Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn

10/13/10 - Summit Entertainment announced casting news for Breaking Dawn.  Summit has finally cast the vampires that make up the Amazon Coven, the Egyptian Coven, the Irish Coven, and the Romanian Coven.  The Amazon Coven consists of descendants of an ancient Amazonian tribe and are considered the oldest vampires in the world. The roles of Senna and Zafrina will be played by Tracey Heggins and Judi Shekoni, respectively.  The Egyptian Coven will be played by Omar Metwally as Amun, Andrea Gabriel as Kebi, Rami Malek as Benjamin and Angela Sarafyan as Tia.  The Irish Coven, which is considered to be a young civilized group of vampires, will be comprised of Marlane Barnes as Maggie, Lisa Howard as Siobhan, and Patrick Brennan as Liam.  The Romanian Coven was once the ruling vampire family until the Italian Volturi took over. The Romanian Coven will be played by Noel Fisher as Vladimir and Guri Weinberg as Stefan.  Lastly, the American Nomads will be played by Lee Pace as Garrett, Toni Trucks as Mary, Bill Tangradi as Randall, Erik Odom as Peter and Valorie Curry as Charlotte.

10/7/10 - Mackenzie Foy will play Bella and Edward's daughter, Renesmee, in Breaking Dawn, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  "Very excited about our new Renesmee, Mackenzie Foy," wrote Meyer. "She's an amazing young actress and I'm excited to work with her."  Director Bill Condon is expected to use similar special effects as David Fincher in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" to show Foy aging 17 years over the span of seven years. Filming begins this November in Baton Rouge, LA.

10/1/10 - The vampire coven known as the Denali clan has been cast for Summit's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  MyAnna Buring, Mia Maestro and Casey LaBow are the female members of the undead family. Christian Camargo is the patriarch.  Buring and LaBow will join the recently cast Maggie Grace as a trio of Russian vampire sisters of the Denali coven. Buring is playing Tanya, a rival to Kristen Stewart's Bella for the attention of Edward (Rob Pattinson), while LaBow will play Kate, who has the ability to produce an electric current that can shock opponents. (Grace is playing villainous Irina.)  Maestro portrays Carmen and Camargo is Eleazar, the two Spanish heads of the coven, which in the "Twilight" universe is the only other non-human-feeding vampire clan besides the the Cullen clan.  The first of the "Breaking Dawn" movies is slated to be released in theaters Nov. 18, 2011, with the second one coming Nov. 16, 2012.

8/3/10 - Summit Entertainment has set part two of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn for November 16, 2012.  Breaking Dawn Part 1 is set to for November 11, 2011.  Part two is being directed by Bill Condon.

6/11/10 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, the fourth movie in the vampire franchise, will be split in two, with the first half scheduled for release on November 18, 2011, distributor Summit Entertainment confirmed.  The studio had signaled that author Stephenie Meyer's 900-page Breaking Dawn book was too complex to be adapted into a single movie.  The films will shoot back-to-back in the fall, with Bill Condon directing from a script being written by Melissa Rosenberg. A Summit spokesman said there was no release date scheduled yet for the fifth film.  All the same lovelorn characters -- including Bella (played by Kristen Stewart), Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) -- will be on hand.  The fourth book centers on Bella 's marriage to the vampire Edward, her subsequent pregnancy, and her fulfilled desire to be transformed into a vampire.

5/5/10 - Summit Entertainment set a November 18, 2011 release date for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn film.  Based on the popular books by author Stephenie Meyer, the books and movies tell of a teenager named Bella Swan who falls in love with the immortal vampire, Edward Cullen.  Summit said that Breaking Dawn will be directed by Bill Condon.  Since Breaking Dawn is the last novel in Meyer's Twilight book series, some in Hollywood have speculated that Summit might try to reap the most from the novel by dividing it into two films.

4/28/10 - Summit Entertainment announced that writer-director Bill Condon will direct the final film in the Twilight series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  No decision has yet been made as to whether the long final book will be divided into two movies or whether one (or both) will be filmed in 3D.  Regardless, as with the previous three films, Melissa Rosenberg is adapting the Stephenie Meyer novel, while Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner will return to star.  "I'm very excited to get the chance to bring the climax of this saga to life onscreen," said Condon. "As fans of the series know, this is a one-of-a-kind book -- and we're hoping to create an equally unique cinematic experience."

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