In an effort to fend off some of the bad vibes surrounding the Twilight franchise in the wake of director Catherine Hardwicke’s abrupt dismissal from the film, both series creator Stephenie Meyer and New Moon director Chris Weitz launched a coordinated PR offensive over the weekend. Sensing the potential for a fan revolt when a man was hired to helm the sequel to the incredibly girlie Twilight, Meyer broke her silence on the subject on her official site. “I’ve had the chance to talk to Chris [Weitz],†she wrote, “and I can tell you that he is excited by the story and eager to keep the movie as close to the book as possible. He is also very aware of you, the fans, and wants to keep you all extremely happy. (Torches and pitchforks are not going to be necessary.)†Phew, glad she cleared that one up! But aside from the back-patting portions of her statement, Meyer also offered a sense of some of the turmoil behind the scenes over the last few weeks by writing, “I’m going to miss [Hardwicke], not just as a brilliant director, but also as a friend.†Wait, does this mean that Meyer and Hardwicke aren’t even friends anymore? Or are we just reading too much between the lines? Either way, we’re going to keep pulling the sweater and eventually the whole thing will unravel.
As part of Meyer’s official statement, she also released a handy statement/jpeg penned by none other than Chris Weitz himself that worked very hard to appease the fans (most specifically, those who got themselves all worked up thinking anyone with man parts couldn’t possibly get inside the head of a teenage girl in love with werewolves and vampires). As he writes, “To those who doubt that as a male director I can capture Bella’s experience, I can only say that emotion is universal and that my work has often involved working with some of the most talented actresses in the world.†You mean like Tara Reid and Natasha Lyonne? We kid, we kid. But still, we remain steadfast in our belief that the fantasy-franchise destroyer Weitz is going to have a heck of a time turning New Moon into anything remotely resembling the success of Twilight ($150 million domestic box office and climbing). Maybe integrating a pie-humping vampire into the script isn’t such a bad idea after all.
By the way, here’s his complete letter to the fans:
Stephenie Meyer [Official Site]