Vampire Veteran to Direct 'Eclipse'
Erik Feig, Summit Entertainment's President of Production, has announced that David Slade -- the director of Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night -- will direct Eclipse, the film adaptation of the third book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, due out on June 30, 2010. (Melissa Rosenberg will write the screenplay.)
What does Meyer think of the choice? And what does Slade's placement mean for the future of the series? Find out after the jump.
In a press release from the studio, Meyer says, "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 adds that, "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."
Slade's an interesting choice -- no doubt. His Hard Candy was a gut-wrenching mindfuck that wasn't exactly horror yet was more terrfying than most films that bear the label. His 30 Days of Night was, for my taste, a bit of a disappointment. It had a great premise, but fell short in its storytelling and featured underwritten vampire antagonists and two awfully pretty leads who didn't quite make care a whit about them. As for whether its world was "complex" and "visually arresting", well, that's open for debate.
One thing's for sure, however -- Slade (whom I've met and found to be a very smart and unfailingly nice guy) has portrayed a fiercer, much nastier side of humanity in both his features than director Chris Weitz, whose New Moon will reach theaters first. So will Slade deliver a grittier Twilight, and, if so, make the saga more appealing to young male filmgoers?
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