Movies
Summit Begins Casting The Twilight Saga ‘Eclipse’, Fresh ‘New Moon’ Pic
Update: Check out a fresh still from New Moon at the bottom of this post. Summit is wasting no time in getting geared up for Eclipse, the third Twilight pic as an unknown Australian actor named Xavier Samuel has landed the first new role, reports the Hollywood Reporter’s Risky Biz Blog. You can read more about his role by reading on. While New Moon is slated for release on November 20, Summit hopes to get Eclipse in theaters by June 30, 2010.
Summit has hired Samuel to play the role of a “newborn vampire” named Riley, a good-looking college student who joins the plot of villain Victoria to murder protagonist Bella (Kristen Stewart). Riley is corrupted by Victoria, for whom he has an inexplicable weakness.
The movie’s larger plot centers on a choice Bella must make between the werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and the vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson).
Samuel, repped by Management 360, Gersh and Shanahan in Australia, has been in series of films down under, including “Newcastle,” in which he played a Goth teenager amidst a group of surfers (the movie played Tribeca last year — though you can bet Netflix will see just a small spike now), the Aussie period drama “September” and the upcoming sci-fi thriller “Road Train.” This marks his first U.S. role.
“Eclipse,” the third book in Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster series, is set to begin shooting next month in Vancouver and be released on June 30. David Slade (“30 Days of Night””) is directing from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg.
Image from NEW MOON, courtesy of The Hollywood Gossip:
Brendan Fraser is back for the upcoming fourth installment in The Mummy franchise from directors Radio Silence, and Michael Johnston (Obsession) is now in talks to join him.
The Hollywood Reporter lets us know tonight that Michael Johnston is in “early talks” to join The Mummy 4, which will release in theaters on October 15, 2027 via Universal.
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah will reprise their iconic roles as Rick O’Connell, Evelyn O’Connell, and Jonathan Carnahan in the upcoming movie.
Radio Silence duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not, Scream 5-6) are directing from a script by David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill).
Plot details are being kept under wraps at this time, but the brand new sequel is expected to disregard the events of the third movie, in which Rachel Weisz did not appear.
“It’s just really beautiful and scary and sweeping, and it’s awesome,” Gillet teases. Bettinelli-Olpin adds that the film “has all of the heart and the character that you could hope for.”
A remake of the classic Universal monster movie that took an action-adventure approach, The Mummy was released in 1999 and grossed $417 million worldwide. It was followed by The Mummy Returns in 2001 and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008.