Filming Begins on THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE Starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison; Directed by David Slade

So yeah, it’s not “The Lost Boys”, or “An American Werewolf in London”…or even “The Munsters”, but you can’t fight the masses, particularly when those masses are squealing, pubescent girls. Such being the case, Summit Entertainment has announced that principle photography has begun on the third film in the series of incredibly popular book adaptions, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”. More info after the jump.

In a press release, Summit Entertainment confirmed that shooting has commenced on the third “Twilight” film, once again starring Rob Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and the extremely hot yet awkward Kristen Stewart. Continuing with the series already established tradition, a new director will be taking the reigns of the project, and that is horror alum David Slade, helmer of vampire comic flick, “30 Days of Night” and of course the very intense “Hard Candy”. Other notable additions to the franchise are Xavier Samuel, Jack Huston, and Gwen Stacy herself, Bryce Dallas Howard.

The events of the film follow directly after those in this November’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”, and center on Stewart’s Bella Swan having to choose between her vamp and wolf sweethearts as all hell breaks out around her and the tensions between vampires and werewolves reach new heights.

Now, I know it’s easy to rip these flicks to shreds, but I’m not going to do that here. Not only because I find Kristen Stewart to be cranked up to 11 on the adorable-meter, but because I honestly find it hard to hate on something that makes young teenagers and kids actually want to read. Would I prefer kids get their horror lit fix from Clive Barker? Yeah, but it’s not up to me, so better Stephanie Meyer than no one. On top of that, the inclusion of David Slade is really intriguing, if only for the visuals he could bring to the series, which the films could definitely use. All that aside, the flicks may not be for everyone, but they are carving out the pop culture perception of the vampire mythology. For better or worse.