It has been announced by Summit Entertainment that The Twilight Saga: New Moon has started principal photography. The Twilight sequel will be shooting in locations in Vancouver and Tuscany (Italy), and it sees stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner reprise their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen and Jacob Black, respectively.
Not only are things under way as far as shooting is concerned, there have also been some new cast members announced to join those who are returning.
Most of them are members of the newly introduced Volturi, a coven of vampires who are hell bent on on disrupting the existing vampire laws. Michael Sheen has already been announced as the leader of this group, Aro, as well as Dakota Fanning as Jane, a high ranking member, and supermodel Noot Seear as Heidi. But joining them is Charlie Bewley as Demetri, Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius, Daniel Cudmore as Felix, Christopher Heyerdahl as Marcus and Cameron Bright as Jane’s brother, Alec.
Other new cast members announced are Graham Greene (the actor, not the now-deceased writer) as Harry Clearwater, an old friend of Bella’s father Charlie and Quileute tribal leader, and Tinsel Koley, who will play Emily.
I guess Twilight fans can rejoice that all of the important cast members from the first film are returning for the sequel (and probably the next sequel, Eclipse, after that), from the main players down to the smaller, more supporting roles. This was a franchise that I actually wouldn’t have been surprised if they had switched up actors in the sequel(s) for such reasons as money or availability, but it’s great to see them sticking adamantly to what has been set up already to preserve continuity.
I’m guessing the studio doesn’t want to mess these film adaptations up because of the loving and loyal fanbase the books have – which would be a good explanation as to why for certain characters (namely the “wolf pack” that was announced a few weeks ago) they’re resisting just going for big name actors and have actually hired actors who are actually of the same racial heritage as the characters in the book.
I just wonder how fans feel about the new cast members that have already been announced and those just announced today? Are you fans out there happy that Dakota Fanning was cast as Jane and Michael Sheen as Aro? Do they suit their roles?
The Twilight Saga: New Moon is scheduled to be released on November 20th in the US, and November 27th in the UK this year.
