David Slade Doesn't Like Twilight, Yet He's Directing Eclipse?

May 3, 2009
Source: SlashFilm
by Alex Billington

I already know the answer to this question - money. But obviously there's more to the story than just that (and I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about this once it starts to spread). Our good friends over at SlashFilm dug up a very interesting audio clip featuring 30 Days of Night director David Slade, who said during radio interview with DC's WJFK late last year that he, pretty much, hates Twilight and wouldn't even see it at gun point. They have the full audio clip over on SlashFilm, but here's a taste. "Twilight drunk? No, not even drunk? Twilight on acid? No, not even on acid. Twilight at gun point? Just shoot me." Woops!

So the story goes that Slade was deciding which movie to see one night last year (after having seen almost everything else) and decided not to even see Twilight. Apparently that quote above is the "joke" he wrote on his twitter, although his account has since been deleted. The funny thing is that a few weeks ago, Slade was officially confirmed by Summit Entertainment as the director of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third movie in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight franchise. So he wouldn't even see Twilight and he, presumably, hates the series, and yet he was hired to direct the third movie? Like I said, we probably know why - money.

I love this story and I can't wait to see what happens when all the fans find out about it. I actually like Slade, he's a great director, and I was a bit shocked by his choice to direct Eclipse as well. But then again, look at Robert Rodriguez, he directed things like Spy Kids and Sharkboy and Lavagirl, so why can't Slade direct something not so great and still get a pass? That or he's just getting one hell of a paycheck from Summit.

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Reader Feedback - 30 Comments »

LOL. So much more respect for this guy.

Tyler on May 3, 2009

LOL. So no more respect for this guy.

Richard on May 3, 2009

as krusty would say "They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house. I'm not made of stone!"

for an absurd paycheck i'd do it. he deserves respect for not lying about how he feels about it

Janny on May 3, 2009

what a greedy monster he better not mess up this movie or the crazy twilight fan girls will be after him

KissKissKiss on May 3, 2009

Definitely in it for the money. And it just proves that every director has a $$$ price, no matter what they thought of the source material/movie beforehand.

Daniel on May 3, 2009

Its just a job. Even in Hollywood where word spreads quickly, directors can flaunt their hatred for garbage franchises.

No matter, I still think David Slade is a great director. I loved "Hard Candy" and "30 Days of Night" - both solid flicks!!

Conrad on May 3, 2009

While I can see fangirls having a hard time swallowing this, it's not that big of a problem. He's a professional after all, it's a job like everything else. I mean Liev Schreiber refused to read the book before directing Everything Is Illuminated. Mark Whalberg refused to play the Max Payne games and he was easily the best part of the film version, as terrible as it otherwise was.

Mark on May 4, 2009

Ruin it. RUIN IT FROM THE INSIDE!!! HAHAHAHA!

Hey Ya on May 4, 2009

30 Days of Night was terrible. the lighting was horrid as well. i love how new moon is shaping up to be not half bad - ok, its probably still going to be pretty bad - and then they take five steps back with Eclipse. Well done Summit.

Keith on May 4, 2009

Good job Slade…one more director waking up to the BS LaLaWood has been dishing the past 4 years! I loved 30 days of night and love the graphic novel. Glad he had the balls to see mediocre movies where its due! LoL…

Lazarus on May 4, 2009

wow.. drama! i'm indifferent to him as a director b/c i'm not familiar with his work, but the fact that he has openly dicussed how much he hates the first movie in the series that is about to make him a rich man is quite disheartening! I'm thinking Summit doesn't know this interview is out there.

don't worry.. i'll get the fans on it:)

unintendedchoice on May 4, 2009

Wow! What a comment to make and now that its leaked I'm sure the fan girls are all over this!!! Its already on all the Twilight sites!!! Well if he "hates" Twilight and then turns around and accepts to direct he's only out for money I think…. as a Twilight fan… with a past comment like this by him… I'd like to see a response to this and hear him "apologize" which wouldn't really be an apology because then he'd only apologize because of a comment made long ago and would want the fans to back him… which at this point he has an upward battle

Christine on May 4, 2009

Is this really surprising? Twilight was terrible and looked terrible. This doesn't mean he is doing a sequel just for the money though. Maybe he's up for the challenge of making a film in this series that will actually be up to his standards.

Marty Martin on May 4, 2009

Rodrigues loves SpyKids, all this kids movies by Rod are made because he loves them. But money rulez the world and directors must earn money to be able to use it for own projects they love. Because when a director wants to make a movie like he wants then he needs more money as the money of the producers and companies.

Millus on May 4, 2009

oh, and people or artists dont need love or dont need to like a job to create a good or great result

Millus on May 4, 2009

Yeah they do. Well…not to get a good result. One can easily see the difference in something someone loves opposed to just a job.

Hey Ya on May 4, 2009

This could be exactly what this series needs to branch out past the 14 year old girl demographic.

peloquin on May 4, 2009

Anyone is better then Drew Barrymore…… which I heard she was in talks in directing it

SHANEDAV on May 4, 2009

no this is awesome…..hopefully he'll save the movies, and eclipse will actually be worth a view

erin on May 4, 2009

That just pisses me off.

Jess on May 4, 2009

Who cares? Twilight is crap. I hope the next movie bombs, but it won't. It would be interesting to see the second movie of a trilogy bomb, though.

Greedo the Rodian on May 4, 2009

Seeing as I'm one of the few twilight fans on the site I'll put in my two cents…just weird. I wonder if Summit all ready knew this prior to signing him or if this is really out of nowhere. I'm kind of disappointed but not really that surprised. If he makes a good movie I don't really care if he doesn't like the story but the debate can be made…can any director make a good movie from material they don't like? Hard to imagine.

janet on May 4, 2009

The real question here is: Who the hell is David Slade?

Greedo the Rodian on May 4, 2009

I would love to be able to direct a Twilight film, or Fantastic Four, or any other film from a bad franchise to be able to put my own spin on it and hopefully redeem it with my own vision (although I have trouble writing screenplays whenever I try), maybe that's why he agreed to it?

Being paid to put your own spin on a film that you yourself can perceive as being terrible if it is given the usual Hollywood treatment would be amazing I think.

Jeffrey Garten on May 4, 2009

NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!!

GET SOME ONE ELSE , PLEASE!!!

DREW BERRYMORE - SOMEBODY PLEASE!!!!

that's all i have 2 say (Please)

kia on May 14, 2009

I don't consider myself a twi-hard fan girl, however I have read the books and I had the unfortunate experience of seeing Twilight on it's opening night. Having spent 6 horrible hours sitting on a movie theater floor surrounded by the hard core fans of the Twilight series, I can gather this much: I really don't think they give a crap about who's directing the movie. Sure there are few who made an issue of a male directing New Moon, but fan-girls latch on to whatever drama is going on in the first place. Slade IS a great director and everyone has to pay the bills somehow. By the way…not trying to be offensive to anyway…having a passion for something in life is great, even if some people think it's stupid.

Tay on May 14, 2009

well it dosnet matter how many times twilight sucks. New Moon will sell more than any other movie this year and as for this asshole of a director well the twilight fans are gonna crush him lol so dosen't matter what u say about twilight saga its still gonna sell more than any other movie so talk all u want new moon will dominate the boxoffice lol

BIBI on Jun 14, 2009

if this guy screws up eclipse (which in my opinion is the best one) i will egg his house or blow it up or sumthin

LaurenMarieEE on Oct 4, 2009

NOO. He did a horrible job on Twilight and Eclipse was my favorite out of all the books.
If he directs it… I don't know. He's just going to do a bad job. I know it.
Why can't we stick to one director like the one directing New Moon? All the trailers look amazing!

NODAVIDSLADE on Nov 9, 2009

David Slade Doesn't Like Twilight, Yet He's Directing Eclipse?

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