Catherine Hardwicke: Twilight Director No More

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 7, 2008

Word is getting around this evening that Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke has been cut loose from the franchise. As both Nikki Finke and Harry Knowles are reporting, Summit Entertainment has decided to find another director for New Moon, which will begin shooting in March 2009. This from Nikki Finke’s source:

“Summit didn’t like her. They’re saying the [director of photography] Elliot Davis is the one responsible for the film’s sumptuous visual look, that the editor Nancy Richardson had to save the film in post-production, and Summit thought Hardwicke’s [CAA] agent Beth Swofford was alternately ineffectual and hysterical.”

Another inside source added that Hardwicke was “difficult and irrational during the making of Twilight.” Further word from the inside is that Summit has already been talking to other directors this past week. As one other insider points out this isn’t exactly putting Catherine in a great position, “To add insult to injury, Hardwicke can now look forward to being grilled by the press for days on end, in front of the cast, about why she’s getting shit-canned.” Grilled, indeed.

The grilling will take place across the pond, where Hardwicke is currently in Europe promoting Twilight, which has grossed approx. $140 million at the box office since its release on November 21st. Twilight’s $70 million dollar opening weekend marked the highest ever opening weekend for a film directed by a woman, besting Mimi Leder’s Deep Impact, which grossed $41 million in its opening frame back in 1998. 

While it is sad to see Hardwicke, someone who clearly had a lot of passion for the material, exit the franchise I can’t say that I’m surprised. It was clear from the outset that while Hardwicke had the indie sensibility that Summit was looking for the first time around, she was completely out of her element with some of the effects-driven elements of the Twilight saga. In fact much of my own criticism toward the film was rooted in its less than impressive visual effects work.

It is hard to say whether or not a replacement will be named in the short-term, but in order for Summit to keep with New Moon’s 2009 timetable they will have to choose someone soon. I would tend to agree with Harry Knowles, who suggested the franchise be handed to Kathryn Bigelow, whose most recent film The Hurt Locker was recently purchased by Summit. Bigelow is one of those directors with a much better eye for action, something that would be useful with the Twilight sequel, one that I’m told sees much more action.

Who would you hire to direct the next movie in the Twilight series?


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  • Uwe Boll... no really.
  • Elizabeth
    Every time I think of a director, I realize that the material is beneath them. Actually, I think that was probably a large part of the problem here too, Hardwicke tried to make it into something she could care about, and that was what made the studio and the fangirls angry.
  • seventeen
    Elizabeth is right.

    Twilight is, in essence, a very boring book with scenes on loop. Catherine changed all that, and made it into something a lot of other people could like. While the movie was terrible, it was better than the book in so many ways because it had a bit of personality. I'm upset that by giving some soul to the material, she had to pay the price.
  • David G
    So...the director rewrote the story for film??I'm confused. Hardwicke was terrible for this. It seemed like this could have become an ok movie. Instead her editing and lack of mutiple takes and ability to tell the actors to do a scene better made it horrible. The story and visual were decent but the acting just made it trash.
  • Carolyn
    Whoever wrote the screenplay did a great job of adapting the book. And the things that were changed were for the better. I agree with David G that the problem was the visual effects and, most importantly the acting which was all the director. I have much greater hope for the second movie with a different director behind the wheel.
  • NARC13
    Michael Bay.
  • I could actually not care less haha
  • I think this film needs a female director with an eye for big budget action. But hollywood seems to lack those.
  • i would hire John Woo
  • Catherine Hardwicke is the perfect director for this: nothing in the book compares to the moment Bella enters Bio class in the film... Edward -- repulsed -- winged like an angel (flanked by a stuffed owl), Bella -- self-conscious -- her hair billows against the fan. The danger of sexuality, the grace of Desire. Beautiful. I was thought Hardwicke could continue in order to work through the ideas she introduces. It was like My So-Called Life with Godfather ambitions. In that tradition, I had hopes Part II would be better. Only one person could have gotten those performances from those actors (while d.p. Elliot Davis got the perfect look). This is a real shame. Oh well, here's praying Kathryn Bigelow or Sturla Gunnarsson or Neil Jordan or Patrice Chereau (!!!omg!1) will be hired to take over "New Moon". But something tells me they're not looking for artists (Chris Weitz?????? ugh). Anyone who directs "New Moon" should do screenings of "The Story of Adele H.", "Godfather Part II" & "III", and "The Company of Wolves" for inspiration and instruction.
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