Last week we saw the first trailer for the third film in the Twilight frachise, Eclipse, and now we have some behind the scenes footage that will also be on the New Moon DVD (released on March 20th). If, like me, you didn’t really care for all the mushy love stuff in the Eclipse trailer then you may find this footage easier to stomach. We see behind the scenes antics like stunts and green screen filming, along with some of the cast members such as Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson talking about the story.

Directed by David Slade, Eclipse will be released in June and as well as the main trio the film stars Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning and Bryce Dallas Howard.

We saw 10 seconds of the teaser yesterday, and now Summit Entertainment has released the full teaser trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Watch below:

In The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between Edward and Jacob — knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life.

We live in a world where we get teasers for teaser trailers, although Twilight fans aren’t complaining. Below is a 10 second clip from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse teaser trailer which will debut online in full tomorrow (oh yeah I forgot to mention, you may wish to leave the internet tomorrow. I’ll let you know when/if it’s safe to return).

The clip contains just about everything you’d expect from a Twilight trailer: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart acting all serious about love, aerial shots of Canadian woodland, and Taylor Lautner with no upper body clothing.

Directed by David Slade, Eclipse will be released in June and as well as the main trio the film stars Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning and Bryce Dallas Howard.

According to MovieScore magazine composer Howard Shore has signed up to score The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which means at least the music will be good even if the film itself sucks. Shore is a three time Oscar winning composer who has created scores for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Aviator, The Departed and other Oscar-type films, which makes his latest gig a bit of a downgrade. I don’t know how Summit Entertainment managed to sign him up, other than by throwing money at him. Or maybe he just wants to keep busy, as he hasn’t got anything lined up in the fear future.

Alexandre Desplat was behind the New Moon score, and we heard earlier this week that he would be working his musical magic on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.

Directed by David Slade, Eclipse will be released in June and stars the usual lot: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

I didn’t see Twilight and i’m not interested in the whole vampire love story thing, although I am aware that Summit Entertainment hit the jackpot with the franchise and it was good to see a smaller studio finding success. While I’m not that interested in the films, I did read about some of the developments. For whatever reason they decided to ditch Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke and hired Chris Weitz for New Moon. However, they then announced that David Slade would be directing the third film, Eclipse, and it became apparent that Summit are so eager to see money rolling in that they were not willing to wait for anyone, not even the directors.

So with Summit in that frame of mind it wasn’t that much of a surprise to read that Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3, Terminator Salvation) would be replacing actress Rachelle Lefevre in the role of Victoria due to ’scheduling conflicts’ with a film called Barney’s Version starring Dustin Hoffman. Well as with most mid-franchise re-castings, the fans aren’t happy, and neither is Rachelle Lefevre who engaged in a ‘were having a disagreement in public via press releases so lets keep it civil’ with Summit:

From Variety:

“I was stunned by Summit’s decision to recast the role of Victoria for Eclipse. I was fully committed to the Twilight saga, and to the portrayal of Victoria. I turned down several other film opportunities and, in accordance with my contractual rights, accepted only roles that would involve very short shooting schedules.

“My commitment to Barney’s Version is only 10 days. Summit picked up my option for Eclipse. Although the production schedule for Eclipse is over three months long, Summit said they had a conflict during those 10 days and would not accommodate me. Given the length of filming for Eclipse, never did I fathom I would lose the role over a 10-day overlap. I was happy with my contract with Summit and was fully prepared to continue to honor it. Summit chose simply to recast the part.

“I am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the Twilight audience. This is a story, a theatrical journey and a character that I truly love and about which I am very passionate. I will be forever grateful to the fan support and loyalty I’ve received since being cast for this role, and I am hurt deeply by Summit’s surprising decision to move on without me. I wish the cast and crew of Eclipse only the very best.”

Summit responded with:

“We at Summit Entertainment are disappointed by Rachelle Lefevre’s recent comments which attempt to make her career choices the fault of the Studio. Her decision to discuss her version of the scheduling challenges publicly has forced the Studio to set the record straight and correct the facts.

“Ms. Lefevre’s representatives were advised as early as April that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE was expected to start shooting in early August.

“If Ms. Lefevre was, as she describes “passionate,” about being part of THE TWILIGHT SAGA, we feel that she and her representatives would have included us in her decision to work on another film that would conflict with the shooting schedule of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.

“It was not until July 20th that Summit was first informed of Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to BARNEY’S VERSION, a commitment we have since been advised she accepted in early June. Summit had acted in good faith that she would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. We feel that her choice to withhold her scheduling conflict information from us can be viewed as a lack of cooperative spirit which affected the entire production.

“Furthermore Ms. Lefevre took a role in the other film that places her in Europe during the required rehearsal time, and at least ten days of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’s principal photography. This period is essential for both rehearsal time with the cast, and for filming at key locations that are only available during the initial part of production.

“Contrary to Ms. Lefevre’s statement, it is simply untrue that the Studio dismissed her over a ten day overlap. It is not about a ten day overlap, but instead about the fact that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is an ensemble production that has to accommodate the schedules of numerous actors while respecting the established creative vision of the filmmaker and most importantly the story.

“The fact remains that Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to the other project – which she chose to withhold from Summit until the last possible moment – makes her unfortunately unavailable to perform the role of Victoria in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.”

Oh dear. As the Twilight franchise has a large (mostly young female) fanbase Summit have been forced to respond in public to prevent a mass boycott. Any Twilight fans have an opinion on this? Any non-Twilight fans have an opinion on the politics involved?

We heard last week that Drew Barrymore was apparently being considered to direct the third film in the Twilight saga, Eclipse. However she isn’t…because someone else is.

From Variety:

Summit Entertainment has tapped Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona to direct “Eclipse,” the third pic in the “Twilight” vampire series.

Summit, which had no comment Wednesday, is expected to make the official announcement soon. The minimajor recently gave “Eclipse” a release date of June 30, 2010.

Bayona’s a protege of Guillermo Del Toro. He directed the Spanish-language horror-thriller “The Orphanage,” which was exec produced by Del Toro, and is attached to helm the Universal thriller “Hater,” with Del Toro and Mark Johnson producing.

Could it be that Summit have actually made a good choice? Guillermo Del Toro is a great director, so a protege of his will no doubt have an eye for film making.

Earlier this week Summit Entertainment set the release date for Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight trilogy. Now just 4 days on we have talk of a possible director, actress/director Drew Barrymore.

From Entertainment Weekly:

As Summit Entertainment looks to lock in a director for the third installment of the Twilight series, Eclipse, the company is talking to a select group of directors — including actress-turned-helmer Drew Barrymore, EW has learned. While this news may come as a surprise to some, Barrymore did just finish work on her directorial debut, Whip It! starring Ellen Page. Neither Summit nor Barrymore’s reps would comment for this story

Summit must like the idea of a woman director taking on the franchise. Catherine Hardwicke directed Twilight, but passed on directing New Moon so Chris Weitz took over. Drew Barrymore is a bit of a newbie in terms of directing, however she has been in the business long enough to what to do. I think.

The Twilight sequel, New Moon, hasn’t even started filming yet however that hasn’t stopped Summit Entertainment from setting the release date for Eclipse, the third film in the series. According to Variety, Eclipse will be released on June 30, 2010, which is 7 months after New Moon’s November release.

Melissa Rosenberg, who penned the “Twilight” and “New Moon” scripts, is working on “Eclipse.” Summit hasn’t yet selected a director for “Eclipse,” in which Bella is forced to choose between Edward and Jacob.

Fans will no doubt be happy about not having to wait too long between films, but will all of this rushing have a negative impact on the quality of the film? Summit seem so caught up in this ‘get rich quick scheme’ that they won’t even work around the directors. At this rate there will be a different director for each film. Not good.

It looks like Summit Entertainment are betting on Twilight making tonnes of money when it is released next month, as they have acquired rights to the next three novels in Stephenie Meyer’s vampire series, and have also hired Twilight writer Melissa Rosenberg to write the scripts, based on the books “New Moon” and “Eclipse”. It is interesting to note that the fourth book “Breaking Dawn” has not attached a writer. This is most likely because Summit want to see how things go with the trilogy before setting off on a fourth adventure.

In other news, the soundtrack to Twilight became #1 on the Billboard 200 this week, becoming the third No. 1 soundtrack this year after Juno and Mamma Mia! It also knocked AC/DC off in the process. [You can get your copy by clicking here]