Now it’s getting ugly. Summit Entertainment is chronicling its version of how negotiations went down with Rachelle Lefevre in an effort to stem the fan outrage over the studio replacing Lefevre with Bryce Dallas Howard for the role of the villainous Victoria in Eclipse.
The studio has released a detailed timeline of their interactions with Lefevre’s representatives, attesting that it advised them back in April that The Twilight Saga: Eclipse would start shooting in early August. However, according to Summit, the studio wasn’t informed of Lefevre’s commitment to appear in the film Barney’s Version until July 20, even though she had accepted the role in early June. ”Summit had acted in good faith that she would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” says the statement. “We feel that her choice to withhold her scheduling conflict information from us can be viewed as a lack of cooperative spirit which affected the entire production.”
The studio contends that her conflicting role not only have taken her away from days of principal photography, but also from the required rehearsal time for the third Twilight film. “Contrary to Ms. Lefevre’s statement, it is simply untrue that the Studio dismissed her over a ten day overlap. It is not about a ten day overlap, but instead about the fact that The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is an ensemble production that has to accommodate the schedules of numerous actors while respecting the established creative vision of the filmmaker and most importantly the story.”
“Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to the other project – which she chose to withhold from Summit until the last possible moment – makes her unfortunately unavailable to perform the role of Victoria in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”
I don’t know what to believe. I’m inclined to believe Rachelle, because she seemed so enthusiastic about filming Eclipse…but on the other hand, Summit’s fighting back pretty hard for people who are supposed to be “lying”…I don’t know who’s telling the truth.
Yeah, they are fighting back so hard because they KNOW they are making twilight fans angry. First Taylor, now Rachelle!? Summit sucks! I can’t wait for some other film company to come along and make movies the fans are ecstatic about. They have done this the cheapest, and crapiest ways possible, all while putting out other high quality, expensive movies. I don’t get it. TEAM RACHELLE! we love you!
Hey, guess what? Summit DOESN’T suck. Rachelle had a job, and when you have a job, you act professionally, or you can be let go. She was greedy in taking another role which she knew would overlap Eclipse pre-production and she was foolish to wait to tell Summit. It is a good lesson for all Twilight fans to learn that work is WORK and you can’t sneak around behind your bosses back and expect everything to be okay. She will be missed as Victoria, but this is definitely RACHELLE’S FAULT. I love her but she’s gotta go.
Hello? Kristen Stewart also act in The Runaways, and so does Robert Pattinson in Remember? Why the hell they can change the extras but not the main actor and actress? Because Summit Entertainment is a MAJOR PIG since Kristen and Rob publicity is darn high. Bryce Dallas Howard is the daugther of Ron Howard so if i get to know Ron Howard is the director for Breaking Dawn, it’s damn sure that they want to get discount
Who cares? All of you people are giant losers for getting worked over this.
okay and you crispy are a jerk. if you dont care, theres no need to display your negativity.
however amanda, i believe rachelle because she WAS really excited and she WAS victoria.
Actually, Crispy, you’re the giant loser for commenting on a story if it doesn’t interest you. Go be a jerk somewhere else.
Thanks. But I think I’ll stick around, considering I’ve been a paying subscriber to EW for more than 10 years. And I’ll continue complaining about the ridiculous amount of pointless Twilight coverage until Mandi Bierly and the rest of you Twilight losers go back to your fansites.
That’s ridiculous, we don’t go and trash talk things that other people care about. Obviously if EW has this much coverage, it means they like it too! They care too!!! Im sure they don’t NEED to cover this stuff for buyers, or sales, so that shows that ALOT of people do care about it. Im sorry people have different interests and like different things than you.
And since I do care, I hate that there’s a switch, it sounds like nothing can be done, but that’s bad for Rachelle considering this is the biggest movie for Victoria of the three. I hate that we have to just accept that this new actress is Victoria (nothing against her).
LOL, I’ve also been a “paying subscriber” to EW for more than 10 years. Doesn’t change the fact that it’s pathetic to continuously complain about something you don’t like. It’s not like your complaining will change anything. If anything, every additional comment on this page makes it more likely that Twilight will continue to get a ton of coverage, since more comments = more hits for ew.com (YAY for us Twilight fans). LOL, so go right ahead and waste as much of your own time as you want.
We are not losers, just dedicated Twilight fans. And even if we all go back to fan sites…do you really think we are going to keep quiet?? ha No! No matter where we are, stuff gets around, so deal with it crispy. It’s not going to kill you.
And yet you are taking the time to read and post, even though you are allegedly uninterested.
Most of the actors were working on other projects during Twilight as well, so she wasn’t greedy…
you’re right, Summit is fighting back hard for people who are supposed to be “lying”. its called cover your “butt” (i censored that last word, but i’m sure you know what i mean)
fans are upset, and Summit doesn’t want to lose their money. period.
Yes, fans are extremely upset. I read three online petitions last night, plus Twitter was insane.
It’s possible that Rachelle’s “people” screwed up by not telling Summit, not her personally. If that’s the case, technically her statement wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t completely truthful. It could just be she got some bad advice. Summit’s statement was pretty detailed about what communications happened when. I’m guessing they’re telling the truth.
Wow, that is so true. Even if Rachelle would have been naive enough to think that she might get away with something that none of the other cast were doing (being double-booked for 10 days and not telling Summit until the last minute), her manager or her booking agent DEFINITELY should have given her better advice or acted in her best interest and come forth with the double-booking sooner or encouraged her not to take the other role in the first place. What a huge, stupid mistake!
Look, if something isn’t completely truthful, it’s a lie. It’s her responsibility to let them know her schedule, and she didn’t until the very last minute. She was being selfish, thinking they would never replace her. Guess her plan backfired.
It’s just the studio trying to make kind with the fans. I mean this is a studio who hire people to create wonderful little statements like the one above to try and smooth things over.
I believe Rachelle. She was excited about Eclipse and has done interviews about Victoria’s part in the third movie. Watch her interviews on YouTube. There is nothing fake about her. If you want fake check out Summits eight day recast or the fact that they are trying to sweet talk upset fans and there is the “big name” recast out of nowhere. They could have talked to Rachelle about this without jumping to recast her part. She would have dropped the other film if she knew it would cost her this part. Summit just wants the money and the fame. It’s shameful and the Twilight fans are going to tell them so.
I don’t believe a word of Summit’s excuses. They made a terrible terrible mistake and are being called out for it. What makes film series so much fun are the same cast coming back year after year: The Harry Potter cast, the Lord of the Rings cast, The Spiderman cast, the Matrix cast. The audience meets the characters/actors in the first film and connects with them. You wouldn’t fire Alan Rickman in Harry Potter? Lord no. You wouldn’t let go of Kirsten Dunst in Spiderman? Horrors. So why on earth did Summit think that they could just blithely let go of Rachelle? Who is perfect, beautiful and scary as Victoria? I hope Summit hears the outcry of thousands of fans. Fans who pour hundreds of millions of dollars into their pockets, and re-hires Rachelle to finish her part in ECLIPSE. If a big corporation like Summit could admit they made a mistake and correct it? That would be amazing. I think they’d win more fans than ever.
s there a single twilight fan out there that will now NOT see the movie because this character was recast?
**crickets**
Didn’t think so. Summit won’t lose a dime over her being recast, though they will have to pay Bryce more than the chick she’s replacing, but she will also bring some clout to a cast that is in need of an actor with a real acting background.
So sign your petitions. Comment on your message boards. Tweet, myspace, or blog all you want. At the end of the day, you will all fork over $10 to see the movie, most likely several times over, buy the DVD, and continue to pour money into this very trite ’saga’.
That was funny!
You’re damn right I won’t put the money in their pockets or buy the dvd. Although I’ll still see the movie
Obviously there is more to this. Is sad that they can come to an agreemnet because the “artistic vision” will be compromised when an actress is replaced. There is no way to retain the fantasy when you see a different actor portay a character. It pulls you out of the movie completely. Of course they don’t care about artistic vision. THey cars about dollars and cents.
I don’t really care for these films that much but it seems a lot of people do.
Like when Dumbledore had to be recast after Richard Harris died? That seemed to work out just fine. I think the “fantasy” was retained.
I disagree…the movies were still very good, but the movies just weren’t the same. Dumbledore was very different from Richard Harris’ version.
That’s because the original Dumbledore DIED, he wasn’t fired.
I completely agree. While I was never a HUGE fan of Harry Potter, I did really enjoy the movies. I understand the circumstances were different, but seeing a different actor portraying Dumbledore really did bring you back to reality. Every time I see Victoria in Eclipse, I will think about how the original actress was fired and replaced, just as I thought about how the original Dumbledore passed away. Just kind of brings you out of the fantasy of the whole thing..
And speaking of the HP movies, this would be more like if they replaced the actor that plays Draco or Ron. I mean, if an actress has established herself as this role, and it’s really only one movie left, I just think Summit ought to be flexible and let her complete the part! I haven’t seen any Twilight movies but I wouln’t be surprised if their actions lead some fans to boycott this one…!
This would be like replacing Snape or Bellatrix in Harry Potter. I would be distraught.
I don’t know…. Batman and the Joker seemed to be pretty well received in the Dark Knight even though both were recasts (twice if you count the TV show). And really, I bet less than 1% of fans are upset enough to stay away from the film because of it. Summit can do what it wants and frankly, Lefevre should have tried to work on the schedule of the other film… make your commitment to the blockbuster, especially if you are not an A list actor.
Summit is full of it and have angered the fans! Schedules can be accommodated. They did it for Cam in the 1st movie. This is already putting a black eye on the 3rd movie! Thanks for disappointing the fans Summit. Rachelle has show from day one that she is totally committed to the saga… Summit just wasn’t committed to her!
i totally agree
bleep you summit. bring back rachelle!
You can’t compare Cam’s accommodation to this. Twilight was a low-budget “indie” flick when it began principle photography. The only actor with any sort of conflict at the time was Cam and moving around the schedule back then wasn’t a big deal. Eclipse, on the other hand, is now a blockbuster film with a a ballooning cast who,through popularity, has many projects on their plate. Not to mention on a tight shooting schedule. Trying to coordinate such a big production is headache enough w/out cast coming in weeks before and saying I need these dates off. I’m not saying Summit isn’t to blame here but you can’t compare the Twilight experience to the Eclipse experience.
Agreed. I think it’s a little bit of both. Rachelle’s people should’ve come forward with her commitment to the other project before-hand. At the same time, I think Summit is using this as an excuse to replace her with a bigger name. I expect that Bryce will do a wonderful job, as she has done with her other characters, but Rachelle’s absence will be disappointing. I looked forward to her portrayal of Victoria in Eclipse.
i couldn’t have said it better myself. they definitely weren’t committed to her but sadly the fans of the saga, like myself, really liked her portrayal. This is very disappointing,
Have some cheese to go with that whine, why don’t you.
The whole press release strikes me as mean spirited and vindictive. They accuse Rachelle of blaming the studios for her career choices? I mean really, wth is that? Who writes these things? I’m behind Rachelle on this 100%.
This is horrible. I love Rachelle, and I totally believe her story. She was utterly enthusiastic about Eclipse. I remember in her interviews she was estatic about the third movie, because she was able to actually do fight scenes ect ect. It is crazy and stupid to think she would put any role infront of mega-franchise Twilight, which has propelled her infront of hollywood.
I say, Summit is trying to save thier backs, and this is super fishy. Isn’t it quite strange that they have another actress already lined up and ready to go? Not even telling the current actress what is up? Don’t you think that the new actress would have to have time to audition ect ect… Something is definatly going on. Speak up fandom!
I think Summit is just trying to cover their asses. I believe Rachelle was so dedicated to the film, they could have told her first off that if she took the other role she would be taken of Eclipse in the first place don’t you think?
I agree with “Emm” and “Monika”. Summit has tried to replace Taylor as well. They are a terrible production company and I do believe Rachelle because no person would be dumb enough to pass on a project that popular. I hope to hear from the cast about this soon.
@Sandra don’t hold your breath about the cast speaking up they got rid of the first director easy enough. Casts never speak up unless they decide to be a tight knit group and fight for their own. The only time I’ve seen that is with Friends
I agree their just trying to cover their asses
F*ck Summit. Unethical bastards.
“Unethical”??? One word for you, my friend…IDIOT
Unethical: “not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior; ‘unethical business practices’”
-wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
…so, what’s your problem?
Idiot.
i cannot belive summit did this…they had better find a way to fix this because this will just spoil d movie for me
If I were an actress, I think I would have to think long and hard about replacing someone like this. I have no doubt that Bryce Dallas Howard is a fine actress, but the fan reaction is going to be strong. Not sure who is telling the truth here, but recasting this role is going to make a lot of the twihards VERY upset.
Jason I totally agree with you. I don’t watch the Twilight films, but there have been sequels in the past that replace an actor with another (Iron Man, Batman) and it kind of ruins everything. it sucks, for sure. Let’s just hope that Eclipse finds itself one heck of a director, since now the gazillion Twilight fans out there are already upset.
The problem is that they already have a director for Eclipse (David Slade) so I’m wondering how much of this he was involved in? Did he know that any of this was going on? Did he fight to keep Rachelle? To me, it does make sense to have the same actors for major roles. I know it’s not the same as replacing Robert Pattinson or Kristen Stewart or Taylor Lautner, but it’s still a fairly major role. And in Eclipse, Victoria has a pretty major part. I’m sure that Bryce whatever-her-name is is a great actress too, but Rachelle is who we all know and love!
Yes, it did ruin everything when Jack Nicolson was replaced with Heath Ledger and Val Kilmer was replaced with Christian Bale. Wait, no it didn’t.
She’s talking about Terrance Howard being replaced by Don Cheadle and Katie Holmes by Maggie Gyllenhal, not the whole franchise being redone. Duh.
Maggie may have done a better job (she is a way better actress) but it felt like a whole new character, they were dettached in the movie. And Howard did a great job in Ironman, why replace him? There is no point.
@ Marian
You realize that Howard made more in Iron Man than Robert Downy Jr did right? He made more than the main character and wanted a pay raise in the sequel. i don’t blame Marvel for replacing him. I think there were also reports of him being difficult, but I can’t remember for sure on that point. Cheadle is a better actor though and has a more commanding voice than Howard, so it doesn’t bug me.
As for Maggie replacing Katie in Dark Knight it didn’t bug me either because she did a good job. Sure she looked different, but the feeling like a different character part is probably because she was written and acted as a stronger character.
“batman begins” and “dark knight” aren’t sequels to tim burton’s batman. this movie is the third part in a trilogy.
What I hate about this back and forth of words is that if Summit actually got their heads out of their asses, and did the right thing by bringing Rachelle back, it may be too late.
Either way, I’m on team Rachelle. She’s shown a very enthusiastic commitment to Twilight and Summit has been shady before (Taylor, anyone? Budgets, pre-production time?) so it looks like they are just trying to avoid fan rage. News flash Summit, it’s too late.
Shown commitment? Really? By taking another role and not tell Summit? you know nothing about what the word commitment means apparently.
kristen and robert has other films aside from eclipse and is bigger than the role of rachelle but we can still see their commitment..rachelle taken that role knowing that it has not violated her contract with summit.
I feel bad for Rachel I really do but the truth is that I’m inclined to side with Summit, I don’t see them firing a well liked Actress needlessly.
What I don’t understand are the hostile reactions, Victoria is a wonderful character but her part was never that much scene wise. I only recall her being seen in the final battle in Eclipse, no where else. So to have such violent reactions over such a small part is really odd to me. Just accept these facts and move on, it’s not like they recast Bella or Edward, it is ONLY Victoria.
But all things that happen in Eclipse is because of Victoria. And just like they rearranged New Moon to have more Edward, I’m sure to have a more coherent movie Victoria will have more scenes. But either way, we already associate Victoria with Rachelle and it will be a great loss – regardless of a good job Bryce might do – to not have her in the movie. Plus, if her version is the truth, Summit is being unethical to recast her. For what? A more known name? They probably received praise with the Volturri and want to do the same again.
That’s one of the first things that I thought of too- that they have started to realize that they can get well known actors for these roles (Dakota Fanning and Micheal Sheen) and perhaps saw a place where they could possibly replace someone who isn’t super well known with someone who has won awards.
Dakota Fanning and Micheal Sheen were actually my first choices for the roles of Jane and Aro repectivelly so no I’m not upset by that decisions. You said it all “IF her version is truth” We don’t know. Victoria did bring to all the events in Eclipse BUT she did it without being seen. Things could be worse ya’ll, they could have cut her character completely! I don’t think they cut her for a more known name, if that were true than they could have replaced A LOT more people on the cast. Jessica, Mike, Angela…etc but they didn’t. I think Summitt has their reasons is all I’m saying, I’m still planning on seeing this film.
they gave New Moon more Edward to keep the masses screaming in my ear. Summits only interest in the twilight saga is to make as much money, as fast as possible, before the obsessive fand get interested in something else..or more to the point realize how bad the films are. If anyone was to be replaced it should have been K-Stew who cant act her way out of a paper bag, and can somehow find a way to single handedly depress an entire movie. She showed no joy whatsoever in twilight, when Bella should have been happy and in love, i can only imagine the suicide fest that awaits us all in New Moon
I agree with Jenna. And that is sooo ridiculous! Anyone a Harry Potter fan? Those movies are EXCELLENT and are fairly close to the books AND are not all coming out 1 year apart from each other. Hello, BIGGEST movie this summer. Get a freakin clue summit! Wait until 1 movie comes out before you film the next so you can see fan reaction and improve where necessary!
Lol!”i can only imagine the suicide fest that awaits us all in New Moon”
Well said, Jenna. Glad to know I’m not alone in thinking KS is such a one note actress. And that one note is FLAT!
They replaced the director, were going to replace Taylor! and have you actually read the books? Victoria is key in Eclipse. Changing her with some crappy actress after she has invested so much time promoting Twilight. It’s not right!! I don’t believe for one minute that Rachelle committed to another movie without permission from someone at Summit. They have pissed off ALOT of Twihards-including me!!
OK, they can’t just replace her! She is the Victoria… Every time I read the books I can picture all the characters and she fits great! This is a bunch of bull!
Sorry the departure of Rachelle will tarnish the reading experience for you. Howeber, we must remember the books were bestsellers long before anyone was cast in anything. What ever do you do if a book has not been made into a movie?
They did it for Cam. I’m still TEAM RACHELLE
This whole sequel is a mess. All the Native American actors from the first film have also lost their roles and been replaced by Filipino actors — I guess all brown people look alike to the movie’s directors.
I did forget about the native Americans. Again, Summit is looking for attractiveness over a true commitment. That’s so unethical and wrong!
You don’t know what you’re talking about. Only one of the Native American actors from Twilight was replaced. All of the actors hired for New Moon’s Native American roles had to prove they are Native American or First Nation with documentation.
I thought I read that Alex Meraz and all of those guys were Native American or Native Canadian? And to be honest, other than Taylor Lautner, the other two guys in Twilight didn’t exactly make a big impression on me! And this may sound weird, but it is important that the wolves look good, because that’s how Stephenie Meyer describes them- all of the characters in her books are very good looking people.
They ARE really Native American, they had to bring in their proof of tribal history in the casting call! Look it up anywhere, even IMDB has it, even which tribes the actors come from. Summitt bent over backwards to make sure they really were native american so as not to offend that community.
Native Canadian? Wth? They are called Native American because we are native to the North American continent not the country. Yes, I am Cherokee. Anyway, who really cares if one actor is replaced that has not been in either of the two main starring roles in the first two films. The character is a villain for pities sake. They are meant to be despised. What better way than replacing the original actress with a new one? Only makes you hate her more.
Isn’t the term for “Native Canadians” First Nation?
It’s not about they still beign Natives, but the fact that Summit was unloyal to the cast in search for more attractive actors to generate more money. They are still all unkown and I’m sure the original cast would have been willing to work out as well to keep the role.
Wow I hadn’t heard that before.. so Summit is racist and cheap… Do I hear the sound of Shark being jumped..??? I bet the Twilight series has declining sales unlike well managed series.