Actress takes over role from Rachelle Lefevre in third ‘Twilight’ movie.

By Gil Kaufman

The “Twilight” universe is getting a new face for an old soul. “Spider-Man 3″ star Bryce Dallas Howard will slip into the role of Victoria in the upcoming third installment of the franchise, “Eclipse.” She’ll replace Rachelle Lefevre, who originated the role of the evil vampire in “Twilight” and the upcoming sequel, “New Moon.”

The press release announcing the switch said that Lefevre was forced to give up the role due to unspecified “scheduling conflicts with another commitment the actor has made.” Director David Slade is slated to start filming “Eclipse” in Vancouver in August. The third movie based on Stephenie Meyer’s series is due in theaters in June 2010.

“We are incredibly happy that Bryce has agreed to come into the franchise,” said Erik Feig, president of worldwide production and acquisitions for one of the film’s producers, Summit Entertainment. “Rachelle brought Victoria to great screen life, and Bryce will bring a new dimension to the character. The franchise is lucky to have such a talented actress as Bryce coming in to fill the role.”

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‘We just all sit there, completely naked, for one scene,’ the actor says of him and two other Volturi vampires.

By Larry Carroll

SAN DIEGO — Lucky Twilighters who made the trek to Comic-Con last week were able to hoot and holler as two never-before-seen clips were unveiled — one featuring Taylor Lautner taking off his shirt, and another featuring Robert Pattinson’s porcelain-white six-pack. One might think that all this “New Moon” flesh is what gave the film its PG-13 rating.

But according to the newest “Twilight” hunk, there’s one more top-secret scene sure to raise some eyebrows.

“We just all sit there, completely naked, for one scene,” revealed “New Moon” actor Jamie Campbell Bower, talking about a racy moment that was added into the upcoming film. “Yeah, it’s me, Michael Sheen and Christopher [Heyerdahl]; we just sit there, naked.”

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‘I am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the ‘Twilight’ audience,’ actress says.

By Larry Carroll

They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and as millions of fans have seen, the vampire Victoria was none too pleased with the way the events of “Twilight” played out. Now, life seems to be imitating art, as actress Rachelle Lefevre is angrily speaking out about being fired from the film franchise.

“I was stunned by Summit’s decision to recast the role of Victoria for ‘Eclipse,’ ” the actress said in a statement released Wednesday (July 29), barely 24 hours after Summit Entertainment announced that “Lady in the Water” star Bryce Dallas Howard would be replacing Lefevre for the soon-to-shoot third film, citing “scheduling conflicts with another commitment the actor has made.”

“I was fully committed to the ‘Twilight’ saga and to the portrayal of Victoria,” the 30-year-old actress insisted in her statement, citing a very different version of the events. “I turned down several other film opportunities and, in accordance with my contractual rights, accepted only roles that would involve very short shooting schedules.”

The source of contention for Lefevre, who recently wrapped her second performance as Victoria for this November’s “New Moon,” appears to be her small role in a Dustin Hoffman/ Paul Giamatti drama called “Barney’s Version.”

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Relive all the vampire action with our round-the-clock coverage from the San Diego event.

By Larry Carroll

SAN DIEGO — You might want to go easy on your friendly, neighborhood “Twilight” fans for the next few days. They’ve spent much of the past week waiting in long lines, screaming at the top of their lungs and reaching out to grab the hands of their heroes at Comic-Con. Their black T-shirts need to be washed, their blogs need to be updated and those Burger King crowns have given them some bad hat hair. As if that isn’t enough, TwiCon starts in a few days.

But would they do things any differently if they could? Taking a look back at the time we spent with them during their wild, whirlwind Comic-Con, it seems unlikely.

It all began midweek, as thousands of fans lined up with hopes of getting into the main Summit Entertainment panel at Hall H. Our very own Vaneta Rogers was among them, and live-blogged for Hollywood Crush. Twilighters passed the time by speculating on which stars would attend, re-creating key scenes and getting a glimpse at the cool “Twilight” clothes coming soon.

Meanwhile, yours truly was on the Con floor and heading straight to the bigger, better “Twilight” booth. First thing Thursday morning, I was front and center at the invite-only press event with Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and a short-haired, punked-out Kristen Stewart.

As soon as RPattz, KStew and Taylor (can somebody come up with a shorthand nickname for him? They’re so convenient!) were finished, I ran from the Hilton across the street, past the massive Twilighter line (thanks to everybody who said hi!) and back into the convention center. Just a few minutes later, I was scheduled to interview Ashley Greene, Taylor and Kristen one-on-one, and we spoke about the pressure for them to build “New Moon” chemistry. We also spoke with Chris Weitz about the “New Moon” soundtrack, and he confirmed some big names.

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‘It’s not tough when you’re working with someone like this,’ Taylor Lautner says after receiving a joke kiss from co-star Kristen Stewart.

By Larry Carroll

SAN DIEGO — It isn’t often that, right in the middle of an interview, one of the subjects will suddenly lean over and nearly give the other one a full-on, passionate kiss. But when we caught up with “Twilight” saga stars Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner recently at Comic-Con, love was in the air.

As thousands of Twilighters walked around the Con wearing Burger King crowns that showed their support for either Team Edward or Team Jacob, 17-year-old Lautner knew the pressure was on. Not even a year ago, Robert Pattinson and Kristen created a rare chemistry that made them superstars, as they mixed their youthful good looks with the sort of classic romance that made the grandparents of their fans swoon over Bogey and Bacall, Tracy and Hepburn or Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Now he was in San Diego to convince fans that he could accomplish the same feat for “New Moon.”

“It’s not tough when you’re working with someone like this,” Lautner insisted, moments after KStew responded to the chemistry question by leaning over and fake-kissing the hunky actor who packed on more than 30 pounds of muscle for the sequel. “[Stewart] is extremely talented.”

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‘My heart belongs to ‘Twilight,’ always,’ one Twilighter says before seeing Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and more introduce the film.

By Larry Carroll

SAN DIEGO — At this year’s Comic-Con, the “Twilight” saga stars rode into town like Sherman’s army, overtaking downtown San Diego while being flanked by black-T-shirt wearing, eardrum-shattering, Burger King-crowned fans. And although some geeks found it difficult to lay down their Cylon helmets and surrender, the Twilighters were peaceful during their Thursday occupation, as tens of thousands of them partied like they were at the Forks High prom.

“My heart belongs to ‘Twilight,’ always,” insisted Alison Grenda, 14, as she waited for hours outside the Gaslamp Theater, where the stars showed up after a hard day of interviews, presentations and hug-receiving to introduce the biggest surprise hit of last year.

“We’re going to see ‘Twilight,’ and we get to meet the cast,” beamed Gina Vallejo, 14, one of the thousands of fans who stood in line to see the film as it played simultaneously in more than a dozen theaters. “And we’re really, really, really excited.”

“We were going to get ice cream, and we were walking, but they put these metal bars up so we couldn’t pass,” explained Marin Mayfield, 10, whose break from line-waiting was interrupted by something far more delicious than Rocky Road. “They told us that the cast was coming. Then a big bus came!”.

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Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner talk about Bella and Jacob’s relationship in the ‘Twilight’ sequel.

By Larry Carroll

SAN DIEGO — Thursday at Comic-Con, the Gandalfs, Green Lanterns, Greedos, “Galactica” fans and other, well, geeks, stepped aside and made room for the latest annual convention phenomenon: “Twilight.” As the stars sped around from one event to the next, “New Moon” actors Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner were the queen and king of the festivities — and when we caught up with them for an exclusive interview, they were eager to talk about their playful relationship and living in the shadow of Edward Cullen.

“We needed to put a little bit more Rob in the movie — for whatever reason,” Stewart laughed, referring to her breakout co-star Robert Pattinson and the decision to insert him throughout the film in a series of “hallucination” sequences.

“In the book [Bella] hears him — she hears his voice,” Stewart explained. “It’s always very subjective … you’re not sure if she’s growing into some weird power like the [Cullens] have, whether she’s just imagining it — she thinks she’s going nuts.”

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‘New Moon’ director reveals movie secrets

Posted by Erik Buckman

The Twilight Saga: New Moon director, Chris Weitz, gave a fascinating status on the tween vampire project according to HitFix. In the interview Weitz shares that his cut of the film will be submitted to Summit Entertainment within two weeks. Also, two scenes from the film will be showcased during this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego. For those fans already on the scene, the clips will be shown on July 23rd. Below are more details with the rest of the interview on HitFix.

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Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and Chris Weitz take questions from the crowd and preview footage in San Diego.

By MTV News staff

SAN DIEGO — Just when anticipation for November’s release of “New Moon” didn’t seem like it could get any higher, the new footage presented by the stars of the film at Comic-Con sent the crowded room of Twilighters into a whole new level of vampire frenzy.

As soon as the “Twilight” portion of Summit Entertainment’s panel began, fans started screaming and it didn’t stop once director Chris Weitz was joined onstage by Ashley Greene, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson.

The room of mostly female fans erupted into deafening screams when Lautner and Pattinson entered, with dozens of them yelling, “I love you, Rob!” or “I love you, Taylor!”

As the stars were asked about the filming of the movie, Lautner talked about how important his character’s various transformations were to the way he approached the role.

“Jacob goes through a lot in this movie — he transforms mentally and emotionally,” Lautner explained. “The most challenging for me was physically, so I had a lot of hard work cut out for me after filming ‘Twilight.’ I worked really hard to transform Jacob’s body so I could portray him correctly for all you guys. And I hope you guys are pleased when you see the results.”

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Chris Weitz also hopes to get Kings of Leon to contribute a song.

By Gil Kaufman

We already told you that “New Moon” director Chris Weitz said Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke was interested in contributing a song to the movie, due in theaters November 20.

And while Yorke’s people wouldn’t confirm the potentially mind-blowing collabo, Weitz revealed on Thursday that he’s got the track in hand and can’t wait to listen. Speaking to the entertainment Web site HitFix.com amid the Comic-Con madness, Weitz said that he has not only secured a new song from the Radiohead mastermind, but also one from freak-folkie Bon Iver.

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