David Slade directing 'Eclipse'; Diaz, Banks to star in workplace comedies

By Sarah Sluis

Busy filming the follow-up to Twilight, New Moon, Summit is wasting no time putting together the third film, Eclipse. Trying to capture their teen audience before they age out of the series (not that the Harry Potter films have had that problem), they've brought on a different director for each film to speed up the process. David Slade will direct the third installment. He's no stranger to vampires, having recently directed horror film 30 Days of Night. A more interesting part of his resume is Hard Candy. At the time, our reviewer Frank Lovece called it a "low-budget gem" that starred "a little-known American actor and an award-winning 17-year-old Nova Scotian actress," otherwise known as Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) and Ellen Page (Juno) The plot, which seems reminiscent of Japanese torture-romance horror films, involves an online romance between the two actors, one playing a fourteen-year-old, the other a thirty-two-year-old photographer. When they meet, the young girl drugs and abuses the photographer, who she wants to punish for being a pedophile. With horror and torture under his belt, Slade seems an unusual choice for the director spot. However, when you're dealing with a love triangle where one character must resist his urges to murder his girlfriend, Slade's background sounds right on target.

On a lighter note, Cameron Diaz is in final talks to play an ambulance-chasing lawyer in workplace comedy Bobbie Sue.

She goes from the streets to a gig at a prestigious law firm when

they decide the tough, pretty blonde would be a strategic face for a

sexual discrimination suit. I can only hope this means Diaz has abandoned

her plans to play an "acerbic" wingman in Swingles, the obnoxiously titled film that had me groaning. While I suspect there's a romance in the film along the lines of Gerard Butler-Katherine Heigl in upcoming The Ugly Truth, the details of the plot have not been released. Since workplace comedy seems to be the new romantic comedy, Elizabeth Banks announced she will star in Forever 21 for DreamWorks. Though the high-concept plot has not been released, there are no indications that it is related to discount clothing store Forever 21.

'New Moon' for Dakota Fanning

By Sarah Sluis

A teen actress who has yet to play a role in a teen-oriented film, Dakota Fanning will make her teen idolworthy debut by appearing in the Twilight sequel, New Moon, as Jane, a "sweet but sneaky" vampire.

Shrewdly, Fanning has played roles in both adult and family films throughout her career, never banking on her popularity with only one demographic. However, her choices have also led to a somewhat fractured screen persona. Many of her roles in family or children-oriented films could easily slip under the radar of someone who only saw her as a vulnerable child in thrillers and action films (Man on Fire, Hide & Seek, War of the Worlds) or the occasional role in an inter-generational female-oriented film (The Secret Life of Bees, Uptown Girls). Among films targeted towards children and their families, Fanning has starred not only in current release Coraline, but also big literary adaptations Charlotte's Web and The Cat in the Hat. Now that she's a teenager, she's chosen two teen-themed pictures for her next projects.

Her choice to appear in New Moon will be her second team-up with Twilight star Kristen Stewart, with whom she will co-star in The Runaways, a movie about the 1970s teen band. Stewart will play guitarist/songwriter Joan Jett, while Fanning will play lead singer Cherie Currie. While it's unknown exactly how they plan to script the rock biopic, hopefully the filmmakers will include a few juicy details of the rock star life. The transition from child to teen to adult actor is notoriously tough, but the strategic casting of Fanning (although let's ignore the indie film with the much publicized child rape scene, Hounddog, that inspired outrage) could propel her into a career like that of Jodie Foster or Drew Barrymore.