It's just seven months until Eclipse, the third instalment of Stephenie Meyer's popular book series, hits the big screen. RT caught up with the cast in LA's Four Seasons hotel during their manic New Moon press tour to get the latest on the eagerly anticipated film. We learned that Robert Pattinson hates pranks, that Nikki Reed loves werewolves and that we may just see a fifth film.
Fact #1: It's Darker
The brand new poster for Eclipse (above) hints at a darker tone with its brooding storm clouds. With 30 Days of Night director David Slade at the helm, it's unsurprising. "Every movie is different because we work with a different director on each one, which I love," Taylor Lautner tells RT. "David Slade is perfect for the third film because it's darker. Eclipse was my favourite book."
Ashley Greene, who plays vampire Alice, tells RT that Slade isn't just a prince of darkness. "David is actually hysterical," she laughs, "He has such a dry sense of humour that sometimes you don't know if he's kidding or not. Eclipse will be amazing because he has made it far edgier and more dramatic. It's going to look very cool."
Fact #2: There Will Be Less "Love Story" and More "War"
"Eclipse isn't as intimate as Twilight or New Moon," Robert Pattinson explains to us. "We're at war, so I get to interact with more characters, not just Kristen. You'll also find out more about the other members of the Cullen family. It just feels bigger." But -- fear not, Twihards -- that isn't to say the love story is cast aside altogether. "New Moon set up a love triangle with Bella, Edward and Jacob," says Lautner. "So we explore that further in Eclipse. It's a tough situation for all of them because Bella is torn between two guys, Jacob can't get the girl that he loves and then there's Edward, with all of his issues."
Fact #3: The Werewolves Will Crank Up the Sex Appeal
"We all know the appeal of the vampire family," says Nikki Reed, who plays vampire Rosalie. "But the werewolf boys are on a whole different level. They interact with a youthful, playful, comfortable warmth. It's very sexy."
As for Pattinson, he admits that his personal jealousy about Taylor Lautner's newly-ripped physique actually comes in handy for the role. "In Eclipse, Taylor and I have lots of scenes together where we have to be jealous and petty with each other," he says. "So it helps that I actually do feel inadequate when I see his body, especially because he's younger than me. He fulfills every criteria of what teenage girls want, physically, in a guy. I felt like a had to prove myself against him."
Fact #4: There's More Action
"Filming Eclipse actually changed my life," says Nikki Reed of the arduous training regime the cast had to endure. "I have never been so fit -- this is the first time in my life I have actually had a bicep. It's bizarre to compare how we look now to how we all looked in the first movie. The entire cast turned up on set for Eclipse looking super-buff."
New cast member Bryce Dallas Howard tried to play a prank on the crew during one stunt, but she didn't count on Pattinson's awkwardness. "We had a fight scene where Bryce had to grab my hair," he laughs. "So she took a clump of hair from my stunt double's wig and was going to pretend she had pulled it from my head. She told me to scream and storm off set, but it was so embarrassing. She had this huge clump of hair in her hand, and I was like 'oww,' really unconvincingly."
While the rest of the cast were having fun with stunts, spare a thought for poor Taylor Lautner. "Eclipse is a lot more physical for my character," he explains, "but any time I have any kind of action, I'm a wolf, so it's all done with CGI. It's a bummer."
Fact #5: The Ending Will Be Nicely Set Up For a Fourth - And Perhaps Fifth - Film
There are four books in The Twilight Saga: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. But Ashley Greene gave RT the strongest indication yet that there might be five films. "We have finished filming Eclipse and one would assume that, if New Moon does as well as Twilight, then we'll start filming Breaking Dawn next year," she says.
"The only thing is, Breaking Dawn is a very large book so it would be a really long movie. We're thinking they might decide to split it into two parts, like they did with Harry Potter. Either way, we need to get on with shooting them because, unlike Harry Potter, vampires don't age. So we all need to look the same!"
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is released worldwide in the summer of 2010.
