Chris Weitz recently spoke to Collider where he discussed the New Moon DVD  and his next project…

Collider: Yes. How are you doing today, sir?

Chris Weitz: I’m very well thank you. How are you?

I’m doing very well actually. Thank you for giving me some time today.

Chris:  It’s my pleasure.

So have you been doing a lot of press today?

Chris:  Well you are the 5^th on my list, so not so much that my brain has turned to Jell-o yet.

So I will jump on in. I let a lot of people know that I was going to be talking to you and when I say a lot of people I’m talking about Twilight fans.  So I was given a whole bunch of things to ask you, so here we go.

Chris:  Okay.

The first thing though is a lot of people wanted to know…you might not remember me at the junket for New Moon. I’m the one who followed you up in the elevator and sort of…I sort of talked to you about what to expect on the DVD.

Chris:  I remember we spoke, yes.

And you told me at that point that there was going to be about 10 minutes of deleted scenes and there was going to be a commentary with Kristin, Rob and Taylor.

Chris:  I know and they blew me off. (laughter) By the time it came to record the commentary, I think that they were so exhausted because they had done even more press than I had. And I recall….we did it in New York and they were either on their way there or, you know, getting ready for some fancy function that evening and it just wasn’t going to happen. And so even though I think it’s probably terribly disappointing it’s just me and editor talking about things, but actually I think we’re rather funny.

More after the break…

So basically you’re telling me that the reason why the actors are not on it is due to time or just…

Chris:  Just due to time. It’s funny, you know, you sort of have to plot out amongst all the bejillion other things that they’re doing including getting ready to shoot Eclipse. Whether there is two hours for them to get to the studio to watch the film and then talk through it or not. And it just didn’t work out that way.

Okay, but this now leads to the next things which is forgetting about the actors, you mentioned about 10-12 minutes of deleted scenes. I looked at the DVD last night and I’m going to be honest, I couldn’t find those deleted scenes.

Chris:  No?

Were they on the DVD?

Chris:  Yeah. Well you’ve got a scene with Victoria in the car. Let me see…I’m trying to think…

Are they put back in the movie?

Chris:  Oh are they put back in the movie? You know to be honest with you, you have to tell me because I haven’t seen the final DVD menu. It might be separate or they might have been put back in the movie. I can’t answer that because I’m unaware of the final format.

I will…by the way I’m not criticizing or anything.

Chris:  Oh not at all. You’re trying to confirm.  I know that there is at least 10 minutes of extra material. Whether they’re actual entire scenes that got cut-probably not very many entire scenes were cut, but that’s a good thing. It’s because we were kind of happy with what we’d shot. But there are extended scenes which have more to them that ended up in the theatrical version.

Because when I went through the menu system I found there was a really cool documentary. I watched the 2-disc DVD. And the documentary seemed cool and I definitely learned a lot about the behind the scenes of the film and I would totally recommend it. But I didn’t find any deleted scenes or even a section that had extended scenes. And I’m pretty good at finding through menu systems.

Chris:  You surprise me. I’ll get right on that.

I’m just throwing that out there, but this actually goes back to my next thing, which is I’m just going to go out there and say that the amount of deleted scenes that you mentioned to me are not on the disc. So my question for you is, as most people know the DVD’s have to be created when the film is getting ready to come out.  And it’s really rushed.  Has Summit already sort of talked to you about, well you know down the road you know after Breaking Dawn they’re going to probably put out I would imagine like a deluxe set. You know, something that they could give the fans with a lot of extras. Have they already sort of said to you about maybe doing like a special edition down the road?

Chris:  They haven’t actually. I mean I know what you’re talking about, kind of an extended director’s cut version. We haven’t spoken about that. I mean I know they did that with things like Lord of the Rings and that sort of thing. I think that that sort of is a two way street and it would require me to feel as though I hadn’t made the version of the movie that I was satisfied with. And I sort of felt the version that was up in theatres was great. Now there is material that would be of interest to fans and whether it’s on the DVD that comes out now or whether there’s going to be another version coming out later, I’m not sure. You should ask the Summit guy. I don’t want to answer for them because I would be making it up.

Well let me ask you this question-if Summit were to come to you and say, “We’re going to do a deluxe box set down the road”, would it be something that you would want to go into and sort of just play with?

Chris:  Yeah, sure. I’d be happy to. Any director kind of always wishes they could tinker a bit longer with what they had. I think it would be fun. But there’s not a kind of a burning desire born of not having felt that I said what I had to say in the movie.

Now that you’re removed from the whirlwind of making the film, I’m sure that a lot of fans know what you look like now based on interviews and whatever else. What’s the one thing that people always or the one thing that fans have said to you about the film or what have they always wanted to talk to you about now that everyone’s seen it?

Chris:  Well, of course everyone wants to meet Rob or Taylor! (laughter) And they’re under the impression that I’m always hanging out with them and I wish that I was so cool! That’s, I’m sure, in the foremost of people’s minds. But mostly they, I think, have expressed appreciation that movie is treated in the spirit of the books. And I’ve felt very supported in that regard. But I must say you’d be surprised at how unrecognizable I become when I’m not standing directly next to Kristen, Rob or Taylor! So, you know, I am incredibly non-descript in that regard.

Which is, what exactly are you currently working on? What are you thinking about doing next?

Chris:  I am actually have just gone to pre-production on a film called The Gardener which is about a father and son. The father is a undocumented immigrant living in Los Angeles. So imagine no special effects. A very kind of strong character driven actor’s piece is what I’m doing next.

Do you know when you’ll be announcing casting?

Chris:  Yeah, actually probably in the next couple of weeks.

Of course I have to ask because the Twilight fans are going to want to know, is there any Twilight actors that impressed you to the point that you might want to put them in the movie?

Chris:  Well, all the Twilight actors have impressed me actually. I really enjoyed working with them, but since this is a movie really about Mexican-Americans, there’s no one from the Twilight act that would fit in. I tried to get Kristen to have a mustache and wear a sombrero but it wouldn’t work.

That’s funny. I know I’ve got to wrap with you, when do you think you’re in front of cameras on this thing?

Chris:  April 26^th is our first day of shooting.

Oh wow. Are you shooting in L.A.?

Chris:  Yup.

Is it Summit?

Chris:  It is Summit. Yes it is.  Had a great experience with them and want to keep on working with them.

[Source:  Collider. Thanks McNutters]