On December 4^th, and just in time for the holiday season, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray and combo pack. Much to the satisfaction of all the loyally dedicated fans, the two-disc special edition of the third installment in the wildly popular, $2 billion franchise features a six-part behind the scenes documentary, along with deleted and extended scenes, a photo gallery, music videos, and audio commentary from Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart and Stephenie Meyer & Wyck Godfrey.

Earlier today, Collider had the opportunity to do an exclusive interview with director David Slade, in which he talked about all of the special features and extras that even the most hardcore fans are sure to enjoy, how every aspect of making the film was daunting, that one of his favorite scenes was the kitchen scene between Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Charlie (Billy Burke), and how he doesn’t judge a film by it’s financial or critical success, but rather how closely it achieves his original vision. He also said that he’s currently narrowing down what he’s going to be working on next, and that all of his choices are very different from his previous work. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

A couple weeks ago, director David O. Russell left the adaptation of Seth Grahme-Smith’s parody-novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for the Vince Vaughn flick Old St. Louis and to adapt the video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.  Deadline is reporting that the directing gig for Pride is one of the hottest in Hollywood and that “a lot of helmers are lining up” for it since Russell left behind a strong script.  The only name that Deadline mentions is The Twilight Saga: Eclipse director David Slade.  Slade was one of the final candidates to get the big franchise films Wolverine 2 and The Hunger Games, but those gigs went to Darren Aronofsky and Gary Ross, respectively.

Natalie Portman also recently left Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (although she’ll remain on board as a producer).  Hit the jump for news on Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Mia Wasikowska, Tilda Swinton, and Catherine O’Hara possibly starring.

Directors Sam Mendes (Away We Go), Gary Ross (Seabiscuit), and David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) are Lionsgate’s top choices to direct an adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games.  The book is the first in a trilogy and Deadline argues that the series could be the new Twilight due to its appeal to both young and adult demographics.  The story centers on “Katniss Everdeen, an enterprising 16-year old from a poor territory that was once Appalachia, who becomes a teen gladiator in a reality show event that is a battle to the death against other teens from the 12 districts that make up what is left of the USA, which is run by a cruel totalitarian government.”  If this premise causes you to have flashbacks to Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale, you’re not the only one.  The books have been a smash hit for Scholastic and the final novel in the trilogy, Mockingjay, has already sold 450,000 copies since hitting shelves on August 24th.

Hit the jump to learn about other projects Mendes, Ross, and Slade are connected to.

A couple weeks ago, we reported that director David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) was the likely choice to helm Wolverine 2.  However, Deadline is now reporting that a far more interesting choice is in the mix: Darren Aronofsky.  Hugh Jackman reportedly spoke with Slade over the weekend and has been speaking with Aronofsky.  We previously reported that Robert Schwentke (Red) was in the mix, but he has apparently opted out and is looking at R.I.P.D. (starring Ryan Reynolds) or Robert Ludlum’s The Osterman Weekend as possible follow-ups.

As you may recall, Jackman previously worked with Aronofsky in The Fountain. However, Deadline believes that Slade has the edge with the studio since he has demonstrated he can handle a blockbuster, large-scale special-effects picture.  Hit the jump for why I would like Aronofsky to get the gig, but won’t be heartbroken if he doesn’t.

It looks like one of two directors is going to be taking Wolverine to Japan.  Vulture reports that the contenders to helm Wolverine 2 are David Slade (Hard Candy, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) and Robert Schwentke (The Time Traveler’s Wife, the upcoming Bruce Willis action flick Red).  While both men have been approved by 20th Century Fox brass, the decision comes down to Hugh Jackman, and Vulture says he’s going to choose Slade.

Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) is penning the script, which will see Wolverine traveling to Japan and completely ignorant of the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine thanks the magic of adamantium memory bullets.  I’m going to assume that McQuarrie will be drawing from Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s 1979 arc that had Wolverine traveling to Japan and falling in love with Mariko Yashida whose father, Shingen Yashida was a Yakuza crime boss.  Shingen also had an illegitimate son, Keniuchio Harada, who was a mutant and came to be known as the Silver Samurai.  Vulture says the plot of the movie has Wolverine battling folks with samurai swords.  Hopefully those swords won’t be coming out their freaking forearms.  Hit the jump for my thoughts on Slade (potentially) getting the gig.

“Quentin Tarantino’s The Shadow.”  I like the sound of that.  Pajiba reports that Tarantino is currently in discussions to direct an adaptation of the pulp superhero The Shadow if he’s not attached already.  Pajiba also reports that Tarantino is also attached to co-write, which wouldn’t be a surprise since Tarantino has yet to direct a movie where he wasn’t responsible for the script.  Pajiba’s source on this one is the highly-trustworthy “Hollywood Cog” and a movie based on a pulp magazine hero who “knows what evil lies in the hearts of men,” sounds like something Tarantino could work wonders with.

Of course, there are many contradicting factors to consider.  Hit the jump to learn more about the project as well as a list of other films that Tarantino could also do as a follow-up to his Oscar-winning masterpiece.

While speaking to actors about the movie they’re promoting is always great, if you really want to find out why certain decisions were made behind the scenes, you’ve got to talk to the filmmakers and the crew that worked on the movie.  And that’s why I think fans of the Twilight movie franchise are going to enjoy my interview with Eric Leven from Tippett Studios.  Because during our extended conversation, Leven (who was the visual effects supervisor on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) discussed why the wolf effects were done a certain way, the difference between Chris Weitz and David Slade on the look of New Moon and Eclipse, is Tippett Studios working on Breaking Dawn, and we also talked about 3D and other projects like Priest and Immortals.

While the entire interview is really interesting as Leven is completely honest about why the wolves looked a certain way, the thing most fans are going to love is the very end of the interview.  That’s because he talks about the very limited Twilight collectibles that were made for the New Moon and the Eclipse crew.  If you’re a Twilight collector, I’m pretty sure you don’t have these.  Hit the jump to watch the interview.  It’s time indexed so you can watch the parts you’re interested in.

[Update: Tippett Studios has provided high-res images of the collectibles; check them out after the jump]

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is like last’s year’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon on steroids.  Everything that was slightly good in that film becomes better.  There’s slightly more intentional humor, less of protagonist Bella Swan moping, and some mostly well-done (if slightly redundant at times) set pieces.  But the aspect of the The Twilight Saga I hate the most—the advocating for the possession of a woman under the guise of “love”—is taken to an excruciating level.  I know that this review can’t dissuade fans from seeing the movie.  I know that I’ve made my problems with the subtext clear in my reviews of the first two films.  So what I’d like to do this time out is struggle with why the fans love this series and what had them cheering at the end of the movie.

With The Twilight Saga: Eclipse getting released this Wednesday, it’s time to post the exclusive interviews I did at the junket a few weeks back.  Yesterday I posted my interview with screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, and today it’s director David Slade.  While some may have wondered if Slade was the right person for the job, I think he made the best Twilight film yet and fans are going to love his take on the franchise.

Anyway, during the interview he talked about how he prepared for directing the film and explains how and why he shot the movie a certain way.  He also talked about directing the meadow scene and if he was aware that it meant so much to the fans.  Later on we addressed what fans can expect on the DVD/Blu-ray, how he literally had just finished making the movie and what he isn’t doing next (The Shadow).  Hit the jump to watch the interview:

With The Twilight Saga: Eclipse finally getting released in a few days, it’s finally time to post the exclusive interviews I did at the junket a few weeks back.  While I debated who to post first…I decided to go with screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg.

During the extended interview she discussed how working for director David Slade was different than Catherine Hardwicke and Chris Weitz, how much time she’s spent writing all the Twilight films, what was cut out of Eclipse, and regarding Breaking Dawn…I asked her how long she knew it was going to be two films, when exactly did she start writing the films, what was her reaction to Bill Condon directing the final installments, how has she been working with Condon on the script, and we ended the interview talking about with the 4th book being the most controversial among the fans, how is it for her to tackle the writing.  She talks about how some fans want an R rating and she explains why it doesn’t have to be so graphic.

If you’re a fan of the Twilight films, I promise you’ll love the interview.  Watch it after the jump and look for more exclusive Twilight interview tomorrow night:

To the deafening screams of thousands of fans (most of whom were female, naturally) that had camped out for four days, the stars of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse stepped out at L.A. Live’s Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, June 24^th for the film’s highly anticipated premiere, which was part of the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner were joined by their co-stars, including Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Dakota Fanning, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anna Kendrick, Charlie Bewley, Xavier Samuel, Alex Meraz and Julia Jones, along with pretty much all of the other actors who have played vampires, werewolves and humans in the films, no matter how small the role. Also in attendance were director David Slade, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, the film’s producers, some of the soundtrack artists (The Bravery, Metric, Eastern Conference Champions) and the woman responsible for it all, author Stephenie Meyer.  Check out the exclusive photos after the jump:

With The Twilight Saga: Eclipse junket this weekend here in Los Angeles, Summit Entertainment has released seven clips from the movie and 33 high resolution images from the David Slade directed film.  The other big news I’m happy to report is Summit is going to let reporters film the print portion of the junket, which means instead of having to read what Kristen Stewart or Robert Pattinson says about Eclipse, you’ll be able to watch the video.  I’m doing interviews this Saturday, so you can expect tons of Twilight news later that day.

Hit the jump for the clips, images, and more details on the junket.

Oprah premiered the new trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse this morning, and thanks to the magic of YouTube, you can watch it after the jump.  Directed by David Slade, the third installment of the very successful franchise hits theaters June 30 in both normal theaters and IMAX.  If you’re a fan of the Twilight series, you’ll enjoy the trailer as it focuses on the action and not just scenes of characters talking.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

With The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’s June 30 release date just over two months away, LaineyGossip is reporting that Summit is calling for reshoots and that current director David Slade might not be on the other line. Instead, rumor has it they’re reaching out to Catherine Hardwicke, who directed the first Twilight and Chris Weitz, who directed The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

The scenes in question are, reportedly, some fight sequences and sequences between Bella and Edward in a meadow. The problem is that Robert Pattinson is currently shooting Bel Ami overseas and fitting a week of reshoots into his schedule is proving difficult. The Playlist also points out that Hardwicke is already in Vancouver, where Eclipse was shot, working on The Girl With the Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried so her involvement isn’t as crazy as it sounds.

Hit the jump for my thoughts on what this could mean for the blockbuster film.

Summit Entertainment has released the first trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.  In the third chapter of the series – directed by David Slade – Bella (Kristen Stewart) is once again debating if she should choose Edward (Robert Pattinson) or Jacob (Taylor Lautner).   While she is weighing the pro’s and con’s, an old foe from the first film comes back to cause problems.   But in the third film…she looks different.  Cut to Bryce Dallas Howard.

With a release date of June 30 and the fact that the Twilight momentum seems to be gaining new followers rather than slowing down, the only question left is how much money Summit is going to make with the third release and when will they officially announce Breakiing Dawn is two movies.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer: