I’m writing this from my sick bed, so pardon any errors or bouts with madness throughout.
For those of you who haven’t kept up with this story from the beginning, David Slade, who is set to direct the Eclipse film, Twittered a few comments about Twilight a while back, along the lines of:
“Twilight drunk? No, not even drunk. Twilight on acid? No, not even on acid? Twilight at gun point? Just shoot me.”
[audio:http://bitcast-a.bitgravity.com/slashfilm/trailers/sladetwilight.mp3]
But when David got signed to direct Eclipse, his tune changed suddenly, and his Twitter account magically vanished, with some likelihood to it being an attempt to cover up this potential PR nightmare. When the Twilight Lexicon ran this story, much of the fandom erupted into frenzied madness, demanding that David Slade give up his directing job (and sometimes certain amounts of fingers) in repayment for the outrage.
REAL EXAMPLES FROM THE LEXICON’S COMMENTS:
mama says:
Tell me where to sign the petition to have this guy taken off the project!
Tiffany says:
What the hell is summit thinking? Im so not into this dude at all… TWILIGHTERS UNITE! REVOLT!
Joan says:
grab the pitch forks!
Naleb Kation says:
IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD!
However, as I have come to learn in this fandom, we all enjoy a little bit of drama here and there (and especially our online petitions) so I didn’t run the story, in order to see how it played out. As I suspected, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it seemed at first.
The key point to remember is that these comments were made by David long before he had even seen the Twilight movie or read the books. Long-time followers of my writing (before TwilightGuy ever came into being) will remember that my first run-ins with the Twilight fandom had to do with me directly making fun of the books, before I had read or knew anything about them either. In fact, my first popular blog post (popular meaning ‘had more than 2 comments from my family members’) was a spoof I wrote about ME being cast as Edward Cullen, which caused an enormous uproar and lots of hate-emails. Not only did I make fun of the books, but I spelled Stephenie’s name wrong, said that Edward has fangs, and cracked some of my worst jokes of all time (a horror in itself). So when it comes to any past bad humor directed towards the Twilight Saga, I’m just as guilty as David Slade.
But now that I actually know what I’m referring to, the things I say are quite different. Thankfully, David also understands this now, and how important the Twilight fandom is. Earlier today, he personally sent this email to the Twilight Lexicon:
“Dear Laura and Lori
I would be grateful if you could distribute this statement to the fans of Twilight:I would like to address some statements that I made regarding Twilight.
When I made these comments, I had neither seen the film nor read the books. I was promoting a comedy short film that I had made for Xbox and every pop culture subject was seen as a possible comedy target. I was being silly and none of the statements were from the heart.
Of course, I have since seen the movie and read the books and was quickly consumed with the rich storytelling and the beautifully honest characters that Stephenie Meyer created.
I would like to reassure everyone involved that I am invested in making the best film that I am humanly capable of, and that I am acutely aware of the power of the original books we serve.
Please be rest assured this statement is absolutely from the heart.
yours sincerely
DAVID SLADE”
I think we can all rest assured that David is just as committed to the Eclipse movie as we are.
QUESTION FOR THE COMMENTS: Do you feel better now about David Slade directing the film?
70 Responses
DAvid's comments were nothing different then any other male who hadn't seen or read Twilight. My teen son said almost the same thing when invited to see the movie with his mom and sister. I don't see anything wrong with David's comments as he hadn't been exposed to the material. I”m glad he sent the email, that was really cool. There's nothing to take offense at here.
Yes, but I never thought that he would have talked like that in the first place, if he had known he would be directing Eclipse in the future. It's a good sign he put it right.
I trust that he'll do a great job with the fight scenes in Eclpise, just hope it won't get too gross! I'm more worried about the emotional parts with him there… but I'm sure he'll do a great job!
I am not worried about David directing Eclipse. I don't blame him for having fun at Twilight's expense & making fun of it. I'm sure anyone who hasn't read the books or read the movies would do the same. (It's not for everyone and the story if you just get a synopsis is kind of weird, that's what I thought when I was first introduced to it by my sister-in-law. But after reading the books 5 times each & seen the movie more than I probably should have, I'm an obsessed fan!) I'm glad he took the time to address the story & the fans concerns & sent an email to the lex. I think he might be better off sending an email to all the fans like CW did when we learned he would be doing NM & CH was not. As long as he does the book justice & make it a good movie (especiall THE PROPOSAL/Chpt 20 Compromise) I'll be happy with him, so I'm going to reserve judgement. I haven't seen any of his other movies, so I don't know what to expect. All I can say is that Eclipse had better become his “bible” for the next year! (I wonder when we'll get a message from SM on this like she did on her website about CW?)
i never had a problem with David directing eclipse.
like was said originally, eclispe has a darker tone as in the stress levels and someone is coming for bella and there will be a massive fight at the end i think he will do a great job.
Yes, although I had never heard of that before anyway since I don't follow Twitter or check the Lexicon very often anymore….
I just learned he said those things from this post, and I don't care he said them. If I had read them before his apology I wouldn't care. I LOVE Twilight but I make fun of it all the time. Especially to my guy friends. I saw this icon of Tom Cruise as Lestat screaming and the text read I. Do. Not. Sparkle! and I cracked up laughing. Though the sparkling vampire thing does not bother me personally I find something humorous about Lestat from Anne Rice novels shouting he doesn't sparkle. Just the other day I was reading that summer school in Fork's site and realized they called their first volleyball tournament, Bella Swan's Memorial Day Volleyball tournament. I cracked up laughing. I sort of found it Ironic that they named it after the Only character that could take out her whole gym class trying to attempt to play volleyball. I once said that I was going to ditch the Halloween costume this year and rent a silver Volvo, drive around with friends on Halloween night and see how many teenaged girls squeal at us. I love Edward but you have to admit there is a lot there to sort of poke fun at…with love. But I am happy for his apology and that he's going to try to make it as accurate to the book as possible being I was depressed over the accuracy of the first film :P.
OMT!!! HE SAID THAT!!!!???? THAT EVIL MAN!!!!
lol, just kidding. i know he didnt mean it. i mean, hes a guy. they all hate it at some point before loving it. here is an example from my friend Jared:
ME: OMTOMTOMT JARED!!!!! YOU ARE READING TWILIGHT!!!!!!!!!
JARED: Yes.
ME: WELLLLL????? Do You LIKE IT!!!!!??????
JARED: NO! ITS AWFUL!
ME: AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!! I HATE YOU!!!!! I WILL KILL YOU!!!
—————————————————————————————————————-
A Few Weeks Later…..
ME: JARED!!!!!!!!YOU ARE READING NEWWWWW MOOOOOOOONNNNNN!!!!!!!!!
JARED: Yes
ME: WELLLLLL?????? Do You LIKE IT??????
JARED: Ummm…yes.
ME: YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!
JARED: Its kind of awesome.
ME: I KNOW!!!
—————————————————————————————————
Yeah. It was hilarious. And I forgive David Slade. But he better make Eclipse good!
LOL.
I WONDER WHO “Naleb Kation” IS. O_O
you always crack me up, keleb, or should I say “Naleb”
I'm sure David'll do an awesome job <3
Loves from Toronto~ 🙂
I was extremely scared about David Slade's comments when I first read them. And I know now that he was just having fun and, being a guy, he must make fun of Twilight. So, I feel more confident that he will do well. But whether his letter is genuine kind of makes me cringe. He keeps pleading, trying to convince everyone that what he says is from the heart. And I do believe him in a way but this is what everyone is supposed to do in the media world: make peace with the people before they assasinate you. Caesar–I mean Slade has spoken.
All in all, I think he MAY like the books and I am pretty confident that he will do a pretty good job on the movie. But the question begs to differ. Was his letter a lie?
I'm not worried about it. It's a movie, and I'm sure he'll do his best just because if he doesn't Twilight fans will be mad, so I think that little fact there will make him try his best or an outbreak will start.
Get better soon Kaleb!!!! Or should I say Naleb Nation? Lol 😉
I totally get the making fun of Twilight before seeing it thing. I know many teenage guys who have said “Ugh, I don't want to see that, it's a chick flick”, but then they see the movie and say “Huh, that was really pretty good…” Or “That wasn't near as bad as I thought.”
The thing about the Saga is that it has such a reputation as a “Vampire romance”, when there is really SOO much more to it than that. Once people actually read the book or see the movie, they start to realize that. So, I understand that David Slade made fun of Twlight before reading it, but now sees the error of his ways. I really think that if he really felt that way about it, he wouldn't have accepted the job.
I am giving him a second chance, but David you better bring it, cause Eclipse is my FAVORITE!!
God, people need to get over the fact that he's directing the movie. He's a very dedicated man when it comes to his work. He has a vision, and I think that he's perfect for Eclipse… better than the others that were lined up. And plus, most people say that the Twilight movie was not interesting too- so its not like he was saying something that most twilight fans dont know. GET OVER IT- he's cool! GO SLADE!!!!
*First time commenter* Just like Slade, and you apparently, I made fun of Twilight relentlessly when friends and acquaintances wouldn't stop banging on about it. Although, in my own defense, I was first told that Twilight was a “vampire sex novel”, so that probably lead me astray, lol. And, being a fan of the vampire since was a little girl and loving films like Dracula (the old one, with Bela Lugosi), I couldn't quite accept sparkling vampires. (I still can't, but I'll digress from the subject of Slade directing Eclipse if I think about it too much, haha) Anyway, I have a fair amount of confidence in Slade as a director and as someone competent, thoughtful, realistic and yet creative enough to deliver to us a movie that retains the things readers loved about Eclipse in a visual medium that complements the original manuscript. Plus, and I'm sure most Twilight fans would disagree with me, I'm looking forward to how he portrays the epic war scenes (Jasper's recollection of his past) and the grand smack-down at the end. If anything, the ending should be dynamite. I'm looking forward to Slade directing Eclipse; my favorite book of the whole saga.
Haha, Naleb Kation
DAMN David Slade! (Pls don't sue) I LOATHE him! Who the HELL does he think he is? He has no freaking right to say ANY of that. I would rather kill myself than watch anything he's done. To his face.
Oh, and Kaleb, hope you get well soon 😀
I was just watching a muse interview on youtube and they said that some of their earlier music videos such as 'Bliss' were directed by David Slade (im presuming theres only one;)
HAHA!
The Muse/twilight connections continue!!
I was just watching a muse interview on youtube and they said that some of their earlier music videos such as 'Bliss' were directed by David Slade (im presuming theres only one;)
HAHA!
The Muse/twilight connections continue!!
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