Here’s another vid from the Push premiere, with the Jane hopeful Dakota Fanning talking about her new movies Push and Coraline that open on the same day, as well as Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz talking a bit about New Moon! Plus, the super-hunky Chris Evans is in there too. Check it–

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Melissa Rosenberg, who penned the script for Twilight and New Moon, has shared a few new details, and confirmed others in an interview from Saturday at the Directors Guild of America Awards. The juiciest bits?–

“But at the moment, the part of Leah doesn’t happen until the third movie.”

Rosenberg also offered a few other insider tidbits about the progress of New Moon. “Well, you know Taylor Lautner will be back as Jacob Black. I can tell you the original cast will all be coming back. They’re on set right now, in Vancouver! They’re all up there prepping the movie to start shooting very soon.”

She also gushes about new director Chris Weitz, saying–

“Chris Weitz directed The Golden Compass, which was a beautiful-looking film,” Rosenberg said. “And I think it’s wonderful we have someone who has worked with CGI animals … that will be a big part of New Moon. I’m delighted we have someone who’s so expert at that.”

Vanessa Hudgens Unlikely to Join New Moon Cast

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I don’t even know what to say about this–so I’m just going to press Command-V and hope for the best:

“It could mean, in short, that New Moon will be a little bit bloodier than anticipated. Or certainly the Twlight film after that. Is there any filmmaking/distribution outfit with a more pronounced reputation for being deeply in love with arterial gushings? That’s Lionsgate in a nutshell.”

So declares Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere, in response to Sharon Waxman’s report (for which “executives at Lionsgate and Summit declined to comment”) that Lionsgate (home of the Saw, Hostel and Tyler Perry franchises) may be buying Summit Entertainment, including the company’s library and slate, which includes teenage necrophilia phenom franchise Twilight.

Of course, the author does note that Lionsgate seems eager to change its image–and perhaps the purchase of Summit is a step in this direction:

But of course, Wells’ “nutshell” definition of Lionsgate is out of date. It’s an open secret that Lionsgate is so desperate to distance itself from its bloody past that the distributor has spent the past year engineering the failure of its remaining genre stock — dumping Midnight Meat Train in rural dollar theaters; taking the ultra-cinematic The Burrowers off its theatrical release schedule entirely; killing Cabin Fever as a theatrical franchise by releasing its Ti West-directed sequel straight to DVD. If anything, in Lionsgate’s hands, the Twilight sequels are likely to go even more tame.

TWILIGHT Sequels to go Torture Porn?

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The open casting called for Native American/Aboriginal actors that was posted on Craigslist without the name of the movie–but which was obviously for New Moon–is now closed. Overwhelming response to the call has resulted in–

CASTING IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS. THEY HAVE RECEIVED MORE RESPONSES THAN THEY’LL EVER HAVE TIME TO SORT THROUGH.

Casting Director René Haynes recently wrote to tell me the following:

   Please tell the fans on our behalf how grateful we are for their enthusiasm and dedication to the project – and explain that (as with all film auditions with overwhelming responses), they will only be contacted if there is further interest.

If anyone gets a callback, be sure to contact us, we’d love to hear about the process–but looks like if you haven’t sent in your info yet, you’re outta luck!

Casting Scoop [thanks, TwiCrack]

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The Canadian film and television distribution company Lionsgate Entertainment is reportedly in talks to merge with Summit. Lionsgate has already gobbled up several other production facilities and distributors, such as Trimark, Cinepix and Artisan Entertainment. This from

Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment are in talks to merge their two companies, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The plan, if the deal goes through, is for Lionsgate to buy Summit’s library of six films and the rights to the “Twilight” franchise. Early talks last year involved the merger of only the domestic divisions, under the terms of the reported deal. Executives at Lionsgate and Summit declined to comment for this story. But one Lionsgate executive, who declined to speak for attribution, said: “At this time there are no new conversations.” Rumors of a proposed merger have abounded for months, and other executives familiar with the terms said the deal made sense.

Notable films from Lions Gate have included American Psycho, Gods and Monsters, Dogma, Saw, and Fahrenheit 9/11–and Lionsgate is in the works with MGM and Paramount/Viacom to launch a new premium TV channel that will be similar to HBO or Showtime.

If the studios do merge, what does this mean for New Moon? I’m thinking not too much will change, except the distribution of the film may improve since Lionsgate is a larger company than Summit. Oh, and the titles you see at the beginning of the film may say Lionsgate!

Lionsgate In Talks To Buy Summit?

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