David Slade, director of Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night has been officially confirmed as the director of the sequel to New Moon, Eclipse. Eclipse is scheduled to come out on June 30, 2010 and the quick-paced production schedule necessitated a new director instead of New Moon’s Chris Weitz. The press release from Summit follows–

Los Angeles, CA April 22, 2009 – Summit Entertainment announced today that David Slade has been hired to direct THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE from a screenplay written by Melissa Rosenberg. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, the third film in the studio’s TWILIGHT film franchise based on the Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster book series, will be released theatrically in North America on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. The announcement was made by Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Production.

Meyer stated, “I am thrilled that David Slade will be directing ECLIPSE. He’s a visionary filmmaker who has so much to offer this franchise. From the beginning, we’ve been blessed with wonderful directorial talent for the Twilight Saga, and I’m so happy that ECLIPSE will be carrying on with that tradition.”

Feig said, “Stephenie Meyer’s ECLIPSE is a muscular, rich, vivid book and we at Summit looked long and hard for a director who could do it justice. We believe we have found that talent in David Slade, a director who has been able to create complex, visually arresting worlds. We cannot wait to see the ECLIPSE he brings to life and brings to the fans eagerly awaiting its arrival in summer of 2010.”

Filmmaker Slade came to prominence as a director for his work on 2006’s engrossing film HARD CANDY starring Academy Award® Nominated actress Ellen Page as well as directing 2007’s genre hit 30 DAYS OF NIGHT which opened to number one at the box office its first weekend of release.

In ECLIPSE, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob — knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life.

What do you think of the decision? Will David Slade do a good job with Eclipse?

[via Summit Entertainment thanks Angie!]

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This inspiring New Moon poster was created for the German magazine “Bravo”. It gives a bit of the Italian flavor we can look forward to in the movie when we first experience the Volturi.

[unesrin via CBA]

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Radar Online has an exclusive gallery of all the VMan photoshoot outtakes that join the ones we saw previously. I love this shot of Kellan and Rob!

[Thanks, Lindsay!]

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Haven’t had time to keep up with all the New Moon news recently? Take a look at this video for a quick summation from Dana Ward at ClevverTV of who will play who in New Moon. Nice shirt, Dana!

[thanks, Jo!]

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Jennie Garth was surprised to hear that her husband, New Moon star Peter Facinelli, made a pasta dinner for the cast–

His wifey, Jennie Garth, tells me she was shocked to learn that Facinelli cooked a pasta dinner for the cast of the Twilight sequel when they reunited last month to start shooting with new director Chris Weitz.

“I am pissed off, because he doesn’t make me pasta dinners,” Garth said the other day at the Feeding America and Healthy Choice event in Beverly Hills. “I don’t know when was the last time the man cooked for me!”

Jennie Garth’s Twilight Hunger Pains[thanks Jen]

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ET has an awesome new clip of from tomorrow’s exclusive coverage from the set of New Moon! This one focuses on the love triangle between Bella, Edward and Jacob. Tomorrow’s almost here!

[Thanks, Jenn and Nancy!]

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A New Moon fan caught some video of the action at the pool set for New Moon, where part of the cliff diving sequence was shot, and Taylor Lautner comes out to take pictures with fans towards the end of the video.

[thanks, Martha!]

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Nylon Magazine has a new profile of Jackson Rathbone, where he shows off his newly cut hair for The Last Airbender. and talks about “The Cullen Family Band” with Kristen and Rob. Check it out at their website.

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ET’s exclusives from the set of New Moon will begin tomorrow evening, and continue through the weekend. Robert Pattinson reveals during the interview that he is cautious about being around other people now–“I’m always really worried about ruining their lives. Especially with people that aren’t famous. It’s such a massive change. I’m kind of a paranoid wreck. I’ve eaten a lot of room service.”

Robert also talks about how Edward Cullen will appear in the New Moon film–

“(In the film) it’s an illusion when he appears. I think if you do it with voiceover as they do in the book, it would end up being quite cheesy

Kristen Stewart chimes in on the appearances as well–

“The dream sequences are really eerie. Edward gets a chance to be a little bit more scary and not so perfect.”

On the set of New Moon

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