Why Breaking Dawn Announcements Have Been Delayed

Whitley | May 12, 2010 | No Comments

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Here’s a hint: $

As you probably already know, for the past few days I have been stuck in the 4th circle of hell, aka, I was struggling to live through the stomach flu. I have not been that sick in a long time. I didn’t even want to read fan fiction, not once. It was real bad, guys.

So today is the first day I have felt well enough to even check out what’s happening in the Twilight world, and this is what awaits me? I think I’ll go back to bed.

The first sign of trouble came from THR, esq, who wrote yesterday (bolding is all mine):

Summit Entertainment is working furiously to close the talent deals required to split Stephenie Meyer’s fourth “Twilight” novel into two films. But an unlikely roadblock is holding up an announcement — and could even lead to cast changes for the series’ final installment.

The studio is close to finalizing agreements with leads Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, all of whom will get big raises to return for a fifth installment of the vampire romance saga. And director Bill Condon is already signed to film two “Breaking Dawn” movies, which would be shot back-to-back starting in the fall and released in November 2011 and summer 2012, respectively.

But Summit is having a harder time locking in some of the franchise’s secondary characters. Deals for Peter Facinelli (who plays Carlisle Cullen) and Billy Burke (Bella’s father, Charlie Swan) are done, but we’re told the actors who play the Cullen kids (especially Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene) are trying to sink their teeth into bigger paydays that, at least at this point, the studio behind the billion-dollar franchise is unwilling to provide. “We may have a situation where one of them is thrown out on the street to make a point,” says a source close to the dealmaking.

There is precedent for such a tactic. After the success of the first film, Summit axed Rachelle Lefevre, who played Victoria, in part because her reps played hardball on money and scheduling. (Bryce Dallas Howard got the job instead.) Now, two films into the series, even the minor Twilighters (Lutz in particular) have become sought-after stars, so it makes sense they’d want to be paid more for the final film. But we’re told that the offers from Summit — which are said to be at least 10 times what the actors made on the first movie — were deemed “offensive” given the mega-money the franchise has generated.

Read the rest of that article HERE (they also discuss the possibility of filming for the last movies being moved to LOUISIANA! WHERE I PRACTICALLY LIVE. WHAT THE WHAT IS GOING ON? I get sick for a few days and then wake up in bizzaro land!

Then Entertainment Weekly also weighed in (again, bolding is mine):

It’s no surprise that salary negotiations would be the key stumbling block to splitting the fourth and final Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, into two movies. (The actors’ contracts cover only four movies. This would make it five.) But who could have guessed it would be the supporting actors, not the stars, who would go to the mat for more money? As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, co-stars Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz are taking a hard-line approach to negotiations, while Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner are close to signing their deals for both films. Director Bill Condon has already done so.

Greene and Lutz don’t have huge roles. Greene portrays Alice Cullen, the future-seeing sister of Edward Cullen and Bella’s closest friend in the Cullen clan. Lutz plays older brother Emmett Cullen and his part, so far, has been minor. Yet sources tell EW.com that the duo are asking for $4 million a piece for each of the final two films. Greene and Lutz had initially banded together with fellow co-stars Nikki Reed and Jackson Rathbone to form a united front, but sources say Reed backed down and is now close to finalizing her deal, which is said to be in the $750,000-$1 million range per film — the amount Summit initially offered the four cast members. (Rathbone’s status remains unclear, and his reps had not returned a call for comment at press time. Reed’s manager declined to comment.)

The studio declined to comment on the negotiations. But sources tell EW.com that Greene and Lutz believe that because the supporting actors do as much publicity as the lead actors, and have to log almost as many hours on set, they should be paid accordingly. One source involved in the negotiations says that Greene and Lutz just want to get $1 million or more.

Either way, what is peculiar is that Greene and Lutz are banding together at all. Greene’s Alice is a much more instrumental character than Lutz’s Emmett is. And considering that Summit has replaced actors before who played hardball (Rachelle LaFevre was dropped from the upcoming Eclipse in favor of Bryce Dallas Howard), it wouldn’t be a surprise if Summit chooses to replace either actor. It’s just fans will probably be much more outraged over Greene leaving than Lutz.

*GIANT LONG SIGH* What the hell does Summit think this cast is, the lineup of Destiny’s Child?

I have to say that since becoming involved with this fandom a year and half ago, I have learned more about what it really takes to make a movie than I had in my entire life. To be honest, I was waiting for something like to happen, especially after they sneakily tried to replace Taylor as Jacob for New Moon, and even more after the Rachelle/ BDH debacle. Summit has already shown they will not fuck around when it comes to pumping these movies out as quickly as possible.

What do you think? On one hand, I completely understand where Kellan and Ashley are coming from. They don’t have big parts or many lines in the movies, but their characters have massive fan bases and because the three main actors in the films have become so massively popular, it’s up to them to do most of the promotion that deals with fans, like showing up to Cons or doing promotional appearances.

But then, on the other hand…I just really want this all smoothed over so that they don’t get replaced. They are already well known and loved as Alice and Emmett, and I know a lot of people who would be extremely devastated and/or pissed about new actors in these spots for the last (two?) movie(s?).

What do you think Summit will do?

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