Fan Fare

Twi-hards howl for “Twilight Saga: Eclipse”

We knew it would be big. We still don’t know how big, and we won’t until after the upcoming debut weekend. Read about the box office  here.

But we do know that even before it has played one full day in theaters, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” has already broken a record. The film’s midnight screenings on Wednesday raked in more than $30 million at North American box offices. Read about that here. In fact, you can read about the movie here, a review here, our interview with Taylor Lautner here, and a story about Native Americans in the film, here.

We were in Hollywood to talk to some of the “Twi-hard” fans, and some folks who were not so excited. Watch the video to see what we learned.

(video by Marc Price)

from Photographers Blog:

Ten minutes or less with Taylor Lautner

Reuters had been approved for a ten-minute portrait session with Taylor Lautner, the heartthrob of millions of teenagers, my editor Sam Mircovich informed me the day before the shoot.

Reporter Alex Dobuzinskis had a one-on-one interview with Taylor scheduled ahead of the premier of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse." Before the release of a film, the production company organizes press junkets in which the cast is available for media interviews and occasionally for a quick photo session. Photo access is rare so whenever it's granted to us, it's welcomed.

Not unlike other press junkets, this one was held at a prestigious hotel in Los Angeles. The hotel had been rigged and retrofitted for these types of media events.

My shoot was slotted in for 3:15pm on a Saturday. I arrived one hour early, as I always do, to check in, set-up and think about my shots.

Two important things to remember during these portrait sessions are: to create an environmental portrait with no backdrop, and to create a unique look that extracts the subject from the actual hotel setting. I always aim for these two different looks.

To shoot a traditional portrait, I use a medium size Chimera softbox, a Dynalite uni400 head plugged into a jackrabbit battery and a wireless connection with pocket wizards transmitters as I prefer not to have any cables running along the floor. I am able to move around the room freely with my lighting self-contained.

Team Edward or Jacob? Creative or pugnacious? Twihards analyzed

Twilight fans can be fiercely divided in their loyalty to the vampire Edward or the werewolf Jacob but do they know why? Mindset Media, the makers of something  called psychographic ad technology, has conducted an online survey of 2,000 Twilight fans or Twihards and claims that personality may play a major role in which team people are drawn to.

“The diehard fans of each team share the personality traits of the character they support,” said Stephanie Wang, Director of Business Development at Mindset Media, in a statement.

According to the study, fans of Team Edward scored high in three distinct personality traits: 1. Creative meaning  they are inventive, imaginative 2.  Responsible meaning they follow through and get the job done 3. Perfectionists  much like Edward waiting to find his perfect counterpart.

On the other hand, fans of Team Jacob scored high in the following personality traits: 1. Pugnaciousness and unafraid to  tell others what they think of them, valuing honesty and bluntness 2. Impulsive so able to relate to Jacob for his love of reckless activities 3. Spontaneous, like Jacob and his tendency to be there for Bella at the drop of a hat.

Any Twihards fit the bill? To discover what your personality says visit www.twilightpersonalitytest.com.

Taylor Lautner’s Abs – in 3D!

We really couldn’t resist the thought, and we know it seems silly. But it is rather funny. With 3D being all the rage at movie theaters these days, we were dreaming up ideas for special effects that the major movie studios could put into their upcoming summer flicks. And among the first we thought of was Taylor Lautner’s stomach muscles. After all, so much was made of his rock-hard six pack when “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” landed in theaters last year, and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” hits theaters this June.

It just so happened that today we talked on the phone with one of the “Twilight” producers, and we asked about the prospect of a “Twilight” movie in 3D. He said that, so far, the producers hadn’t considered it, and that if it were to ever happen, they would shoot it in 3D and not convert the film after shooting in 2D. (You can read about that 3D/2D controversy here). Then we told him what we’d been talking about Lautner’s abs, and he wondered aloud: aren’t they in 3D, already?

Good point, we thought. So, we found a Lautner ab photos and posted it here. And we wonder of Fan Fare readers, what other effects might seem improbable, but look good, in 3D? Feel free to post a comment, and while you do that, we’re off to find a pair of 3D glasses.

“Twilight” stars Stewart, Lautner grab Oscar spotlight

Call it Oscar’s equivalent of hiring a really good Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon to nip a wrinkle here and tuck a chin there.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday said four of today’s hottest young actors and actresses — Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron — will be presenters at this year’s ceremony for the world’s top film honors on March 7.

The Oscars have long been the arena of mostly veteran actors and actresses, and that is one reason — albeit not the only reason — the telecast is considered by some to be out-of-touch with mainstream moviegoers who tend to be mostly young. We aren’t so sure that piece of conventional Hollywood wisdom is true, but we do know that when box office hits like  the “Lord of the Rings” movies get a lot of nominations, more people tune in to the telecast than when low-budget dramas such as “No Country for Old Men” walk off with the best movie prize. We also know that “Lord of the Rings” was aimed mostly at young audiences and “No Country” at adults.

So, very likely in an effort to spur young audiences to tune-in, Oscar organizers have signed up the foursome to present. All good, but we’d offer that maybe they didn’t have to. Action adventure “Avatar,” the biggest box office hit of all time, is among the most-nominated films and it, too, was targeted mostly at young audiences.

Tay-Squared fails to add up

“New Moon” star Taylor Lautner and “Fearless” singer Taylor Swift are no longer on a first name basis — for the celebrity media that is. The two Taylors set the media world looking for a new couple nickname when they shared some dates this fall, with the mathematical Tay-Squared coming out as the preferred tag for the young romantics.

But Us and People magazines reported on Tuesday that the couple is no longer an item. “It wasn’t really developing into anything, and wasn’t going to, so they decided they were better as friends,” a source close to Swift told Us magazine.

The source added, “There was no chemistry.”

The pair met on the set of the upcoming romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day,” (hope there was some chemistry there??)  and their real world dates were caught by paparazzi photographers – prompting questions from reporters but few details from the stars themselves.  Lautner, a rising young actor who played a werewolf in “New Moon,” is only 17 and Swift, the top selling music artist of 2008, is a young 20. So there’s always time for youth’s fitful passions to work their magic on the two Taylors and bring them back together.

But based on their past trip to a hockey game and out for dinner in Beverly Hills, don’t expect any kind of scandalous, drunken outing for the two young stars.

Maybe a Valentine’s Day coffee klatch in time for the “Valentine’s Day” movie premiere? Sounds like a date.

‘New Moon’ sinks fangs deeper into box office

(Reporting and video by Marc Price)

Vampire romance “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” took the top spot at North American box offices for the second straight weekend, sinking its fangs into ticket sales and drawing out $66 million over the 5-day U.S. Thanksgiving holiday ($42.5 million for the three days). It’s two-week total in the U.S. and Canada now stands at just under $231 million. Add to that an international haul of $243, and global sales hit $474 million.

Perhaps in this season of swine flu we have a new virus, “New Moon Flu,” which mostly women seem to get. It turns them into zombies (no disrespect, but it seemed appropriate when talking about movies with monsters) who then march into theaters.

But there are more films with broad appeal in theaters. Football movie “The Blind Side” and disaster flick “2012″ held up well to land at No. 2 and No. 3 on box office charts, respectively. You can read our box office report here.

Of new movies, Disney comedy “Old Dogs,” starring John Travolta and Robin Williams, was No. 4 which was likely a disappointment given the star power of Travolta and Williams. But those guys are getting up there and younger movie fans seem more tuned-in to the youthful stars of “New Moon” — Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart (pictured above). That said, there’s a young star in “Old Dogs,” too, Seth Green. He’s featured prominently on the movie’s poster. (Maybe they should’ve given him some fangs).

Similarly, martial arts flick “Ninja Assassin” debuted a few notches down the chart at No. 6. We’re not really sure why. Dictionaries define ninjas as skilled saboteur assassins who wear all black. And we thought, “hey, that sounds like everybody in showbiz.” So it should have played well, right?

Oscar hopeful, apocalyptic drama “The Road” also debuted over the weekend and animated film “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” which features the voice of George Clooney and has earned generally good reviews, expanded wider in theaters. And in a nod to upcoming romantic comedy “Did You Hear About the Morgans,” we spent our Thanksgiving with a family of Morgans in the Hollywood Hills. To see what they had to say about holiday movies — along with fans outside theaters — click below.

Vampires + romance = box office love

(Reporting and video by Marc Price)

Since when did girls start liking guys that stay up all hours at night — drinking? Blood, no less. Since when? Since always. And if a vamp knows how to bite more than her neck, all the better.

Vampire flicks have come a long way since Bella Lugosi, and while we’re a little young to have seen Lugosi in theaters, we do remember Jim Carrey and Lauren Hutton in “Once Bitten” (Today, that would be titled “Cougar Vampire”). We remember “An American Werewolf in London” and “Teen Wolf” — we’re allowed to mention werewolves given “New Moon” and its pack. And we can say, the beasts are doing far better today romancing the gals.

On the the subject of vamps, we note Johnny Depp was named People magazine’s sexiest man of the year (you can read about that here) last week. Johnny Depp? Everybody knows Robert Pattinson is the sexiest man — or is it Taylor Lautner? C’mon you “Twi-hards” (that’s a few of you pictured at the premiere at left), which is it: vampire Edward Cullen or werewolf Jacob Black? Pattinson or Lautner?

The movie smashed weekend box office records with a domestic haul of nearly $141 million (read that here), and we were out there again. We asked women: would they let Robert Pattinson drink their blood? The answer is below.

Good friends, chemistry, complex feelings — but no romance for “Twilight” stars?

They’re “really good friends” with major chemistry and “a multitude of feelings for each other”… BUT “Twilight” stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart say they are getting really, really fed up with persistent media  reports claiming they are in love, or secretly dating.

“It doesn’t make any difference  what you say (to the tabloids). I’ve literally been across the country (from Kristen) and it’s like, ‘Oh, they were on secret dates!’ It’s like, ‘Where? I can’t get out of my hotel room!’” Pattinson tells Vanity Fair in its December issue.

Stewart sounds even more impatient: “It’s so retarded,” she tells the magazine. “We’re characters in this comic book.”

That might prove the end of the tabloid match-making of the past year.

But “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke revealed that the couple did share major chemistry while filming the first movie in the vampire book series — a fact that was obvious to the movie’s millions of fans, and which has given some credence to all those off-screen romance rumors.

“What Rob and Kristen had is a multitude of feelings for each other. Complex feelings for each other. It was what we needed. Complex, intense fascination,” Hardwicke tells Vanity Fair.

As Hardwicke wasn’t on board for the much-anticipated “New Moon” sequel, guess we’ll have to wait and see whether all those multitudes of complex, intense, fascination feelings between the pair have progressed in the second movie.

Taylor and Taylor to be the hookup of the year? Maybe

Some celebrity hookups are hardly worth the ink used to write them up in the tabloids, especially when they involve two stars who clearly shouldn’t be together, or they end quicker than a sumo wrestling match.

But then there’s Taylor and Taylor. Singer Taylor Swift, the top selling female artist of 2008, and actor Taylor Lautner, the “Twilight” teen idol, have been seen out together, first at a hockey game on Sunday and later this week in Beverly Hills, for what the media has described as a dinner date.

The two Taylors have small roles in the movie “Valentine’s Day,” which is due to come out on Feb. 12. So there’s always the possibility that the whole thing is a publicity stunt. Or not.

Taylor Swift herself spoke about the other Taylor to chat show host Ellen DeGeneres in an interview set to air on Thursday. She said that the two share scenes in “Valentine’s Day” and that they kiss in the movie.

“So is he a good kisser?” DeGeneres said.

“What?” Swift said.

“So coy,” DeGeneres responded.