January 27, 2011

Elizabeth Reaser Gives an Update of Breaking Dawn Shooting at Sundance (video)

Breaking Dawn VampJudi Shekoni Launches Hair Extensions Company

New TWILIGHT star JUDI SHEKONI has a sideline business - she runs one of the world's most celebrated new hair extension companies.

The British actress, who will vamp it up as Zafrina in the new Twilight Breaking Dawn movies, tells WENN she set up Extensions Evolution with a friend last year and business has really taken off.

The stunning star explains, "I've always been wearing hair extensions since the age of 16 and I've definitely made a few weave mistakes in my time. It's just always been important to me to find better techniques and to make my hair look good.

"My friend already had a company in England where she had done it before and she was interested in doing it again and so we decided to go into partnership.

"We researched it for about a year-and-a-half; all the manufacturing, and figuring everything out before we launched in 2010 and it was instantly successful. We now have stockists in Nigeria, Australia, England, America and Switzerland."

Shekoni insists her line is a success because it's user-friendly and does away with the pain of extensions.

She adds, "We use hair extensions and techniques that don't damage your hair. The idea is you use our product until your own hair grows and then you don't need the extensions anymore, versus using hair extensions that rip out your own hair.

"It has been amazing. We have wigs that Beyonce wears and Tyra Banks wears... and we get hair from Russia and China and Brazil."

The company became so successful so quickly, the actress considered quitting showbusiness and going back to school to study business.

She says, "I moved back to England and studied for an MBA at Westminster University. I did it for a while but acting came calling again and I decided to move back to L.A."

That decision resulted in her landing a dream role in the new Twilight movies.


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Elizabeth Reaser Talks Pattinson, Breaking Dawn and That Steamy Sex Scene Photo

"It's a complicated situation," Reaser, who plays Esme in the Twi-franchise, told me while at Sundance's Bing Bar to promote indie flick Homework. "If you're going to be an actor and you don't want to do dinner theater and you want to do movies like this, it's a crazy risk."

She continued, "I know for me, you want people to watch you tell stories. There's some part of you that is somewhat of an exhibitionist... I'm not saying you want people to chase you down the street screaming and attacking you, but it's a price you have to pay, I think."

Reaser had jetted into Utah from Baton Rouge where they're shooting the last of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, with director Bill Condon. "I feel like there's never going to be a time in my life [again] where I'm going to sit with Peter Facinelli or Nikki Reed at four in the morning with [colored contacts] in and pale makeup and laughing our butts off...giggling all day."

But it's way too soon to say goodbye. "We have so far to go that it doesn't feel like we're anywhere near the end," she said. "Plus we're going to promote these for a few more years, you know. So we're nowhere near the end."

As for that steamy BD photo of Rob and Kristen Stewart, Reaser laughed, "At least everyone knows: OK, people are naked. Just in case the frenzy was dying down, just in case no one cared, here's a naked picture of Rob and Kristen."
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January 18, 2011

Robert Pattinson on 'Twilight' finale Breaking Dawn: 'It's the end of an era'

Public speaking has never been Robert Pattinson’s favorite part of his job. But presenting the Golden Globe to director Susanne Bier for her drama “In a Better World” Sunday night proved to be a welcome respite for the actor, who’s knee deep in the middle of filming “Breaking Dawn,” the final installment of the “Twilight” saga, which will be split into two parts.


“It’s been really hard shooting both films at the same time,” admitted the 24-year-old star, moments before he had run backstage to present his award with “Tron” star Olivia Wilde. “But it’s the end of an era.”


That era certainly will be one that Summit Entertainment, the films’ distributor, not to mention the franchise’s devoted fans, will be sorry to see go. Starting with 2008’s “Twilight,” the fantasy romance that first saw Pattinson’s handsome, brooding vampire encounter his mortal love, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), the movie series has taken in roughly $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office, as audiences lined up to see Swan wrestle with her feelings for her immortal boyfriend and her best friend, Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a werewolf, over the course of the next two films, 2009's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" and 2010's "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."


At the start of the first part of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn,” Bella consents to Edward’s marriage proposal — Edward’s condition if he is to grant Bella’s request that he transform her into a vampire — and the young couple are wed before heading to a remote island getaway for a honeymoon.


Speaking by phone this month, director Bill Condon, who’s helming both installments of the finale, said he has been thrilled with what he’s seen from his leads. “All the characters are moving [in this chapter]," he said. "It’s really about the passage from adolescence to adulthood, and they all seem energized by that. It’s the stuff they are all connecting to in their lives.”


As for Pattinson specifically, Condon added, “Now he’s dealing with a character who’s like him. The final movie allows us to step behind the curtain of what it’s like to be a vampire. It doesn’t seem that exotic anymore; It’s trying to be more real.”


The director, though, was reticent to share any details of the production, which is filming in both New Orleans and Vancouver, Canada, with a jaunt to an island off the coast of Brazil — a location that might in the end prove the most memorable to Condon, because the entire cast and crew needed for the honeymoon scene was stranded after a long day of filming.


“It was incredible. We got caught in the middle of this huge rainstorm — I’ll remember it forever,” Condon said. “Eighty people sleeping on the floor of the set. We couldn't leave.”

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John Bruno ‘Avatar’ Rumored to Create Renesmee’s Visual Effects for Twilight Saga:Breaking Dawn

According to John Bruno’s IMDB page, he will be working on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts One and Two and John has the same title for both parts of Breaking Dawn.John Bruno was the visual effects supervisor for the blockbuster movie Avatar.

 @MackenzieFoycom is stating that John Bruno has been recruited to Breaking Dawn “to make baby Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy) grow at her rapid rate.

MTV: Robert Pattinson Laughs Off on new 'Breaking Dawn' Honeymoon Bed Still (Photo)

"I love how they release that for the first one," he told MTV News sarcastically Sunday (January 16) on the Golden Globes red carpet. "They just give it all away."

Pattinson laughed about what was running through his mind while shooting that scene, and told us the sex scenes with Stewart were no more awkward than with other actresses, such as his "Bel Ami" co-star Uma Thurman.

"It's always awkward, in a way, doing it with anybody," he admitted. "But at the same time ... it really depends on how it's staged and stuff. It's like doing Twister."

Also on Sunday night's red carpet, Pattinson's movie dad, Peter Facinelli, revealed some details about filming the big "Breaking Dawn" fight scene, leaking how much longer the cast will be onset with director Bill Condon: "We've been shooting the last two weeks with a lot of vampires," he said.

"I don't want to give away too much, but if you've read the books, it's the standoff with lots of vampires in play. There's like 70 people going through the works at once. It's a little maddening, but fun," Facinelli continued.

"We shot pretty much the ending of the two movies the other day," he added. "But we shoot until mid-April."


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MTV: Robert Pattinson Shares ‘Breaking Dawn’ Details and Playing a Dad (video)

MTV interviews with Robert Pattinson on the red carpet of the Golden Globe Awards tonight, Rob talks about Kristen Stewart being a very natural vampire, the final scenes they filmed for Breaking Dawn and then about playing the part of a dad again in Breaking Dawn (after doing so in Water for Elephants).

January 10, 2011

January 9, 2011

Carter Burwell Returning To ‘Twilight’ Franchise To Score ‘Breaking Dawn’

Coen Brothers and Spike Jonze regular collaborator Carter Burwell is set to return to the ‘Twilight’ since working on the first film to perform scoring duties for the final installment of the series, the two parter “Twilight: Breaking Dawn.”
Burwell has an existing relationship with the director of the final two parts, Bill Condon, having collaborated on “Kinsey” and “Gods And Monsters” and will return to the position after Alexandre Desplat followed him for “New Moon” with Howard Shore stepping in for “Eclipse.” Shooting began this past November with all major cast members such as Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Michael Sheen, Anna Kendrick and Ashley Greene reprising their roles. The two parts will be shot as one project and will then be respectively released on November 18th, 2011 and November 16th, 2012. And in case you haven’t do so already, check out Burwell’s score for “True Grit,” it’s ace.

In other scoring news, Joe Wright regular Dario Marianelli, who took home an Oscar for “Atonement,” will be scoring rising helmer Cary Fukunaga‘s gothic adaptation of Charlotte Brontë‘s “Jane Eyre.” The story, of course, centers on a young governess who falls in love with her employer but discovers he harbors a dark secret. Fukunaga last collaborated with Marcelo Zarvos for his debut feature film, “Sin Nombre,” but has moved on for the adaptation which stars Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell and Sally Hawkins. The film is scheduled to hit on March 11th via Focus Features.

Meanwhile, the somewhat underrated duo of Asche & Spencer (”Monster’s Ball”) have signed up to score Marc Forster‘s upcoming Gerard Butler starring vehicle, “Machine Gun Preacher.” The team previously worked with Forster on “Monster’s Ball,” providing some haunting pieces of work. The film follows a former drug dealing biker who becomes a missionary and preacher, founding an orphanage in the Sudan, and a militia to protect the children there. Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon and Kathy Bates co-star.

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The Twilight Saga producer Wyck Godfrey spills bits of information on ‘Breaking Dawn’

The Twilight Saga producer Wyck Godfrey featured in an interview from USA Today and he answered questions about Breaking Dawn including where Breaking Dawn will be split into two parts, how Jacob’s part in the book is being handled for the screen, the way the birth scene will be portrayed, more on the honeymoon, why Bill Condon was chosen and how they’re going to handle all the new vampires.


Q: Where does the story split in half?

A: "We basically want to take the audience through the emotional part of Bella's journey as she becomes a vampire. The first part will cover the wedding, the honeymoon and the birth." The film ends just before she embarks on her supernatural transformation.

Q: The book has three segments, two of which present Bella's point of view and a middle that's devoted to the perspective of her rejected werewolf suitor, Jacob (Taylor Lautner). How is that handled?

A: "The story will break from her and follow Jacob throughout the course of the movie as he struggles with his own dilemma. There is a sense that as Bella and the Cullens (Edward's makeshift vampire clan) deal with her pregnancy, the world is still turning outside with Jacob."

Q: Why was Bill Condon, the Oscar-winning filmmaker best known for his musicals as the screenwriter of 2002's Chicagoand the director of 2006's Dreamgirls, selected as the director of the finale?

A: "These films have the most difficult stuff from a performance standpoint. With his history of directing, I can't think of anyone who would be better at bringing out the best in an actor." Plus, the director, who did the 1995 sequel to Candyman, is a fright-fare enthusiast. "He has an appetite for the genre and a passion for the Twilight books and movies."

Q: Considering what goes on during the torturous birth process, how can the rating be PG-13?

A: With Twilight's core of under-18 fans, "it would be a crime against our audience to go R-rated." However, "this is based on a much more mature book. We need to progress and be more sophisticated."

A compromise: Having the bloody, bone-crushing delivery be seen only through Bella's eyes. "She is looking through the haze, experiencing pain and everything rushing around her. We only see what she sees."

Q: How is the long-awaited consummation of Edward and Bella's love portrayed?

A: Even though their physical relationship goes way beyond what was shown in the first three films, "it does not become soft porn. It is a legitimate and important part of the movie, romantic and sensual."

Q: At the end of Breaking Dawn, about 70 or so vampires from around the world gather to face off with the Cullens and their allies plus Jacob's wolf pack. How can you keep both portions of the storytelling equally compelling?

A: "The second half is more of an action film in terms of life-and-death stakes." But the domestic moments of the first film possess an emotional punch. "There are the pangs of newlywed tension that occur that are relatable even in a fantasy film. Marriage is not quite the experience that they thought it was."

Q: Is there any chance that Condon could sneak in a musical number?

A: There might be traditional dancing at the wedding. But don't expect any of the wolf pack to suddenly howl a tune or do a soft-shoe shuffle.

Although, as Godfrey jokes, "We just had a whole line of actors marching toward the camera. We could have them practice a chorus line with vampires doing kicks."

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