franchise sweethearts Bella and Edward, along with a slew of new images from the movie. They (and subsequently we) do love to shower fans of the franchise with a plethora of teasers, don’t they?

New Moon picks up sometime after the events of Twilight, when Bella (Kristen Stewart) becomes devastated after her vampire love, Edward (Robert Pattinson), abruptly leaves. Thankfully Bella has the arms of the “irresistible” Jacob (Taylor Lautner) to fall into and she soon, “finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, the ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested.”

And now, here’s the mentioned two new character posters (which are very similar to two we saw a couple of months ago) as well as a selection of the boat load of 77 new images/stills from New Moon. Take a look:

(click the posters for a larger sizes)

Continue Reading for more New Moon Images…

• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters
• Twilight Fan-Made New Moon Posters
• ‘New Moon’ Starts Shooting (Plus: New Cast Members)
• Dakota Fanning Confirmed For ‘New Moon?’
• Sneak Peek(s) at New Moon’s New Trailer
• Twilight Spinoffs After Twilight Sequels?

Happy Friday everyone! For our first Friday of October 2009, we’ve again gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for The Princess and the Frog, Caprica, The Crazies, The Mechanic, Stone, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Saw VI, The Twilight Saga’s New Moon and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.

In addition to that we have two bonus posters from two major upcoming films that you need to check out! Also, there’s some very creative road sign parody posters of classic films, as well as some older and strange looking posters from Ghana.

Let’s get to it.

To start, here’s another new poster for The Princess and the Frog that looks nearly identical to last week’s The Princess and the Frog poster except for the blue background. Again, note the classic and beautifully hand-drawn art for Disney’s next addition to its 2D library:

Source: IGN

The Princess and the Frog opens December 11, 2009.

• Poster Friday: Toy Story 3, New Moon, Pirate Radio & More!
• Poster Friday: Saw 6, Legion, Daybreakers, Parnassus & More!
• Poster Friday: Moon, Tooth Fairy, Parnassus & More!
• Poster Friday: Toy Story 3, Saw VI, A Christmas Carol & Many More!
• ‘Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant’ Trailer & Poster
• This Week’s Collection of Movie Posters

We usually wait until Friday to hit you guys with the latest movie posters from around the web, but for you Twilighters out there, we thought you’d want to see the three latest posters from The Twilight Saga: New Moon as soon after they’ve appeared online as possible (you’re welcome!).

The three new posters showcase three different sets of characters: the first is of the main bunch, which include Bella, Edward and the rest of the Cullen family; the second is of, “the wolf pack,” which features Bella’s new love interest, Jacob Black; and the third is of the new band of vampires introduced in the Twilight sequel, called the Volturi, which include Michael Sheen’s “Aro” and Dakota Fanning’s “Jane.”

Check out the three new posters for The Twilight Saga: New Moon below (click for larger versions):

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In case (like me) you’ve not read the Twilight books, and thus you just go by the movies, here’s the synopsis for the Twilight sequel, New Moon:

In The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested.

I take some heat from people (around these parts, and elsewhere) for really quite liking the first Twilight movie. And I fully admit I’m looking forward to both New Moon and the third installment, Eclipse. The final trailer for New Moon that debuted at the MTV Video Music Awards a couple of weeks ago looked real decent to me (an improvement on the first trailer, for sure). I’m especially looking forward to seeing Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning in their respective vampire roles, two casting choices I did not see coming at all (I think they both look awesome in the third poster above).

What do you think of these latest New Moon posters? Are you expecting the movie to be better than the first Twilight?

The Twilight Saga: New Moon hits theaters on November 20th, 2009. You can already order your tickets for certain showings if you’re eager.

Sources: IMPAwards and Tribute.ca

• New Moon Character Posters & Image Gallery
• Twilight Fan-Made New Moon Posters
• Sneak Peek(s) at New Moon’s New Trailer
• First Official ‘New Moon’ Poster
• Twilight Saga: Eclipse Cast List & New Moon Volturi Pics [Updated]
• Three Stills From New Moon

The final trailer for The Twilight Saga: New Moon debuted last night during the MTV Video Music Awards and managed to accomplish two things:

1. Demonstrate that director Chris Weitz has achieved something much more visually sophisticated than Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight adaptation.
2. Finally show us something other than schmaltzy, awkward, shirtless, teen romance.

So, without further ado, I’d like to present you Twilight Saga fans with the best trailer that I’VE seen so far for New Moon.

[UPDATE: Youtube version below so our international readers can now see the trailer as well.]

Up until now I haven’t had any reason to be enthused about the cast of these films. I’m still not convinced that the central trifecta of Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner exude what I would call “star power,” however, New Moon’s supporting players look to be a much more interesting bunch.

I’ve been digging the fact that they cast all Native American actors to play Jacob’s (Lautner) Wolf Pack brethren, and the scenes of The Volturi in the trailer -- featuring actors like Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen -- set in the Gothic European backdrop, add an element of intrigue to this story that (for me at least) was just TOTALLY missing from Twilight’s stripped-down-home love story.

The “werewolf” f/x, however, still look like they could use some polishing (thought it’s still pretty cool to see the wolves taking on that vamp with the dreadlocks, Laurent).

What did you think of the final New Moon trailer? How about Kristen Stewart’s Goth-chic haircut at the MTV VMAs? :-O

As if you didn’t know: New Moon hits theaters on November 20, 2009. Tickets are already on sale at select locations.

Source: MTV

• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters
• ‘New Moon’ Starts Shooting (Plus: New Cast Members)
• Twilight Fan-Made New Moon Posters
• Twilight Saga’s ‘New Moon’ Reveals The Wolf Pack
• New Moon TV Spots Favor Team Jacob
• Jamie Campbell-Bower Cast in Twilight Saga’s ‘New Moon’

Happy Friday everyone! Today we have gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes one-sheets for The Box, Pandorum, Growl, Takers, Red Cliff, The Shrine, District 9 and Michael Jackson’s This is It.

In addition to those, we also have four great character banners for Where the Wild Things Are and and as a bonus, a photo for The Twilight Saga’s New Moon.

Let’s get to it…

To start this week’s set, here’s the brand new French poster for the Cameron Diaz-starrer, The Box. The film is a horror-thriller which also stars the strong talents of James Marsden (X-Men trilogy) and Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon).

Here’s the official synopsis:

Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger, delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. But, pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world; someone they don’t know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.

The Box hits theaters November 6, 2009.

Source: ShockTillYouDrop

• Poster Friday: Toy Story 3, Saw VI, A Christmas Carol & Many More!
• Poster Friday: Toy Story 3, New Moon, Pirate Radio & More!
• New Posters: The Road, 2012, Where The Wild Things Are & More!
• Poster Friday: Saw 6, Legion, Daybreakers, Parnassus & More!
• This Week’s Collection of Movie Posters
• Poster Friday: New Moon, Caprica, The Crazies & More!

As the days become shorter, and the nights become cooler, there is one thing on the horizon that all of us are quickly becoming aware of – the arrival of a slew of exciting 2009 Fall Movies. What’s always been great about this time of year is that it’s not just about “horror films” or movies that are made to touch the holiday hearts that burgeon each year as turkey, Santa and New Year’s Eve stretch into the new year and beyond.

The menu is varied, wide open and we hope – satisfying. While we couldn’t list them all, please join us as we quickly chronicle what lies ahead in Screen Rant’s 2009 Fall Movie Preview!

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SEPTEMBER – 2009

Whiteout
September 11th, 2009
The Scoop: Pretty little starlet Kate Beckinsale takes on this graphic novel turned killer-thriller. Beckinsale plays a U.S. Marshall investigating Antarctica’s first homicide as the sun sets for six entire months. Will she find the killer in the cold dark before he finds her?

SR Says: The trailer paints this movie as more X-Files than detective story, which could confuse some on the premise. However, cold weather and hot Beckinsale = worth the ticket price?

See it? Maybe.

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The Informant!
September 18, 2009
The Scoop: Director Steven Soderbergh helms an all-star cast providing you “a mix of A Beautiful Mind and The Insider.” Damon plays the exec of a agri-business giant who goes overboard working as a snitch for the Feds. It’s bi-polar, whistle-blowing storytelling at it’s best!

SR Says: It’s going to be amazing to see what this cast can pull off under Soderbergh’s direction with such an involved script.

See it? Yes.

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Jennifer’s Body
September 18, 2009
The Scoop: Megan Fox plays a possessed cheerleader, with a fetish for feasting on boys (and girls). Hot sexy teens, girl on girl kissing/rubbing and more social satire from Juno writer Diablo Cody.

SR Says: Depends on how you feel about Megan Fox looking both sexy and grotesque in one film.

See it? If you like teen horror flicks, or are a devotee of Cody.

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Pandorum
September 25, 2009
The Scoop: Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid star as two astronauts who wake up on an abandoned future spacecraft and have no idea what’s happened. As with all things in movies, time unveils the “truth” of what they face – a ship full of crazy space monsters.

SR Says: Dennis Quaid has had some woofers lately, but Ben Foster always offers something unique. MMA fans may recognize cast member Cung Le as the current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, which guarantees at least two raucous fights in this thriller.

See it? Yes.

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Surrogates
September 25th, 2009
The Scoop: In a future where people live life through robotic surrogates, Bruce Willis plays a cop who must venture back into the real world to investigate a string of crimes involving people dying while connected to their Surrogates.

SR Says: Jonathan Mostow is an underrated director, and seeing Bruce “alive” again, with great f/x and a bit of gravitas sounds like a great combination.

See it? Absolutely.

(Continue to page 2 for October’s Movie Preview)

• Explosive New Surrogates Trailer
• New Posters: Surrogates, Pandorum, The Informant!
• ‘Surrogates’ Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
• Underworld 4 Gets A Writer, Confirmed As Sequel
• ‘The Road’ Delayed…Yet Again
• New Viral Teaser Poster for ‘Surrogates’

Alright all you Twilighters out there, for those of you who are already preparing your trip to the movie theater to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon this November, you can now do so safe in the knowledge that you’re guaranteed a seat. Tickets for the midnight screenings of New Moon have now gone on sale more than two and half months in advance.

Carmike Cinemas are offering tickets for midnight showings of New Moon on November 19th, at 63 of their 247 theaters. This “early sell” campaign is happening much in the same vein as the (WAY) advanced sale of tickets for James Cameron’s Avatar. Early word is that the Avatar pre-sales are being described as “healthy.”

[Update: Regal Cinemas has added 348 locations, see updated list below]

Even though Avatar has been the talk-of-the-town in the “fanboy” movie community over the last few weeks, it appears that New Moon is leading the way in regards to early ticket sales. The latest weekly poll on Fandango – the site that’s selling the early New Moon tickets – puts the film as anticipated most by 39% of readers, with Avatar coming in second with 23%, and the disaster flick, 2012, coming in third with 16%.

You can never underestimate those Twilighters!

I can’t exactly say I’m dying to see the second installment in the Twilight franchise, but I’ll also admit I really quite liked the first film and will end up checking out New Moon when it hits theaters. But I’m not exactly going to be rushing to pre-order my tickets… at least not this far in advanced

If you want to buy your New Moon tickets in advance here is a list of cities and theaters for which you can buy tickets NOW:

Click here to order tickets for the November 19th midnight show. Put in the closest zip code to you from the list above and you’ll be able to grab ‘em.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens in theaters on November 20th, 2009.

Sources: Fandango and THR (thanks to SciFiWire)

• Star Trek Returning to IMAX
• New Moon New Clips, TV Spots Plus Tour Details
• New Moon Stills, Clip and Twilight Re-Release Info
• Black Dynamite Blowing Up on Screens Big and Small!
• New Moon Character Posters & Image Gallery
• Black Dynamite Review

[Update: We now have more pics of the Volturi to share!]

All right you twi-hards (I know you’re out there), we’ve got some great news for you. Not only has the final cast list for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse been confirmed, but we’ve rounded up some new pictures of the malevolent Volturi from The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Let’s start with Eclipse.

To accompany stalwart Twilight veterans Robert Pattinson (playing Edward Cullen) and Kristen Stewart (playing Bella Swan), Eclipse has added a number of new actors to its mix. Among the newbies are Xavier Samuel as Riley, Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria, Jack Huston as Royce King, Julia Jones as Leah, BooBoo Stewart as Seth, and Jodelle Ferland as Bree. Bryce Dallas Howard will also be joining the cast as Victoria, controversially replacing actress Rachelle Lafevre. Eclipse was written by screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg and is being directed by David Slade.

For those who need a little primer on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which is the third film in the Twilight series, here’s a description of the film from Summit Entertainment’s official press release.

In THE TWILIGHT SAGA: 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.

Check out the complete cast list (from the same press release) below:

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE Cast List

Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan
Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen
Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black

Cullen Family
Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen
Peter Facinelli as Dr. Carlisle
Elizabeth Reaser as Esme Cullen
Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen
Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale
Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale

Wolf Pack
Chaske Spencer as Sam Uley
Bronson Pelletier as Jared
Alex Meraz as Paul
Kiowa Gordon as Embry Call
Tyson Houseman as Quil Ateara

Other Quileutes
Gil Birmingham as Billy Black
Tinsel Korey as Emily

Nomad Vampires
Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria

Volturi
Cameron Bright as Alec
Charlie Bewley as Demetri
Daniel Cudmore as Felix
Dakota Fanning as Jane

Additional Returning Cast Members
Billy Burke as Charlie Swan
Sarah Clarke as Renee Dwyer
Anna Kendrick as Jessica
Michael Welch as Mike
Christian Serratos as Angela
Justin Chon as Eric

New Cast Members
Xavier Samuel as Riley
Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria
Jack Huston as Royce King
Julia Jones as Leah Clearwater
BooBoo Stewart as Seth Clearwater
Jodelle Ferland as Bree

If you’d like to put some of those names to faces, check out this image gallery from MTV. In the meantime, flip to the next page for a look at Dakota Fanning, Michael Sheen, and the rest of the Volturi in New Moon.

Click to continue reading ‘Twilight News: Eclipse Cast List & New Moon Character Pics’…

• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters
• ‘New Moon’ Starts Shooting (Plus: New Cast Members)
• New Moon Character Posters & Image Gallery
• Robert Pattinson Confirms Twilight’s ‘Breaking Dawn’
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse First Images
• Michael Sheen Fires An Aro Into New Moon

We told you over the weekend that it was coming and now, after those frustrating bootlegged French versions and previews-of-a-preview, here is the OFFICIAL full trailer for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in all its shirtless glory!

Of course, you Twilight fans almost certainly knew this was coming, but since it’s now obvious that you didn’t fall for the trick indulge the opportunity of seeing Bandslam this weekend for an early look at the New Moon trailer, we’re happy to provide it for you here.

And I personally promise not to complement the film, or give any opinion at all about it, for that matter. I don’t want to have to once again face the angry and unruly comments of the Twilight Saga gang…

Anyway, here’s what you’re REALLY after, the latest trailer for New Moon:

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[See post to watch Flash video]

Ok, so there you have it, more supernatural-love hijinks to ensue when The Twilight Saga: New Moon hits theaters on November 20, 2009. And, like I said: no opinion from me this time around.

What did YOU GUYS think of this latest trailer? Is New Moon going to improve upon Twilight? Or is it bound for the $5 DVD bin at your local Walmart?

• Sneak Peek(s) at New Moon’s New Trailer
• New Set Pics From The Twilight Saga: New Moon
• New Footage from The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Updated]
• New Moon Official Final Trailer Is Here!
• Three Fresh ‘New Moon’ Character Posters
• First Official ‘New Moon’ Poster

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you Twilight Saga fans out there that the full trailer for New Moon is going to be debuting this Friday before Summit Entertainment’s Bandslam movie. Well, the French jumped the gun recently and leaked the latest cut of their New Moon trailer online. Over here in the U.S., meanwhile, a 17-second preview of the latest New Moon trailer (preview-of-a-preview I’m calling it) has been put out to help wet appetites around the world.

Both the French trailer and preview-of-a-preview trailer show a lot more of awkward Bella (Kristen Stewart) and ab-ripped Jacob (Taylor Lautner) getting hot and steamy, and there is even some quick shots of good old Edward (R. Patt) and Dakota Fanning as the vampire Jane.

Check them out:

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New Moon Preview-of-a-Preview

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French Trailer for New Moon

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I will say this: the story for New Moon at least looks more intriguing than the thinly-veiled metaphorical teen-angst story of Twilight. Like J.K. Rowling before her, Stephenie Meyer looks to have grown a bit as a storyteller, fully stepping into the world she created, fleshing it out to be its own (sort of) unique universe – something Twilight was sorely missing, IMHO.

How did you like the new footage of New Moon?

Note: Be sure to check back with Screen Rant regularly over the weekend to catch the official new trailer for New Moon the second it drops!

Source: You Tube via Ace Showbiz

• The Twilight Saga: New Moon Trailer #2 Is Here
• New Footage from The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Updated]
• Twilight Saga: Eclipse to Start Shooting Yesterday
• First Official ‘New Moon’ Poster
• First Photos Of Twilight Saga’s New Moon
• Twilight Fan-Made New Moon Posters