I have made my opinion of last year’s Twilight film pretty clear. I think it sucked. If I wanted to watch stupid-haired teenagers moon at each other I would have gone to the Stupid-Haired Teenagers Moon At Each Other store. Nothing, I thought, could convince me to sit through any more in the series. I was wrong. Because it now looks likely that the third movie, Eclipse, will be directed by Spanish film-maker Juan Antonio Bayona. "Who?" you may ask. And that’s a fair question. Bayona is hardly a household name—yet! But his debut movie, The Orphanage, was one of the great creepfests of the past few years—a gorgeous-to-look-at horror film about a missing child and the ghosts who may, or may not, have taken him. The result was entrancing, unsettling and, at times, utterly terrifying. Everything, in fact, that Twilight is not.
So, Popwatchers, what do you think of this news? And, fellow Twilight-loathers, is there any chance that you, like me, might be tempted to give this franchise another shot?
More ‘Twilight’:
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Twilight was definitely a huge back of suck. And I will never get over the “spider monkey” line. But if Bayona really does direct it, I’ll give it a shot. If Drew Barrymore is the director, I’m staying home.
I couldn’t even get into the first book, much less the film. Nothing short of a blow to the head that causes a complete change in my mental processes would get me to watch any movie from this franchise. This is one pop culture phenom that I plan on steering clear from.
This is awesome news. I took my daughter (a huge Twilight fan) to see The Orphanage in its theatrical release. We were both scared and impressed. She will be happy to hear this. That being said, it is all about the source material, if Hardwicke couldn’t do it, is anyone up to the task?
Well, Twilight was not supposed to be scary, but I do think they didn’t have to make it so G-rated (practically).
i’m a fan of the Twilight book series and was hugely let down by the twilight film! this news restored a little bit of hope that they won’t all completely suck. i think Eclipse will really suit Bayona’s style…should be interesting and exciting to see what comes of it…
Eclipse is my favorite book – lots of action, including an amazing battle scene with werewolves and vampires. I was REALLY worried when I heard Drew Barrymore was being considered as its director – can’t see her doing something so violent and intense. This guy seems like a perfect fit.
Just to clarify – Eclipse is my favorite book of the series, not my “favorite book.” That would probably go to “To Kill a Mockingbird” or something like that.
I love how everyone is completely skipping over New Moon….lol…anyway, great pick for director of Eclipse! Hope they follow thru and get him. Really, really excellent choice.
um, i thought the movie was pretty good…especially when you consider the source material.
But, yeah, I am getting hyped about eclipse! if he does direct it, it will be AMAZING. i just wish they would skip new moon…
If Bayona does sign on I’d actually consider watching another Twilight film. I HATED Twilight. It was boring and ever so cliched.
Why oh why are they making more of these suckfests. Aren’t there enough bad movies out there? Yeah, the first one made money, basically on the first week due to curiousity factor but then was repeatedly beaten by Four Christmases. Are we going to see a Four Christmases III?
“The Orphanage” is one of my favorite movies!! I’m no fan of “Twilight” but I just may check out the movie now.
I hope they remember that the Twilight series is targeted at teen girls and don’t make Eclipse so scary that I can’t take my 9 year old daughter. She really liked the first movie and I let her go because it wasn’t very violent.
Of the 4 books, Eclipse is the only one that really comes close to being “scary”. Considering for most of the book there is an unknown (even though it was pretty obvious) villain out to get Bella. I think the movie would benefit from this director. It definitely wouldn’t be nearly as cheesy as the first movie.
I don’t know if I could sit through the movie because while I think the directing sucked in Twilight, I can’t completely blame Hardwicke for why I didn’t like the movie. And that ultimately comes down to the flawed writing of the books (because yes I read all of them hoping the writing would improve).
I really wanted to like Twlight because I loved the story’s premises. However, it seemed to me to be a first draft of some really bad fanfic.
So since the foundation of the movie (in this case the books) is seriously flawed, the movie will always be unless the director strays from the book. But of course if he or she does that then they’ll be criticized for that.