On the one hand, “New Moon” is the highly-anticipated sequel to the blockbuster hit “Twilight.” As many sequels are, it has been heavily publicized and much has been made about the aforementioned two competing male characters in the film. From major interviews that the cast has done to magazine covers to speculation about the future movies in the series, “New Moon” has attracted a lot of attention as a popular book has been turned into a popular movie. Because of the fans of the book and movie, “New Moon” has unsurprisingly become a blockbuster hit and has made over $250 million dollars in only a matter of weeks.

On the other hand, there stands a movie about a Christian family that takes in a poor young kid and makes him part of their family. This movie, it should be noted, is based off of a non-fiction book about the Tuohy family.  As many critics on this website have previously noted, “The Blind Side” starring Sandra Bullock, is a great family film with a meaningful message about changing a person’s entire life. As Richard Roeper aptly noted in an article about the film, “‘The Blind Side’ knows its football, but it’s even smarter about the priceless thing known as a family.”

What has been interesting these past few weekends is watching the box office results for these two motion pictures. Inevitably, “New Moon” has grossed much more than “The Blind Side.” According to the early box office results, both motion pictures have been out for three weeks and “New Moon” has grossed nearly twice the box office of “The Blind Side.” However, the latter film has also quickly beaten many expectations.

This past weekend (according to those early results), “The Blind Side” blindsided “New Moon” and won the weekend. The box office chart featured had “The Blind Side” with 20.4 million dollars and “New Moon” grossing 15.7 million dollars. The chart also noted that “New Moon” was playing on 4124 screens while “The Blind Side” was only playing on 3326 screens — meaning that the Sandra Bullock movie grossed more than the “Twilight” sequel while being in nearly 800  fewer theaters.

The box office results for “The Blind Side” and its staying power shows that there is an audience out there for inspirational movies about people reaching out to others in need. “The Blind Side” is not only inspirational, it is a smart, character-driven piece of entertainment. One hopes that Hollywood replicates that formula.

“New Moon” is a spiritually confused, dangerous work.

On the one hand, it metaphorically asks the question, “How can I overcome my sinful nature and save my soul?” Thus, the “good” vampires in the movie are constantly trying to overcome their lust for human blood, often succeeding but sometimes failing. On the other hand, the movie’s heroine decides she wants to risk the possibility of losing her soul by becoming a vampire so that she can be with the vampire she loves.

Jesus Christ is very clear about the real spiritual dangers in this second message when He asks His disciples in Mark 8:36, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

The average American citizen today, however (especially the nation’s young people), is biblically illiterate. They do not take seriously the theological teachings of Jesus Christ and His apostles in the New Testament documents.

Numerous polls have confirmed that about 76% of Americans consider themselves to be Christian. Recently, however, USA Today noted that 70% of Americans were unable to name the Ten Commandments. In fact, another recent survey found that Americans were more familiar with the ingredients of a Big Mac hamburger than they were the Ten Commandments, including the command, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).

Also, according to a survey this past spring by the Barna Research Group, only 9% of Americans have a biblical worldview where they said they have made a personal to commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior.

Faced with such spiritual confusion and biblical illiteracy, is it any wonder that “New Moon” almost broke the record for an opening weekend at the box office in the U.S. and Canada? almost broke the record for an opening weekend at the box office in the U.S. and Canada?

The Christian Life

We live in a culture where physical health and getting government handouts are a higher priority than spiritual vitality and theological knowledge.

The Christian life, however, is about living for Jesus Christ and abiding in Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus is Lord of your life, He is Lord of your entertainment choices. When you pay for evil movies, you tell God, “You’re not the Lord of me. I’ll do whatever I want.”

The consequence of ignoring God when selecting entertainment is that you push God away. When you push God away, He’s not as close as you’d like when you want Him to be.

Jesus Christ paid the price to restore your relationship to God. You do not earn this relationship by obedience, but you do nurture it. God draws closer to those who draw close to Him.

When you buy tickets to spiritually confused and biblically illiterate witchcraft and vampire movies, or nasty sex comedies, you are NOT drawing closer to God. You are pulling away. You do damage to the most important relationship in your life. God BLESSES those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. When you don’t care about righteousness, you miss out on the best that God has for you and your life.

You may think, “Oh, it’s not a big thing. “New Moon” is just a dumb movie.”

There is no little thing with God, however. To label anything as something God doesn’t care about is to miss the depth of His love for you. He cares about you from the food you eat to the person you marry, from the movies you watch to the career you chose. He wants the BEST for you. You get the best of God by nurturing a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Social Consequences

Our society is made up of people inspired to engage in righteousness or sin. The more who hunger for righteousness, the more honesty, integrity, courtesy, kindness and compassion you will see in the culture. The more people who hunger and thirst for sex, drugs, self-gratification, money, and fame, the nastier your community will be. Rapists, pedophiles, thieves, and murderers are not living by the divine power of God or His Word, the Bible.

Today, the media defines what’s fashionable, and your vote at the box office has a profound impact on what the media will provide in the future. Buy tickets to bad movies and you’ll see more bad movies made. Buy tickets to wholesome movies and you’ll see more wholesome movies made.

The impact of this weekend on the entertainment industry will be profound.

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” produced the third largest opening weekend in history. Had the churchgoers who bought tickets gone to see “The Blind Side” instead, the message the studios got would have been RADICALLY different. While “The Blind Side” did well, it will not be what defines the box office this weekend.

The Church – in particular parents and youth ministers – needs to understand the importance of media wisdom. The choices that Christian youths make not only impact their walk with God, they CHANGE THE WORLD.

If everyone who considers himself Christian made wise media choices, America would change. The media would be redeemed. We could export to the world movies that glorify God and minister to hurting people. Instead millions of churchgoers vote for more hell on earth with their box office dollars and their television remote.

The best source of information on how to teach your family or students how to be media wise is “The Culture-Wise Family” I co-wrote with Pat Boone.

Cultural Collapse

The United States and Western Europe are on the edge of cultural collapse, brought about, to a large degree, by the mass media of entertainment, along with the public schools and other institutions of mass cultural destruction.

According to Cornell University, nine out of 10 children abandon the values of their parents. According to USA Today, 83% of the youth leave the church, and 80% of the parents are very worried about their children and the mass media of entertainment’s influence on them. A new study of 16- to 29-year-olds by the Barna Research Group shows that America’s youths are growing more resistant and skeptical to Christianity than were people of the same age a decade ago. Thus, currently only 16% of young non-Christians said they have a “good impression” of Christianity and only 3% have a favorable view of evangelicals, compared to 25% of young non-Christians viewing evangelicals in the Baby Boomer generation.

Many Christian parents are concerned about the influence of media violence on their children, but many of those who are concerned don’t know what to do about the problem. The good news is that there are effective ways to teach your children to be media-wise.

Five Pillars of Media Wisdom

As the director of the TV Center at City University of New York, we helped develop some of the first media literacy courses in the late 1970s. Since then, years of research have produced a very clear understanding of the best way to teach media literacy. Specifically, there are five pillars of media wisdom that will help build the culture-wise family.

Pillar 1:  Understand the influence of the media on your children. In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre, CBS President Leslie Moonves put it quite bluntly: “Anyone who thinks the media has nothing to do with this is an idiot.” The major medical associations have concluded that there is absolutely no doubt that those who are heavy viewers of violence demonstrate increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes and aggressive behavior. Of course, media is only one part of the problem – a problem that could be summed up with the sage biblical injunction, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Cor. 15:33). As the results of thousands of studies on youth violence prove, watching media violence causes violence among children. Bad company corrupts good character – whether that bad company is gangs, peer pressure or violent movies, video games and television programs.

Pillar 2:  Ascertain your children’s susceptibility at each stage of cognitive development. Not only do children see the media differently at each stage of development, but also different children are susceptible to different stimuli. As the research of the National Institute of Mental Health revealed many years ago, some children want to copy media violence, some are susceptible to other media influences, some become afraid, and many become desensitized. Just as an alcoholic would be inordinately tempted by a beer commercial, so certain types of media may tempt or influence your child at his or her specific stage of development.

Pillar 3:  Teach your children how the media communicates its message. Just as children spend the first 14 years of their lives learning grammar with respect to the written word, they also need to be taught the grammar of twenty-first-century mass media so that they can think critically about the messages being programmed for them.

Pillar 4:  Help your children know the fundamentals of Christian faith. Children need to be taught the fundamentals of Christian faith so that they can apply their beliefs and moral values to the culture and to the mass media of entertainment. Of course, parents typically have an easier time than teachers with this pillar because they can freely discuss their personal beliefs. Yet, even so, it is interesting to note that cultural and media literacy and values education are two of the fastest growing areas in the academic community – a trend most likely due to the fact that educators are beginning to realize that something is amiss.

Pillar 5:  Help your children learn how to ask the right questions. When children know the right questions to ask, they can arrive at the right answers to the problems presented by the mass media of entertainment. For instance, if the hero in the movie your child is watching wins by murdering and mutilating his victims, will your children be able to question this hero’s behavior, no matter how likable that character may be?

Educating the Heart

Theodore Roosevelt said, if we educate a man’s mind but not his heart, we will get an educated barbarian. Cultural and media wisdom involves educating the heart so that it will make the right decisions.

So, how can you protect the eyes of innocence of your children and grandchildren? How can you redeem the culture?

•            Teach your family to be CULTURE-WISE.

•            Become informed – visit www.movieguide.org daily.

•            Spend your entertainment dollars wisely.

•            Support the Christian Film & Television Commission®.

Don’t vote for spiritual confusion and cultural collapse. Vote with God and Jesus Christ. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Media Wisdom, and the fear of the Lord is to shun evil and overcome evil with good (Proverbs 8:13 and Romans 12:21).

Picking up where the first movie left off, “New Moon” opens with Bella (played by Kristen Stewart), having recovered from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life, starting her senior year of high school and celebrating her 18th birthday with Edward Cullen, a vampire who refuses to attack humans, and his family. After an ill-fated accident resulting in Bella’s blood being spilled at the Cullen residence, which is almost too much for certain members of the family, Edward (played by Robert Pattinson) decides to leave Forks. He believes he is protecting Bella from the dangers of the vampire world by doing so. He asks her to promise him not to do anything reckless.

Bella, utterly heartbroken and losing all semblance of functionality to the point of becoming zombie-like, is haunted by the memories of her time with Edward and seems incapable of pulling out of her new depression. Finally, after about four months, Bella makes an effort to reconnect with old friends, one of whom is a childhood friend, a Native American named Jacob Black (played by Taylor Lautner). During this time, she accidentally discovers that, by being reckless and putting herself in dangerous situations, she is able to see images of Edward in her mind more clearly and hear his voice. Desperate to be with him no matter the cost to herself, she purposefully continues to put herself at risk.

With Jacob’s help, Bella rebuilds an old motorbike to further her dangerous escapades. She soon comes to discover that Jacob might be exactly what she needs to heal from the hurt of her broken relationship. She begins to feel alive and happy again, even though the memory of Edward is still painful. Her friendship with Jacob, a member of the Quileute tribe, leads her to a new discovery concerning the secrets of their heritage, as Jacob must deal with a newfound ability to transform himself into a werewolf. In the midst of this, Bella’s life in is danger with the arrival of Victoria, the vampire mate of James, who was killed by Edward and his family in the first movie.

The emotional tension and plot slowly culminates in the end where Bella must save Edward from deliberately provoking the Volturi (a secret vampire society that regulates the laws over others of their kind) into killing Edward. Like Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” Edward has received information leading him to believe Bella is dead, and he believes that, by provoking the vampire leaders, he can end his misery.

Fans of “New Moon” will love it, but many critics will groan! Also, those who go into the film expecting lots of action and excitement probably will be disappointed, because the movie isn’t so much about that as it is about Bella’s heart-brokenness and the boy/werewolf who brings her back from her depression and helps her feel alive again. Those who have not read the books will still enjoy it, but may not be able to understand everything, as the finer details will be lost to them. It’s obvious, therefore, that Director Chris Weitz is catering to the fans with his adaptation as opposed to the critics, and fans won’t be disappointed.

The production values of “New Moon” are held to a higher standard than the first movie, “Twilight.” For example, it does a much better job of staying true to the book than the first movie, and the character portrayals are much more believable as they demonstrate greater emotional depth. Although the actors give excellent performances, it is Kristen Stewart who carries the movie to the end. The screenplay is also well written, although some scenes had to be arranged differently than they were laid out in the book, but, overall, the movie is a fair and accurate representation.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

The content of “New Moon” includes many positive, moral elements – surprising for a movie about vampires, werewolves, and teenage romance. For example, Bella is willing to give up her life for Edward if that means saving him. Also, Bella and Edward do not let their relationship go any farther than just kissing. Furthermore, Edward consistently refuses to give into Bella’s demands to be turned into a vampire because he is afraid that she will lose her soul and be damned to Hell, although in the end he acquiesces on the condition that she marries him first. Lastly, the vampires who drink human blood are shown to be the evil, bad guys, and though the good vampires struggle with the temptation to do so as well, they do not give into their bloodlust.

That said, there are many reasons to be concerned about the content in “New Moon.” For example, Bella makes it very clear she wants to become a vampire and doesn’t care about her soul. She even tells Edward he can take her soul as long as it means that she will get to be with him forever. As the heroine of the story, someone that young, impressionable girls would idolize, this message is potentially dangerous and misleading. Along these lines, the intense relationship between Bella and Edward is disconcerting. The impression is given that neither of them is capable of existing without the other. This kind of love is more like a combination of love, lust, and obsession rather than true love. In that light, the movie is filled with high emotion and teen angst to the point where characters are unable to function properly. Thus, the message being sent to teenagers and young adults is that this is what love really is – a message that is encouraged as the characters are portrayed as truly knowing their hearts and having an accurate understanding of what love entails.

Other elements of concern include some unresolved discussion concerning whether vampires still have souls and if they are ultimately destined for Hell. Because of this uncertainty, Edward is greatly opposed to turning Bella into a vampire, but Bella’s constant insistence finally wins out, though this particular event doesn’t take place in this movie.

Taken together, these elements, and “New Moon’s” strong Romantic worldview, its occult and pagan content, brief violence, Bella’s reckless behavior, and Edward’s suicidal actions, are unacceptable viewing for media-wise moviegoers.

“The Twilight Saga” and “New Moon” make the world of vampires and werewolves look very attractive. Parents and children should be aware of this and use appropriate discernment.

Ultimately, the driving question raised by “New Moon” is:  “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36).

–

Kyle Smith:

Bad dialogue, like bad news, doesn’t get better with age. This movie moves like the line at the post office. “Twilight” — that culture phenomenon that resembles “Star Wars” much as the prime minister of Belgium resembles the president of the United States (respective box office ranks of these two films in their respective decades: 71, 1) pushes its leads apart with thin contrivances that set up predictable last-minute rescues.

Also: Christian Toto interviews some of the actors here.

“Twilight” is all about the self-restraint of both appetite and passion. Also playing an important thematic role is the importance of self-sacrifice, loyalty and family. It’s awfully hard not to like a film aimed at teens that’s so unapologetically earnest and well-intended. In this cinematic age of nihilism, moral relativism and hyper-sexualization of young girls, ”Twilight” should be hailed as the work of iconoclasts. 

Director Catherine Hardwicke is unfortunately not returning for the sequel, which opens this November. She’s a fascinating and complex filmmaker — hard to pigeonhole. A former production designer, her debut “Thirteen,” was one of the most interesting films of 2003, and I would argue (and have), one of the most conservative of the last ten years. Her sensibility which stamped the first, will hopefully set the tone for the rest.

The “New Moon” above trailer looks like more of the same.

Nothing wrong with that.

Then in July of 2007, New Line grabbed an almost identical $27.47M with the opening weekend of the female-skewing Hairspray, translating to $118.87M domestic. Also Enchanted, starring Amy Adams, was a hit for Disney over the holidays reaching $127.8M domestic.

In 2008 the game changed forever as women began flexing their box office muscle in a big way. 27 Dresses (Fox), starring Katherine Heigl from Grey’s Anatomy, debuted to $23M in January on its way to a domestic cume of $76.8M. Then came the Digital 3D phenomenon Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds (Disney), which enjoyed a meteoric $31.1M opening 3-day, finishing with a tween-fueled $65.2M. The all-girl comedy Baby Mama (Universal), starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, came along in the spring with a nifty $17.4M opening, finishing at $60M.

Then the all female Fantastic Four”  landed – Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Kristin Davis – in mega-hit Sex & The City. After a mind-boggling $57M opening weekend, the HBO-to-big screen adaptation kept selling tickets to the tune of $152.2M in the US, becoming 2008’s eleventh-best grossing movie.

In fact, you can make a strong argument that 2008 releases Twilight ($187.9M cume), Mamma Mia ($144.1M cume), Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($94.5M cume) and High School Musical 3 ($90.5M cume) were also chick flick hits. Here’s a complete list of last year’s biggest female-skewing movies.

The cast of TWILIGHT

TOP GROSSING CHICK FLICKS OF 2008
Twilight – $187.9M cume
Sex & the City – $152.6M cume
Mamma Mia! – $144.1M cume
Beverly Hills Chihuahua – $95.5M cume
High School Musical 3: Senior Year – $90.5M cume
27 Dresses – $76.8M cume
Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds – $65.2M cume
Baby Mama – $60.5M cume
The House Bunny – $48,2M cume
Made of Honor – $46M cume
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 – $44M cume
The Secret Life of Bees – $37.7M cume
Definitely Maybe – $32.2M cume
The Other Boleyn Girl – $26.8M cume
TOTAL 2009 GROSS – $1.14 billion cume

Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Anniston and Jennifer Connolly in HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU

The first chick flick out of the gates in 2009 was the Kate Hudson-produced Bride Wars (Fox), which should finish its US theatrical engagements with about $60M. He’s Just Not That Into You (Warner Bros), based on the bestseller co-written by Sex & the City writers Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, is holding up extraordinarily well in its second weekend. I am projecting a #2 finish for the 4-day with a possible $23.9M and a new cume just shy of $60M. Meanwhile, Confessions of a Shopaholic, one of this week’s wide openings, seems destined for $20M or so by Tuesday morning.

When all is said and done, 2009 could be an even bigger year for female-geared releases. Here’s how the remainder of the year lays out.

February 20 – Fired Up (Sony)
Two popular high school guys quit football to join the cheerleading team.

February 27 – Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert (Disney)
The title says it all. Every tween girl in America will see it at least once.

March 20 – Sunshine Cleaning (Overture)
Amy Adams (Enchanted) and Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) star in this Grand Jury Prize nominee from last year’s Sundance Film Festival.

March 27 – The Accidental Husband (Yari Film Group)
Uma Thurman stars as a radio talk show host who dishes out relationship advice.

April 8 – Hannah Montana: The Movie (Disney)
The world’s biggest teen star is back on the big screen.

May 1 – Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Warner Bros)
Matthew McConaughey stars as a bachelor who contends with past girlfriends at his brothers wedding. Also starring Jennifer Garner (Catch & Release), Lacey Chabert (Party of Five), Emma Stone (The House Bunny) and pop star Christina Milian.

May 8 – My Life in Ruins (Fox)
Nia Vardallos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) stars in a romantic yarn set in Greece.

May 8 – Wild Child (Universal)
Emma Watson from Nancy Drew and Hotel for Dogs plays a Malibu princess who must adjust when she is sent to boarding school.

June 12 – The Proposal (Disney)
Rom-com starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

July 10 - I Love You Beth Cooper (Fox)
Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) shows the nerdy valedictorian of her high school class the night of his life.

Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl on the set of THE UGLY TRUTH

July 31 – The Ugly Truth (Sony) – Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler star as television morning show workers who test their relationship theories (and, just a hunch, fall in love).

August 7 – Julie & Julia (Sony)
Nora Ephron is writer/director of this movie based on a Julia Child memoir and starring Meryl Streep as the famed TV chef.

September 25 – Fame (MGM)
A remake of the 1980 film about a New York High School for the Performing Arts.

November 20 – New Moon (Summit)
The sequel to 2008’s mega-hit Twilight.

2-time Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis and Penelope Cruz in a scene from NINE

November 25 – Nine (Weinstein)
Chicago director Rob Marshall adapts the Tony Award winning Broadway musical starring Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren and Academy Award nominees Penelope Cruz and Kate Hudson.

Untitled Nancy Myers Project – December 25
The writer/director behind such chick flicks as Baby Boom and Something’s Gotta Give is set to star Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter.

The teen vampire blockbuster Twilight added another $7.95M this weekend, breaking through the $150M barrier in domestic box office. This performance exceeds even the rosiest box office expectations for the movie, so it is hard to understand why Summit seems to be making huge changes for the sequel New Moon, based on the second book in Stephenie Meyer’s mega-selling series.

I have seen Twilight, and, given the budget constraints that director Catherine Hardwicke was under, it was a very solid piece of popular entertainment. Before it finishes its domestic run, it could hit $175M-$180M, which is almost 5 times its budget. Twilight is already the most successful movie ever directed by a woman, but as we know, Hollywood is an “old boy’s club,” and she is not “one of the boys.”

Over the weekend, Summit announced that Hardwicke is out and that a guy named Chris Weitz is in. 1999’s American Pie was his career breakthough as he teamed with his brother to produce and direct the $11M movie, which went on to a $102M domestic gross.  Working with brother Paul, he followed with Chris Rock in 2001’s Down to Earth ($64.1M cume) and 2002’s About a Boy starring Hugh Grant, which managed only $41M in US ticket sales, but did earn the Weitz brothers an Oscar nomination for adapting Nick Hornby’s novel of the same name.

Then came The Golden Compass released last December. Weitz adapted the screenplay and was given $180M to shoot a great big fantasy film for New Line. The result was only $25.7M on opening weekend and a total domestic cume of $70.1M. The disastrous box office performance was earned according to critics as the would-be blockbuster managed only a 42% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.

So let me get this straight. Summit fires the woman who guided Twilight to a monstrous box office performance on a shoestring budget and replaces her with a guy who is best known for sinking New Line, which Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne were forced to fold in the wake of his $180M fantasy film flop? Bad move.

Hardwicke should continue as director, but if the personalities didn’t work, then Summitt should have chosen another woman to direct. Perhaps Katherine Bigelow, who has proved that she can do big action with Point Break, sci-fi with Strange Days and vampires with 1987’s excellent Near Dark. Despite the soft opening for Punisher: War Zone (Lionsgate) in theatres now, I think that former World Karate and Kickboxing Champion-turned-director Lexi Alexander would be another qualified woman director for the job.

The internet is now rife with reports that actor Taylor Lautner, who played the small but pivotal role of Jacob Black in Twilight, will not return for New Moon. Lautner plays the native American kid who befriends Bella Swan (Kristin Stewart) in the first film and becomes the werewolf rival of Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) in the sequel. In what strikes me as “bad form,” Michael Copon, best known for his work on TV’s One Tree Hill, is openly campaigning for the role including “Status Updates” on his Facebook page like “Michael Copon is the older Jacob Black.” There is no formal announcement from Summit or Copon’s representatives, but there is already some real “push-back” from Twilight fans as evidenced by a new Facebook group that is gaining steam -  I REJECT Michael Copon as Jacob Black: SAVE TAYLOR NOW!

In addition to what could be the ouster of Lautner, Ben Barnes of from the Narnia franchise (Prince Caspian) is angling for a role in the Twilight sequel. He has his sights set on the part of Aro, a vampire who plays a pivotal role in the Bella/Edward romance in New Moon.

Summit has dramatically accelerated the production schedule for New Moon with a November 20, 2009 release date now set. Another werewolf movie, Wolfman, from Universal starring Oscar winners Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, is set to debut 2 weeks earlier on November 6. Then on that same November 20 date is the sci-fi animated film Planet 51 (Sony), powered by the voices of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson,  Jessica Biel and Seann William Scott along with Guy Ritchie’s re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros), featuring Robert Downey, Jr. as the lead sleuth and Oscar nominee Jude Law as Watson. The Farrelly Bros’ new, yet-to-be-cast version of The Three Stooges (MGM) is also tentatively slotted on this date.