New Moon DVD: Chris Weitz speaks

We checked in with New Moon director Chris Weitz in advance of the DVD release, which — unless you are living under a rock — you know begins tonight at midnight. Weitz told us about his favorite extras in the DVD and talked about the future of the series. Below are some highlights:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What’s your favorite part of the DVD?
CHRIS WEITZ: The fun part for me was to talk through it with Peter Lambert, my editor, who is a very funny man. We were able to discuss quirky moments we had while putting the film together. We had lived in a cave for so long assembling the footage, so we finally had a chance to get our yayas out. We didn’t say anything scandalous or mean about anyone, but it was fun nonetheless.

When did you manage to find the time to do this?
We did it in a moment during the press tour when we were about to go to a hoity-toity premiere in New York. I was in NY and Peter was five hours later in the middle of the night on a satellite line watching it from London.

What can you tell us about the six-part documentary?
Making this film was a massive undertaking to do in the course of this one year. There were so many elements that were new to the franchise: The really intensive CGI elements, the Italian shoot. I think it will be kinda cool for fans to see how the whole thing came together.

Is there anything fans will find surprising in the commentary?
They will probably be surprised that none of the kids are on the commentary. But they were on route between some crazy screening in the South on the way to the screening in New York, and the timing just didn’t work out. They will also probably be surprised how childish Peter and I are given the amount of responsibility we held.

Speaking of editors, we recently broke the news that they replaced the Eclipse editor with the editor on the first Twilight movie. What do you think about that?
In many cases, movies like this have two editors because of the sheer amount of footage. At the very beginning of the process, I think Summit expected me to have two editors. But I had a huge amount of confidence in Pete — we worked before on a cut of The Golden Compass that never saw the light of day — and in part because I felt I owed him one for sitting with me through my dark night of the soul. I also developed a tremendous respect for him and his judgment. He was the guy I immediately thought of to edit this movie. I also knew that we could handle the load of CGI and making this big tent pole movie and for me it was going to be better to work with one editor.

Any way you’ll direct Breaking Dawn?
If I amass some major gambling debts it could happen. I don’t mean to be glib about it. But here’s the thing: I think it’s gonna be two movies shot as one and it’s such a massive undertaking. I’ve now done two special effects-driven movies, which have almost broken my mind, and I have a two-and-a-half-year-old son. There are so many circumstances that militate against me doing it. Even though I’m tremendously fond of Summit, the studio, which is kind of an amazing thing to say, of Stephenie and of the actors.

What do you think of the actors and all of their upcoming projects?
I’m really proud of Taylor and the success he’s enjoying now. I’m looking forward to all his action movies. I haven’t seen Remember Me but I’m looking forward to seeing it. I have already seen The Yellow Handkerchief and Kristen is great because she’s always great, so I bet The Runaways is going to be fantastic. I’m incredibly pleased for Anna Kendrick. How brilliant is that? It’s really gratifying. They are nice people, I like them and I’m happy to see them do well.