VanityFair’s Jessica Flint asked several New Moon alumni what they would recommend Winter Olympics tourists do while visiting Vancouver. Here’s what they recommend:

“There is an excellent restaurant called Zakkushi, which is a yakitori restaurant and is very, very fun,” said New Moon director Chris Weitz. ”There’s also an establishment called Japadog that’s a Japanese version of that hot dog that is absolutely extraordinary. The best bookstore is Duthie Books [now closed], and go to the comic book store that’s on Fourth Avenue.”

Weitz’s wife, Mercedes Martinez, nudged him. “What about 49 Parrellel?”

“Oh! And 49 Parallel is one of the best cafés I’ve ever been to,” Weitz said.

Ashley Greene anticipated a traffic nightmare during the Olympics. “Don’t plan on driving anywhere in Vancouver—ever!”

Click to read Peter and Kellan’s recommendations.

New Moon Movie has received a press release from E1 Entertainment in the UK which they say states that ALL the UK versions of the New Moon DVD will contain a preview of Eclipse, not just ones at certain stores, etc, like in the US.
Here is what else the press release says will be on the New Moon 2-disk edition DVD and Blu-ray:

In addition to this, the two disc editions of the DVD and Blu-ray will include four hours of bonus footage, featuring:
* Fan Event Q&A with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and Chris Weitz – EXCLUSIVE TO THE UK
* a 6-part making of documentary
* Life After Twilight
* Chris Weitz takes the helm
* The Subtle Details
* Time to Shine
* Tricks of the Trade
* Ready for the World
* Music videos
* Death Cab for Cutie – “Meet me at the Equinox”
* Anya Marina – “Satellite Heart”
* Muse – “You Belong to Me” (Rehearsal Footage)
* MuteMath – “Spotlight”

* Interview with the Volturi
* Fandimonium – a look at the die-hard fans
* Team Jacob and Team Edward
* Becoming Jacob
* Introducing the Wolfpack
* Deleted scenes
* Extended scenes
* Shooting in Italy
* Edward Fast Forward
* Jacob Fast Forward
* Frame by Frame: Storyboards to Screen
* The Beat Goes On: The music of New Moon

The Winner of the Twitter @Twilight contest, Jenny,  blogged about her experience, receiving a phone call from New Moon director Chris Weitz. Read full article.

As we slog through the fallow period between “Twilight” franchise films — months before the June arrival of “Eclipse” and with no official announcement about production on “Breaking Dawn ” — we can’t help but start to do a bit of wondering. Can director David Slade’s “Eclipse” out-gross $288-million-and-counting “New Moon“? Will “Dawn” eventually become two films, or just one? And who will direct it?

On that last question, the “Twilight” cast has not been shy with their thoughts about who would be the best fit. Kristen Stewart and Kellan Lutz have thrown their support behind “New Moon” helmer Chris Weitz. Jamie Campbell Bower, Ashley Greene and Nikki Reed have all eyed Tim Burton as the guy who can best bring the film — or films — to the big screen. Meanwhile, Summit Entertainment is rumored to want Weitz to return to the franchise.

With all these various opinions floating around, MTV News put the directorial question to “New Moon” werewolf Chaske Spencer when we caught up with the actor on the red-carpet premiere of “Youth in Revolt.” His answer might scare you.

“I like both directors, David and Chris,” he told us. “It’s kind of a joke, but it’d be kind of cool to see what Rob Zombie does, if they ever choose to do him. That’d be cool. That’d be an interesting movie.”

The metalhead turned filmmaker has directed a string of horror flicks, including “The Devil’s Rejects” and two “Halloween” films. And there are undeniable horror-esque moments in “Dawn,” from a fetus that begins to injure Bella Swan as it rapidly grows in her womb to her bloodily violent birth. Somehow, though, we imagine Zombie would be less adept when it comes to capturing the continuing love triangle between Bella, Edward and Jacob.

So we’ll have to stay tuned on that one. In the meantime, does Spencer have a feeling if “Dawn” will become two films or one? Any insider knowledge to throw our way?

“I have no idea,” he said. “I’ll probably find out more from my agent later on in the week. I have no clue.”

Source

During this time of year, it’s not uncommon for numerous websites and media outlets to conduct year-end polls of all sorts. Over the last two years especially, it seems that Twilight and New Moon have dominated nearly every one in some way, shape, or form. Here is another one I stumbled across today. Celebrity-Mania.com polled its readers and came up with its list of the Top Sexiest Actors of 2009. Not one, not two, but THREE New Moon actors made the list and…*GASP*…Robert Pattinson is NOT one of them.

#9 “Alex Meraz never got the chance to expose his chiseled torso. When he was involved in the production of Chris Weitz-directed movie ‘The Twilight Saga’s New Moon‘ however, the Paul depicter was seen flashing his amazing abs as he took on the role of wolf pack’s volatile member. His downside, in the meantime, is the fact that he prefers donning casual outfits instead of sporting formal suits while attending special events. Still, the 24-year-old can be expected to show off his ripped body in ‘The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse.’”

#5 “Kellan Lutz clearly doesn’t get his muscular body easily. The 24-year-old actor, who was often spotted flashing his six-packs while he was working out, once opened up about his secret of maintaining his shape. “I love to swim. I’m a fish, I have a pool in my backyard so every morning I will go swimming, even when it’s colder I’ll try to,” the Emmett Cullen of ‘Twilight Saga‘ series told Seventeen magazine. Though he has an outstanding body, Kellan was often sporting a simple look while attending formal events by wearing standard formal suits.”

#1 “Taylor Lautner had to thank his hot bod for keeping his Jacob Black role in ‘Twilight Saga’s New Moon‘. After almost getting cut back due to his boyish appearance, he bulked up and impressed many when taking off his shirt in lots of his scenes for the Chris Weitz-directed film. A plus point for this 17-year-old is that he knows how to style himself. He is often seen donning suit as well as stylish outfit whenever he has to attend formal event. And, there will be plenty more of him to see as the ‘Twilight Saga‘ continues.”

If you remember, director Catherine Hardwicke left some little secret touches in Twilight. Here are two examples you may have heard of or noticed :

• When Bella is looking up the Quileute mythology book she finds a listing for a bookstore in Port Angeles. Under this tab there is a list of other places to get the book, like Amazon.com, including “Little Brown” which is the publishing company for the “Twilight” series.

• When Bella, Edward and Renee are in the hospital, in the background on the TV past Renee, look closely – it’s footage from a few scenes earlier during the attack in the ballet studio.

Source

Well Chris Weitz did the same thing, leaving little inside jokes for us throughout New Moon. Today he revealed several of those little tidbits.  Here’s the ones revealed in  Entertainment Weekly:

• Hidden wolves  – ”Look for an upside-down engraving of a wolf in the shot of the bowl in which Carlisle burns his first-aid equipment; on Jacob’s T-shirt when he meets Bella in the school parking lot for the first time; and a wolf trinket on the dream-catcher that he gives her.’

• Vampire elevator music – ”When Edward, Bella, and Alice get into the elevator on their way to see the Volturi, the music playing in the elevator is from Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (a.k.a. The Bat).”

• Emotional baggage? – ”When Bella is looking for the meadow where she and Edward are seen lying down together, she carries a golden compass clipped to her backpack — part of my baggage!”

• Speedy suitor – ”We did a little trick when Edward gets out of Bella’s truck and they’re arguing. We wanted to show Edward moving impossibly quickly, so we put Rob right next to the camera but out of sight, and used a double dressed like Rob in the driver’s seat. When Edward gets out, it’s the double, and then Rob steps in front of the camera, and it looks as if he got there faster than humanly possible.”

• Look it up – ”And last but not least: If you want to know what Jacob says before he almost kisses Bella, ask a Quileute! The address of the Quileute tribal council is quileutenation.org. I can tell you this much: He says, Kwop kilawtley.”

By the way, I looked it up -”Kwop kilawtley”  means “Stay with me forever”.

In addition to those, there were some  on the Twilight Tracker App – itunes.com/twilight” (These are courtesy of Twilight Examiner):

On Bella’s copy of Romeo & Juliet, a picture from Volterra covered the book.

The camera drop during Paul and Jacob’s in-transformation tussle was intentional to recreate the look of an actual animal knocking over the camera.

In front of Emily’s house, there was a drum actually given to the production crew by a member of the Quileute Nation.

The opening of The Twilight Saga: New Moon with the moon phasing backwards was also intentional to reflect accuracy in phasing.

Aro says “Fore … ne il vostro l’uno o altro” to Bella in the Volturi lair, meaning “Perhaps … nor yours either” (regarding whether he understands Edward’s soul).

Did you catch any of these when you watched New Moon?

Pick up a copy of this weeks EW for all the info!

Chris Weitz released 3 photos from his “personal photo book“  this morning as our reward for pushing Summit’s twitter followers over the 200,000 mark.
Here it is:

From his own personal photo book, director Chris Weitz presents a very special inside look for fans into one of the key scenes from THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON. The images below were taken during Chris’ first scouting trip to Italy, before Montepulciano was selected for the shoot. Enjoy!

Montepulciano Set

We will be using the town of Montepulciano to serve as Volterra. We scouted about ten Italian hilltowns, and Montepulciano offered the best combination of beauty, age, change in height (you can see rolling fields below from the alleys running up to the main square, etc.) and symmetry that satisfied my obsessive qualities. Why not finish off this roundup with a little Italian scenery:

This is the clock tower of the main square of Montepulciano. Directly underneath is where Edward intends to reveal himself to the crowd (I prefer that to an alley way – that would be too blah and ordinary). The cafe on the very right of the shot was THE hangout for Twi-fans who went to Montepulciano — people would sit up there and order coffees for the whole day to get a close look at filming!

This is what Bella sees as she finishes her run upwards and arrives at the square:

In other words, she sort of ascends through a series of alley ways and streets to the square itself. Here is a shot from the top of the clock tower itself, showing the square from above which, like the throng of visitors to the festival, also happens to be red –

Plesee go to  newmoonthemovie.com to see the original presentation by Mr. Weitz.

Remember the story about the lady caught taping 3 minutes of New Moon in a Chicago theater?  Well, now the wonderful New Moon director Chris Weitz  is stepping in!  Read the details posted in the Chicago Sun-Times:

Chicago woman facing prison time for videotaping three minutes of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” has a new ally in her legal battle — the film’s director.

Veteran director Chris Weitz told the Sun-Times he’s dismayed about Samantha Tumpach’s arrest Nov. 28 at a Rosemont movie theater on a felony charge of illegally copying his new hit film, and he’s contacted the film’s studio about his concerns.

“Needless to say, the case seems to me terribly unfair and I would like to do what I can to address this,” Weitz wrote in an e-mail.

“There is, needless to say, a difference between trying to protect the copyright of a film and making an unfair example of someone who clearly seems not to have any intentions towards video piracy,” Weitz wrote.

He said he had contacted the studio that released the film, Summit Entertainment, to express his concern about her arrest, but he acknowledged there’s probably little he can do to influence the outcome of her case.

“I am not sure what effect I would have on the case,” he wrote, noting “the film is, after all, not my property.”

Source

In addition to the early peak at Taylor’s SNL skit, Summit Entertainment is promising another twitter treat, this one is to be from Chris Weitz! Any guesses?

Here is the link to the Summit Twilight twitter, if you haven’t signed up:
http://twitter.com/twilight

How do you direct a kissing scene?

“Capturing those [scenes] is really a question of just allowing the actors to do their work,” Weitz told MTV News in a recent interview. “They know their characters. They know the tone they’re supposed to hit.”

“It’s not like when they’re about to kiss, I’m leaning in and saying, just off camera, ‘Tender, tender!’ or anything like that,” he laughed. “I just let them do their thing. I think it would be creepy and inappropriate for me to advise them how to kiss one another or what it’s like to be young in love. I’m 40 years old. I’m not going to Polanski out on them.”

“I very much want the set to be completely free of all those concerns (relationship rumors) and any pressures that are coming from the outside world — paparazzi — and the tremendous attention that they’re under,” he said.

Source

See the rest of the interviews with Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Michael Sheen & Ashley Greene HERE.