The Stars of Twilight

A couple of weeks ago Twitter was aghast at a statement made by the Vatican's Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, of the Pontifical Council of Culture. This week Gil Birmingham who plays 'Billy Black' in the Twilight series weighed in on the controversy in an exclusive interview with Examiner.com's Twitter Entertainment Examiner.

"The theme of vampires in Twilight combines a mixture of excesses that as ever is aimed at young people and gives a heavy esoteric element. It is once again that age-old trick or ideal formula of using extremes to make an impact at the box office. This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such should be of concern." ~ Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, Pontifical Council of Culture, The Vatican

According to the Pontificium Consilium de Cultura website, The Pontifical Council of Culture directly assists the Pope in the matter of addressing pop culture issues as well as other matters involving religious indifference and unbelief. The site states in part:

The Pontifical Council for Culture is that department (Dicastery) of the Roman Curia which assists the Pontiff in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office for the benefit and service of the universal Church and of particular Churches concerning the encounter between the saving message of the Gospel and cultures, in the study of the weighty phenomena of ; the rift between the Gospel and cultures; indifference in matters of religion; unbelief.

Birmingham provided this response:

I have not read the entire press release from Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, only quotes in articles, and I’m always reluctant to comment on things without reading the original statement in its entirety.
However, if the statements are correct and not published out of context, it would appear that the Monsignor and the Catholic Church have failed to look past the stereotype of Vampires and Werewolves, and have missed some very important themes in the film, such as true love, friendship, acceptance of all people (even Vampires and Werewolves) for who they are, pain and dealing with grief, immortality and the loss of soul.
These are literary concepts that show up in literature throughout the ages. It is a love story between two characters from two warring tribes. Shakespeare called them Montagues and Capulets; Stephenie Meyers calls them Cullens and Blacks (and humans).

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The two-week $481 million worldwide gross of "New Moon" has vaulted Summit Entertainment into the big leagues, but it also has created a high-class challenge for toppers Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger.
They will likely have to cut a few big checks if they decided, as rumored, to split Stephenie Meyer's final "Twilight" novel, "Breaking Dawn,"


into two pictures. Sources said Summit has set Melissa Rosenberg -- who wrote the first three films -- to finish the series, but Summit has to clear several hurdles before Rosenberg learns how many more scripts she'll write.

One of those hurdles is figuring out whether "New Moon" director Chris Weitz will respond favorably to overtures from the film company and the cast to shoot two more films, back to back.

Summit execs would not comment, but multiple sources said the company wants to go the two-film route, which means reopening negotiations and securing approval from the author. It also means making new deals with a principal cast that is only locked up for four films. If "Breaking Dawn" becomes two pictures, all of the key cast members will get fat raises, and the three principals -- Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner -- could land paydays in the eight-figure range.

That's what happened with key cast members when Warner Bros. extended its blockbuster "Harry Potter" franchise by turning J.K. Rowling's last book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," into two films that will be released in November 2010 and July 2011. The global success of the franchise made the paydays worthwhile.

While the solution to most of Summit's challenges will be determined by its willingness to open its wallet, the prospect of a Weitz return is more complicated.

After feeling violated by New Line's altering of his pic "The Golden Compass," Weitz said he felt redeemed and reinvigorated by the success of "New Moon." Yet, just before the film's release, Weitz was steadfast that he would next direct "The Gardener," a comparatively tiny film scripted by Eric Eason, with Paul Witt and Christian McLaughlin producing. At the time, he said Summit was in discussions to fund that film.

Summit hasn't closed a deal for "The Gardener," probably because the film company wants Weitz to postpone it and work on "Breaking Dawn" instead. Can Weitz resist the chance to finish a global franchise he helped build, even though it will mean more time away from his family for a long shoot? That's the question the helmer and his reps will weigh shortly. Though Summit hasn't officially made Weitz an offer, sources said the job is his if he wants it. After bringing in "New Moon" at around $50 million and keeping the cast happy, he's the logical choice.

David Slade directed the next installment in the "Twilight" series, "Eclipse," which bows June 20.

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Hello everyone,
@LaurenReddie and I have come up with a new way to get everyone involved.

Since most of us live in different countries and love food so much, we were wondering if you would like to exchange recipes with us and maybe a few other follower? The recipes would strickly be through email and no name or information would have to be given.

We will make a list of all the participants that would like to share and email it to all of you.

It is up to you if you would like to share with other followers on the list but if you would like to participate, please email me at Thestarsoftwilight@gmail.com or Lauren at lauren_reddie@hotmail.com.

Hope to hear from some of you!

Love,
Ashley

The Twilight Saga - New Moon remained in the top spot on the international chart with $82.38 million on 8,292 screens in 52 markets for a total of $251.33 million internationally and $482.28 million worldwide. This includes a number of new markets for the film, but most were of the smaller variety. It did place first in Germany with $16.95 million on 703 screens, but that includes previews. On the other hand, it bombed in Japan, opening in fifth place with just $792,000 on 197 screens and was even worse in South Korea, debuting in eighth place with $129,000 on 47 screens over the weekend and $166,000 in total. As far as holdovers go, the film was surprisingly consistent at roughly 60% down in most major markets. This includes the U.K. where it was down 63% to $7.11 million on 504 screens; however, it still managed first place in that market, while it now has $33.57 million after just two weeks of release compared to the lifetime total of $16.31 million for its predecessor. It is important to note that Twilight was surprisingly weak in the U.K. compared to its box office performance in most major markets. That said, New Moon has topped the lifetime total of the earlier film in every single major market it opened in last weekend, which is an amazing feat. It has yet to open in only a few other markets, but unless the film cost a lot more to make than has been reported, it has already shown a sizeable profit.

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