As if the appearance of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart wasn’t enough, “Twilight” fans just got another reason to watch the MTV Movie Awards at the end of the month.

   Pattinson, Stewart and Taylor Lautner will be on hand to present the first clip from the vampire series’  highly-anticipated sequel “New Moon” on the awards show broadcast live on MTV on May 31.

  That’s six months before “New Moon” hits movie theaters in November – and didn’t they only recently start shooting it?

  Does this mean that producers expect the teen vampire flick to fly off with the “Best Movie” golden popcorn award — or most of the six other trophies, including “Best Kiss,” that it has been nominated for?

 Given the fact that voting for the “Best Movie”  category will remain open throughout the live show this year, it’s all in the hands of  “Twilight” fans to beat off the competition from Oscar champ “Slumdog Millionaire” .

 A beauty salon owner in St. Louis, Missouri, has helped filmmakers behind the upcoming vampire romance ”New Moon” avert a fiasco by returning a script for the film, a sequel to last year’s blockbuster hit “Twilight,” a source close to the studio behind the movie said on Tuesday.

 Casey Ray reportedly found the script in the rubbish bin. But rather than sell it to a celebrity news outlet thirsty to suck out details on independent studio Summit Entertainment’s “New Moon,” Ray gave the script back to the filmmakers and in exchange, she will get a pair of tickets to the premiere of the movie, which opens on Nov. 20,  a sources close to the stduio behind the movie said.

 It’s debatable how much a “New Moon” script made available to the masses would reveal about the movie, since the franchise is based on the bestselling “Twilight” book series from author Stephenie Meyer, and the book “New Moon” has already been read by millions.

But there’s no doubt that an appetite exists. The latest issue of OK! Magazine features “New Moon” stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart on the cover, with the headline “Secrets from the set.” The magazine promises to reveal what “exotic locales” the film’s stars travel to and who they’re dating.

 The source close to Summit said it’s still unclear how the script got out there. How much is at stake for the studio in the sequel?  After its Nov. 21, 2008, release “Twilight” made $380 million at worldwide box offices.  

What would you have done if you found the ”New Moon” script? Would you sell it or return it? Or would you leave it in the trash bin where you found it?

Change isn’t always good.

Especially if you’re Robert Pattinson, the former model who has catapulted to teen idol status courtesy of blockbuster vampire movie “Twilight.”

Pattinson, now filming the sequel “New Moon”, says his sudden fame has made him a “paranoid wreck” in terms of his friendships.

“I’m always really worried about ruining (friends) lives. Especially with people that aren’t famous. It’s such a massive change. I’m kind of a paranoid wreck. I’ve eaten a lot of room service,” Pattinson told Entertainment Tonight, in on-set interviews to start airing on the celebrity television program on Thursday.

The assistants, security and other hordes that come with sudden fame are also proving hard to get used to. “Now it’s funny, you can’t even get through to people on the phone. They won’t even let you ring people up. I can’t even ring down to reception and say let (visitors) up. I have to literally go down and carry them,” he said.

But Pattinson said it feels “suprisingly natural” to play lovestruck vampire Edward Cullen again, and he promises fans they will see plenty of him in the movie sequel, even though his character in the Stephenie Meyer book is mostly absent from the story.

“(In the film) it’s an illusion when he (Edward) appears. I think if you do it with voiceover as they do in the book, it would end up being quite cheesy. But it’s very subtle, my presence,” Pattinson said.

     When 22-year-old actor Robert Pattinson emerged as a big star last year for playing an alluring vampire in “Twilight,” he still drove an old beat-up BMW. 

    But he has now has leased a new car and moved on from his 20 year-old convertible BMW, whose dashboard had reportedly once caught fire while Pattinson was driving.

   Pattinson said the old junker was towed recently and that he had good reason for moving on to another ride, despite the appeal of showing he was still a regular guy who happens to be a movie star.

“I was getting a bit scared that I was going to die in it, and thinking is the street cred value worth dying for? And I kind of decided it wasn’t,” he told Reuters.

  Still, the old car appears to continue to attract Pattinson, who in “Twilight” plays a vampire in a star-crossed love affair. 

“I miss it already so I think I might go back to that one,” the actor said of his old BMW.

Pattinson knows a thing or two about cars. Growing up in Britain, his father imported luxury cars for a living. Who knows if dad would be interested in a certain 1989 BMW?

For now, Pattinson has no need for his old car. Instead of driving around Los Angeles, he is in Vancouver readying himself for production of “New Moon”, the next movie in the “Twilight” franchise which Pattinson said could be more somber than the first.

The vampire romance movie “Twilight” became one of the biggest box office hits of 2008, and it’s proving equally popular on DVD.

The movie starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart sold more than 3 million copies on DVD its first day of release on Saturday, according to Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the hit movie. Summit said the sales figure puts “Twilight” in the top five of best first-day DVD releases over the past two years, along with “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” ”The Dark Knight,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “Transformers.”    

Fans lined up at stores throughout the United States for the midnight release of the DVD. The movie is mainly popular with teen girls and young women, and it tells the story of the star-crossed love affair between a high school girl named Bella Swan and an immortal vampire named Edward Cullen.

The sequel “New Moon” is due for release in theaters in November.

“Twilight” is about to get some more star power. Dakota Fanning, the 15-year-old actress from ”The Secret Life of Bees,” is close to signing a deal to star in ”New Moon,” the next installment in the wildly popular “Twilight” vampire romance franchise, a source close to the deal, who declined to be named, said on Monday.

Fanning in 2002 became the youngest actor ever nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for her role in the movie “I Am Sam,” in which she played the daughter of an intellectually disabled man.

Fanning is expected to play the “Twilight” vampire Jane, who is part of the Volturi coven of vampires, according to media reports that first surfaced in January when the actress expressed interest in the part.

Fanning upset some “Twilight” fans when she admitted to reporters in January that she had not read the entire four-book “Twilight” series that the movie franchise is based on. But given that the 15-year-old has schoolwork to juggle even as she takes on a fast-rising acting career, it might be best to give her a pass on that one.

Fanning is also expected to play singer Cheri Currie in biopic “The Runaways,” which would put her in a co-starring role with the lead female actress in “Twilight,” 18-year-old Kristen Stewart. 

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” will open in theaters on Nov. 20.

Vampire romance movie “Twilight” proved a blockbuster hit last year and has made more than $356.8 million worldwide at the box office. The movie’s success was unusual for Hollywood, because at its heart “Twilight” was an indie movie, and box office leaders often come from the major studios. “Twilight” was made by independent studio Summit Entertainment and it starred Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, who went into the production as working actors and came out as instant celebrities.

Now, established celebrities are thirsty to be part of Summit’s sequel “New Moon” due out on Nov. 20. The latest stars knocking at Summit’s door are teen pop sensations The Jonas Brothers, who told MTV they would love to contribute to the “New Moon” soundtrack.  ”The movie was obviously a huge success, and if they asked us to be a part (of the sequel) that would be great,” Nick Jonas told MTV, as his brothers agreed.

Not so fast, Jonas Brothers. Not all the “Twilight” fans are happy with the idea of the Jonas Brothers, who gained their popularity on the Disney Channel, playing a part in the next installment of the movie franchise. One commentator at the MTV site wrote, “This isn’t some stupid Disney movie so stop trying to turn it into one.”

The Jonas Brothers are not the first Disney stars to eye a role in the “Twilight” franchise. Vanessa Hudgens, a star in Disney’s “High School Musical” movies, has also sought a part in the “Twilight” franchise, MTV reported last month. And Dakota Fanning, 14, one of the most famous and acclaimed child stars of recent years, is also interested in winning a part in “New Moon” as the bloodsucker Jane.

Catherine Hardwicke, who directed “Twilight,” has been replaced with Chris Weitz. That change also ruffled some feathers from “Twilight’s” passionate fan base of mostly teen girls and young women. Weitz is more of an inside Hollywood choice for the movie franchise, with proven box office success on the 1999 “American Pie” and the 2001 sequel, whereas Hardwicke before “Twilight” had more modest box office success. Even so, the style she brought to “Twilight” pleased many fans, who are still on the fence about how Weitz will handle the sequel.

 Stewart, the 18-year-old star of “Twilight” who played Bella Swan in the movie, is still adjusting to the roller coaster of fame that came with the movie. Will she thrive if called upon to star opposite Dakota or Vanessa? More importantly, how will fans react if “New Moon” becomes studded with celebrities? Will they like the change or not?

(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

The hit vampire romance movie “Twilight” is seeing box office revenues dwindle now that the wildly successful film has been in theaters since Nov. 21. But that has not quieted any of the buzz surrounding the movie franchise and Stephenie Meyer, the author of the book series behind it.
    
On Wednesday, a publisher announced that “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke will release a book on March 17 giving a behind-the-scenes look at how the film was made.
    
Meanwhile, earlier this week horror fiction’s ruling monarch Stephen King blasted Meyer’s writing prowess in an interview with USA Weekend, a publication of the newspaper USA Today. King compared Meyer to J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books.
    
“The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn,” King told USA Weekend. “She’s not very good.”

King also gave his view on the mass psychology behind Meyer’s success at reaching a readership of teen girls.
    
“People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books,” King said. “It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it’s not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual.”
    
A spokeswoman for Meyer was not immediately available.
    
In other “Twilight” news, a spokeswoman for 14-year-old “The Secret Life of Bees” star Dakota Fanning says the actress is in talks to play bloodsucker Jane in the sequel “New Moon.” But so far, Fanning has not been officially named for the part.

(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

It may have taken a casting controversy to do it, but actor Taylor Lautner has proven he is a “Twilight” fan favorite. Those fans of the vampire romance books and movie can celebrate now, because the studio behind the film says Lautner will reprise his role as Jacob Black in the sequel “New Moon,” with earlier concerns about him being too small for the role brushed aside.
    
Stephenie Meyer, the author behind the “Twilight” book series, said in a statement on her Web site on Wednesday that she was part of the decision to recast Lautner, along with the studio Summit Entertainment. 
    
“I’m truly thrilled that Taylor was the one who proved to the director, to Summit, and to me that he is the best possible Jacob we could have,” Meyer said.
    
Jacob Black is a shape-shifter who turns into a wolf. When it became clear in December that he was not a lock for the part, “Twilight” readers cried foul on the myriad of fan Web sites that appeal to the book series’ readers, who are mostly young women and teens.
    
The problem with recasting the 16-year-old Lautner for “New Moon” was a physical one, because in the book series Jacob Black bulks up and grows about a foot taller between the first and second book. But Lautner has said he is working out for the role, and maybe he can count on a teenage growth spurt.
    
With Summit announcing late Wednesday that Lautner would be back to play Black, fans reacted quickly. On the fan Web site BellaAndEdward.com, one fan wrote, “I’ve been saying this whole time that it’s not about who is physically best for the role, it’s about who is emotionally best for the role.” On another fan site called HisGoldenEyes.com, fans said they were hyperventilating, crying and even shaking with joy at the casting choice. One fan named Tiffany wrote, “My life is complete now!” But despite the overwhelming positive reaction to the news, not everyone was happy. One fan named Khacie wrote, “What are you people thinking?! Taylor Lautner is NOT Jacob Black!”  
    
“New Moon” comes out on Nov. 20. “Twilight” has made more than $177 million in the U.S. and Canada since it came out on Nov. 21, a whopping take for a film that cost about $37 million to make.

(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

The blood is not yet dry on “Twilight,” the vampire romance movie based on author Stephenie Meyer’s book, but already fans are dissecting every announcement studio Summit Entertainment has made regarding the upcoming sequel.
    
The follow-up film “New Moon” will come out on Nov. 20, 2009, just a year after the first movie, prompting one commentator on the fan site Twilighters.org to write in full Web lingo, “Kool. We don’t have 2 wait too long.”
    
But it has not been all about breathless anticipation for the young and mostly female fans of “Twilight.” The latest controversy involves the casting of Jacob Black, a shape-shifter who turns into a wolf. In a statement about “New Moon,” Summit Entertainment named Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as the actors who will reprise their romantic lead roles, but the studio did not name the actor for Black, who in the first movie was played by Taylor Lautner.
    
“Sorry, dude but you don’t beat out Taylor. I swear, if they change Taylor, Summit Entertainment will have a riot of teen girls and their parents on their hands,” one fan wrote on Monday at the fan site HisGodlenEyes.com.

AND HERE’S THE UPDATE: Lautner, 16, told cable channel MTV on Wednesday that he is packing on pounds so his physique can match the description Meyer gave his Jacob Black in “New Moon,” the book the sequel is based on.  ”I have been working out,” Lautner told MTV. “I’ve been working out since the day we finished filming ‘Twilight.’ I just weighed myself today — I’ve put on 19 pounds.” Lautner added that he is guaranteeing the director of “New Moon” he will add 10 more pounds by the time filming starts.
    
The “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” star Ben Barnes, 27, has been talked about as a possible actor in the sequel for another role, that of a vampire named Aro, and that has also generated buzz.
    
“If they keep casting really hot guys in these movies I will be hyperventilating all through the movie!,” one fan wrote on Monday at fan site Twilighters.org.
    
“Twilight” has already made more than $186 million worldwide since its Nov. 21 opening. That sets a high bar for the sequel, as “American Pie” filmmaker Chris Weitz takes over as director from Catherine Hardwicke. Commenting on the fan site EdwardandBella.net, an Internet user with the screen name Sweet Sofia wrote about the choice of Weitz, “I dunno. A Guy? We will wait and see.”