Bill Condon is about a month away from beginning production on the final installment of The Twilight Saga, but the director just announced late last week the department heads for Breaking Dawn via a letter to his Facebook fans, which was posted Friday. And lucky for us, he’s made some good choices for the final chapter, which will be turned into two separate films.
Pan’s Labyrinth cinematographer Guillermo Navarro will man the cameras on Breaking Dawn while Watchmen costume designer Michael Wilkinson will be outfitting the final chapter. Wilkinson also worked on 300 and the upcoming Tron: Legacy. Jean Black, make-up designer on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, will be charged with making those vampires look undead but perhaps not so powdery. She has worked extensively with both the Coen Brothers and David Fincher.
Condon’s long-time collaborator Richard Sherman will serve as production designer on the films. He worked with Condon on both Gods and Monsters and Kinsey. And the visual effects supervisor will be John Bruno, who has worked on a wide array of films, from Poltergeist to Avatar. He’s the guy responsible for putting Stephenie Meyer’s crazy vision for Renesmee onto film. So far, it’s an encouraging beginning.
Despite all these talented people, the film will be crap! Frankly, its a shame these talented people are working on such a teen-sy and badly written franchise.
Why don’t you see the film before judging? I heard that works better.
Well at least you are saying the cast is talented. Points for some positivity.
I think he was referring to the crew that’s been mentioned, not the cast.
Agreed. They’ve had three movies, each with a bigger budget than the last, and they’ve all been made equally crappy. Sometimes you just can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s nest, or rather, a steaming pile of feces.
Actually, though none of them are what I’d hoped they would be, I think each movie DID improve a bit. Eclipse was pretty good.
wow a lot of you who commented are super shallow just because a lot of people make a lot of buzz about a book doesnt make it stupid it just makes it a success and a beloved series enough said
sorry to burst ur bubble but the last three movies have been a hit because fans have loved them…unless they go completely wrong with it which i doubt they will since stephanie meyer has been there the whole time, this movie will be amazing…and for a movie that didnt have a big budget to begin with they have made enough money to make ten more twilight movies if they feel like it…i am so tired of ppl bashing on twilight and the ppl who do have never read the book and probably never will so just sit back and let the fans enjoy what they have been waiting for….noone said u had to like it….another thing why are you writing stuff or even on a website meant for fans when u r obviously not a fan
I was wondering what the cinematagropher from Pan’s Labyrinth was up too. Now we know.
Didn’t think that Breaking Dawn would be effects heavy though.
do you even know the story?
Gina, calm down woman. It was a query, not an attack on the film. So the guy wasn’t sure about something. No need for the response. Sheesh.
This sounds very promising. As I often felt the production values on the last 3 films were not quite up to snuff as comparison to the Harry Potter franchise.
It’s ridiculous to compare their production values when the Harry Potter movies have about 5 times the budget of the Twilight films.
Andrea, they could have raised the production budget for New Moon and Eclipse because they were guaranteed blockbusters, but Summit is a greedy company and kept the budgets low to maximize profit. What’s the point of increasing the budget for better production values when the crazed fans will undoubtedly praise whatever they see on the screen, even if it does look like crap?
Adam, you’re only half right. Definitely agree on Summit being greedy. It’s disgusting how much so. But as we’ve seen, the fans aren’t praising them all, the general consensus is that New Moon wasn’t all that great. THAT said, your def right in it not mattering. They may have thought the movie was bad, but it sure didn’t stop it from making enough money to fund a small country.
Summit may seem “greedy,” but they’re also a small independent studio; they were absolutely baffled by the numbers that the original “Twilight” pulled in, and they probably scrambled to put together a cohesive plan (including budget concerns) for the rest of the films in the series. Regardless, this tech crew looks incredibly promising (I’m most excited about Black doing make-up, one of the weakest elements of the series). Fingers crossed.
I’m not saying they couldn’t (and shouldn’t) have increased the budget for the sequels more than they did. But either way, Breaking Dawn’s budget will never even approach Harry Potter levels since the latter is made by one of the very biggest film studios.
I’m not gonna lie, this gives me hope. And also hearing that Condon has been revamping the script is nice to hear as well. BD was the one book of the series that I didn’t like, and the changes that I have heard they’ve made makes me hopeful.
Rob and Kristen’s chemistry has singlehandedly saved the franchise thus far. Poor Taylor now has to pretend to be in love with a baby. Jesus, Stephenie.
haha agreed. that book was such crap, this gives me slightly more hope that these films will be at least watchable since they were barely readable.
“Poor Taylor now has to pretend to be in love with a baby. Jesus, Stephenie.” LOL!!!
It’s not love in the romantic sense… it’s utter devotion and dedication including a commitment to protect…did you even read the book?
Of course I did. I’m a fan of the series, but her comment was funny. Lighten up, alright?
What Condon needs to realize is that it doesn’t matter how talented the crew is — the films will be weighed down by the inherent, unavoidable godawfulness of the source material. You can have the best production staff around, but when you’re adapting something as bad as Breaking Dawn, there’s only so much you can do. At least they’ll look good, though.
I do feel for Condon. You can tell he honestly cares about this tripe for whatever reason and wants to make a good film. But you can’t polish a … well, you know.
And I’m waiting with bated breath to hear from EW, in full press-release article fashion, who will be doing the camerawork, art direction and costumes on Pirates 4, Batman 3, Snyder’s Superman reboot and whatever it is James Cameron is doing these days.
And dude, when Condon announces the key grip, best boy and catering service provider next month, SPILL IT! The people want to know.
Seriously, EW never mentions crew members (aside from the main 3 like director, producer, and writer) for other films. This obsession with everything Twilight is ridiculous.
EW isn’t obsessed with Twilight, they’re (understandably) “obsessed” with making money. I’m sure this article will get a ton of hits, despite the fact that it’s about crew members. EW is a company, not a person.
If your going to act stupid Hedwig do it under another name than Harry’s bird that way it wont be easy to say that Harry’s pet owl actually has more sense than you. Of course EW is obsessed with Twilight. Twilight this, Twilight that. Who cares about the crew. Did we hear anything about the Already known BOX-OFFICE Blockbuster Harry Potter seven’s crew? NO. We got a little in the Fall Preview. And Harry Potter outweighs Twilight on so many levels, I cant even count them all. Paint Dry is something I would watch before a Twilight movie. They are nothing more than an abomination to literature and the myth of Vampires.
…You completely missed the point of my post.
Storm: If you hate the series and movies so much, than why on earth are you wasting your time reading articles about it and leaving nasty posts? if you don’t care than buzz off and let the rest of us enjoy it. Believe it or not, some people actually care.
I picture desperate EW Twihard staff members rocking in a corner, chanting “Maybe it won’t be awful now, maybe it won’t be awful now…” over and over again. That’s how the article comes off — like you’re trying to convince people that maybe, just maybe, the last two movies won’t suck.
And who’s to say that in another year and a half, that many people are still interested in it anyway.
Why any of these talented individuals would want to associate themselves with Breaking Dawn (yes, I read it) is beyond me. That book was an undeniable trainwreck of epic proportions.
agreed. I am thinking/hoping they are going for some record of making a good movie based on a crap-tastic book. the first 3 reads, were fun/guilty pleasures, but that 4th book…. YIKES.
Total train wreck, I agree. But wouldn’t it be amazing if they transformed it into something watchable? I’d planned NOT to see it, but seeing how these talented people would handle the transformation alone has me a little intrigued.
um twilights great and the movie will be fantastic!
The funny thing is you people saying how much you hate the movies and the books are all going on the website…Loved the books and the movies and looking forward to Breaking Dawn. Just remember you don’t have to read or watch them and maybe some day you just might have some taste….
…Or someday you’ll realize how atrocious this series really is.
I’m a casual fan of the series and even I think posting a news article about crew hiring is ridiculous. Like someone else said, is EW going to tell us who’s providing the catering? Three syllables: Overkill.
Beth, you’re an idiot. First of all, I am a casual fan of the series. I’ve read the books and seen the movies. The first three books were, like someone else pointed out, fun/guilty pleasures. The fourth was a disaster, in my opinion. And seriously, don’t bring taste into the discussion. While I did enjoy reading the first three books and seeing the movies, I am able to realize that these aren’t the most well-written books, or the most well-made films. Anyone who can’t admit that is just delusional.
OMG-you have the same name as my BFF- she is going to run for the hills. HA! kidding.
Loved them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really E.W? next you’ll have an exclusive on who will be the caterer.
I find it quite funny that Summit shells out all this money for these filmmakers and yet the twilight films still suck.
I think its inevitable if the source material is bad though. But whatever.
And EW’s obsession continues….
I’m scared by this!
I fell like they want to turn this into another H. Potter and it’s not. Aside from,like someone said, Rob and Kristen’s chemistry carried this whole thing thus far, what is great about the first part is that it is grounded in reality. One critic in my country wrote that the movie starts as a social drama, and the begining of Twilight is actually one of the most promising I’ve seen. I’m missing that in all other movies. Volturi look like they came from a comic book.
I see great potential in Jacobs part of the story in BD- drama of growing up, becoming the leader, acepting his heritage; and E&B- new emotions, new level of a relationship. They are going with this supernatural elements and we all know that is not the strongest side of the books. I think they should balance it at least, so it doesn’t look funny.
I really don’t know what to think. They can try all they want, but if they missread the material it want do them any good.
I am not sure how I feel about this. I only read the books and watched the movies because I loved vampires and I am a fan of Kristen Stewart’s. If you haven’t seen The Cake Eaters yet, I recommend it. I think the reason why everyone thinks Twilight was so crappy is because of how the books were written. It is hard to make a movie out of books like that. I know the books were popular among the teenage generation, but that is only because of the pseudo-perfection of Edward. He isn’t real. Breaking Dawn is going to be the hardest film because it is the most confusing part of the story. I hate the thought of Renesmee.