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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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!

[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).

The first images from the third installment of The Twilight Saga, entitled Eclipse, have jumped the gun and appeared online before People magazine could even debut them.

(Man, it is getting hard out there for these paper mags… Luckily you have your online ‘zines like Screen Rant™ bringing you the news first!)

This first Eclipse images shows us (what else) interspecies lovers Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) getting intimate in a nice plush green forest, complete with white flowers. Every tweenage girl’s dream.

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.”

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.”

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.

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]

The nominees have been announced for the fourth annual Scream Awards, held every year by Spike TV. The decisively more “fan-friendly” award ceremony (compared to the Oscars) honors films from the sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic-book genres of movies, TV shows and comic books. The awards are described as, “the first and only global event of its kind,” to honor those genres.

The Scream 2009 nominees were chosen by the Advisory Board of Hollywood and Genre Leaders, a list which this year includes the likes of Wes Craven, Roland Emmerich, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Eli Roth and Zack Snyder, plus many more. The event will be taped on Saturday, October 17th this year at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and will air on Spike TV ten days later on Tuesday, October 27th (check for local times).

Along with the awards, the show will also be airing some exclusive, world premiere of footage of some of the most anticipated movies of 2010! Presenters and musicians for the event are to be announced shortly.

[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.

This Week:

The Basterds have landed at the top of the box office; Karl Urban takes a bite out of Priest; Summit attempts to grab Jodie Foster’s Beaver; Rosario Dawson boards Unstoppable; The Twilight Saga: Eclipse begins; Pandorum is pushed back and is it a trick or a treat for Trick r’ Treat?

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…

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:

This week:

Maggie Grace takes part in The Experiment with Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker; get ready to Stare At Goats and George Clooney in November; Leonardo DiCaprio goes down to the woods with Little Red Riding Hood; Liam Neeson is an Unknown White Male, Josh Duhamel ruins Life As We Know it alongside Katherine Heigl; Sony Pictures Classics buy Blood Simple and find out which Silent Hill star has joined Twilight.

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1. Lost star Maggie Grace will join Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker in The Experiment. The plot (according to IMDB) is as follows:

“26 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.”

The Experiment is a remake of Das Experiment directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Invasion).

Source: Bloody Disgusting

The Twilight Saga has become an almost sacred entity for fans of the books and films alike – a cherished series that has inspired an almost rabid level of devotion, as evidenced at this year’s Comic-Con Twilight panel, which fans slept on the street overnight just to witness.

That all said, I can’t imagine the level of outcry there is going to be now that Twilight Saga creator Stephenie Meyer is being accused of plagiarizing scenes of her fourth and final entry in the series, Breaking Dawn.

Here are the facts: Yesterday news gossip website TMZ broke a story claiming that Stephenie Meyer’s publisher, Hachette, had received a cease and desist letter from the lawyers of  a 21-year-old musician/author named Jordan Scott, who claims that scenes of Breaking Dawn bear too many similarities to her own book, The Nocturne, which was supposedly published in 2006 – two years prior to Breaking Dawn. You don’t have to be a math whiz to figure out that Scott would’ve been in the 15-16 age range at the time she allegedly wrote the book.

It is being reported that Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village, Terminator Salvation) has joined the cast of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Who is she playing? Well, the character of Victoria, replacing Rachelle Lefevre who played the role in the first two Twilight movies.

[Update: Both Summit Entertainment and Rachelle Lefevre have issued opposing statements with regards to the actress being replaced. See bottom of the post for details]

Summit Entertainment’s panel this morning has been the talk of the convention amongst bloggers, Twilight fans and especially Twilight non-fans.

The movie has a very strong fanbase, so much so that there were literally hundreds of Twilighters camped out from the night before to guarantee access and the best seating in Hall H on the opening day of San Diego Comic-Con.

If you like (and I mean really like) Edward and Jacob, this panel was definitely for you.

At this morning’s Masters Of The Web Panel at Comic-Con, Robert Sanchez (IESB), George Roush (Latino Reviwe), Wilson Morales (BlackFilm), Paul Christensen (MovieWeb), Vic Holtreman (Screen Rant), Ryan Rotten (Shock Till YOu Drop), Drew McWeeny (HitFix), Devin Faraci (CHUD), Mike Sampson (Jo Blo), Jeremy Smith (AICN) & Brad Miska (Bloody Disgusting) gathered to discuss the ins and outs of writing for movie sites.

Kevin Munroe (Director Dead of Night) moderated the panel and in the second half of the panel, Brandon Routh and Anita Briem joined in on the fun.

They sure don’t waste any time over at Summit Entertainment. Just one day after Screen Rant reported on speculation that Harry Potter actor Tom Felton might snag the coveted role of Riley in Eclipse, the third film in the massively popular Twilight Saga, The Hollywood Reporter has reported that the part has gone to Xavier Samuel, a relative newcomer out of Australia.

According to IMDB, Samuel has appeared in a handful of films in Australia. Eclipse will mark Samuel’s American debut.

Harry Potter fans are offiicailly saying to Twilight lovers, “Screw you guys, WE are the greatest fanboy nation!”

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is selling advanced tickets like crazy all across the country. The sixth installment of J.K. Rowling’s popular books-cum-movies is on track to knock Twilight out of of the no. 3 spot on Fandango’s list of all-time highest advanced ticket sales, settling in behind Stars Wars Epidsode III and The Dark Knight.

Advanced tickets for Half-Blood Prince have already outsold last month’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which (we all know) went on to earn serious bank at the box office. Things are look good so far for Harry and Warner Bros.

With New Moon wrapping up production and its rushed release set for this November and with Eclipse beginning production next month, which will open next summer, AND with Breaking Dawn coming quickly after that, what happens next?

The four (finished) books of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga will have all been translated to the big screen. All will be rushed out within the next two years with nothing left to go on. That is of course, assuming Meyer doesn’t hurry up and finish that fifth book, Midnight Sun, which she stopped working on after an incomplete draft of it leaked online.

You might remember a post written by Screen Rant guru Vic Holtreman back in February, which begged the question “Just How Fast CAN They Make a Twilight Movie?” in reference to the news that The Twilight Saga: New Moon was going to be released just one year after Twilight, with the third film in the franchise, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, aiming for a release date just SEVEN MONTHS after New Moon!

Well, today we have an official answer to Vic’s question: almost faster than you could write that post, Holtreman.

To wet the appetites of you Twilight fans out there (more than we already have), we have New Moon star Michael Sheen talking about his role as head vampire Aro, as well as a behind-the-scenes video from the set of The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Empire got a chance to have a chat with Sheen about his role in New Moon – playing the head of an ancient vampire coven known as the Volturi, who are basically vampire royalty.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon has been gearing up its marketing heavily these past few weeks, centering on having a major presence at this weekend’s MTV Movie Awards where Twilight dominated the awards and revealed the first official full-length New Moon trailer.

In addition to the trailer, the previous two weeks gave us the first images from New Moon as well as a series of set photos. Today, we have three brand new high-quality photos for your viewing pleasure.

Check them out and see what you think:

Maybe I’m just out of touch with today’s youth culture, but as I look over this “winners list” from the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, I can’t help but feel like a crotchety old man who complains about the kids today with their loud music and funny ways of talking. The Twilight Saga wiped the floor with the competition, proving that vampire romance is the current king of pop culture, for better or worse.

In the interest of fairness, Screen Rant presents the complete list of winners from the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. Be wary, though: your head may explode as you read which actors and films lost to Twilight.

Talk about an odd couple: could you imagine 30 Days of Night writer Steve Niles ever sitting down to make nice with Stephenie Meyer, author of The Twilight Saga???

Well, apparently that scenario isn’t just my own skewed version of What The-?!; in a recent interview with MTV News, Niles talked about how his insatiably hungry vampires from the 30 Days of Night graphic novel stacked up against Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and the rest of The Cullen Family vamps from The Twilight Saga. Shockingly enough (at least to me), Niles had nothing but good things to say about Twilight: