Actor Michael Sheen, who played high-profile roles in The Queen and Frost/Nixon, is set to take on the role of Aro in New Moon, with an estimated £5million payday. This according to the Daily Mail, which says–

Sheen, 40, who made his name with uncannily realistic portrayals of well-known figures in Oscar-winning films The Queen, Frost/Nixon and The Damned United, will get his biggest pay cheque yet, a reported £5million, to star in New Moon.

In New Moon, Sheen will play Aro, the leader of an Italian vampire clan called the Volturi.

Director Chris Weitz confirmed Sheen’s casting to The Mail on Sunday and said he had ‘aggressively’ pursued the actor.

‘Michael’s role is so important because he’s the head of all vampires,’ he said. ‘Aro is, on the surface, a very gracious and friendly vampire, but beneath that he is a tremendous threat.’

Ironically, Michael Sheen previously played the werewolf leader Lucian in Underworld. I think this is great news, given his great work in Frost/Nixon recently! What do you guys think?

[thanks, Elke, Olga,Tiffany and Nino!]

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Wanting to get a fix of New Moon castmember Alex Meraz, however small? On Monday, you’ll have the chance. Reader Olga shares this info–

Just before New Moon He took part in the upcoming five-part television series “WE SHALL REMAIN: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE” as a WARRIOR in the episodes “AFTER THE MAYFLOWER” and “TECUMSEH” (episodes 1 & 2 respectively) . It will air On KCET-PBS on Monday, April 13, 2009, 9:00 pm (check your local listings). Though, his role might be minor spotting him will be like a game of Where’s Waldo regardless I thought you guys might enjoy a dose of history watching this groundbreaking mini-series project that establishes American history through the perspective of the Native American eyes. Each of the episodes focuses on important historical events and concludes with a short contemporary story that links the past to the present.

[thanks Olga, via NativeTalent, Photo from Here on Earth series about Aborigines]

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Are you from the UK? Then you have a chance to win tickets to the premiere of New Moon. To enter, take the Biggest Fan Questionnaire by April 16th!

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There’s a new article up about why the New Moon crew decided to film in the Tofino area at Pacific Rim Park in March. The wild nature of the area, despite the relative closeness to Vancouver, was a big selling point–

Bannerman, who has family on Vancouver Island, said there was a good reason the filmmakers chose to shoot scenes for New Moon (due Nov. 20) on the rugged West Coast before they started principal photography in Vancouver.

“We knew what we were looking for had to be extreme and close in proximity to Vancouver,” said Bannerman, who came over with a downsized crew.

“We needed those swells and sunset shots, aggressive waves and agitated water in a coastal region that reflects the Forks and La Push (Wash.) area.”

And, in what may be the most incredibly dense logic train I’ve heard in a while, Keven Drews, who wrote the recent story about New Moon filming in Tofino, can’t believe how much traffic his story got–then expresses frustration that other media and fansites “mined” the story–

“Our traffic skyrocketed. We got more readers in a day than we get in a month,” said Drews, who was also contacted by publications as far away as New Jersey. To his frustration, he also saw his story “mined” by other media and fansites.

Ok, I’m not sure what exactly he means by “mined”–but how could he not realize the attention from other media and fansites is exactly why he received more hits in a day for the small-town paper than it usually gets in a month? Why in the world would you care if your news stories was picked up and spread by other media and fansites?

That’s not called news–that’s called a secret.

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The Twilight Scene It game is now available for pre-order!

Scene It? Twilight Deluxe Edition features hundreds of clips, trivia questions, and on-screen puzzlers from the Twilight movie phenomenon! Experience customized mini-games and bonus activities that will challenge your observation, memory and puzzle solving skills that are unique to Scene It? Twilight. This game will quench players’ thirsts for more Bella, Edward, Jacob and the gang while reliving favorite Twilight moments again and again! Game includes game DVD, 4x collectible metal tokens, 100x trivia cards, 30x fate cards, 1x 6-sided die, 1x 8-sided die, and instruction sheet.

The game will start shipping in October, and can be pre-ordered for $29.99.

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The entry for New Moon on IMDB was changed to list Justine Wachsberger as cast for the role of Gianna–the human “secretary” of the Volturi. IMDB is reliable like Wikipedia–most of the time the information is correct, but flukes occur. She’s pictured to the right. Good fit?

A rumor April Fool’s Day Joke has New Moon filming in Poland of all places. This isn’t as wild as you think, being that the Chronicles of Narnia shoots there–Beatriz sends me this summarized translation of a Polish article–

A few days ago in Poland there appeared gossip that some of the new moon’s scenes will be filmed in Poland in Stołowe Mountains. At the beginning they planned to make them in Montepulciano but there’s something wrong with their contacts, so they changed their minds. It also made the decision easier that there were already filmed some of the scenes from Chronicles of Narnia.

The article says that they are going to come to Poland after they leave Canada and before they go to Italy

Hmm. Not sure what to think of that one–but I do wish we had confirmation for sure of where or when New Moon is filming in Italy, and for how long.

Finally, we have something that’s not so much a rumor, but a plea to be in New Moon–Kim Kardashian, known for her roles in such stinkers as Disaster Movie, has this to say to People Magazine–

“I would like die to be in Twilight…being around all those hot guys. I would be one that was probably nice. No, I kind of want to be evil.”

She also wants to be a Bond Girl, and would also like a pony and some ice cream.

[thanks to everyone who sent these in over the last weeks!]

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Here’s a new clip of Robert Pattinson in How to Be from Access Hollywood, including some vid of Robert Pattinson on the guitar!

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