'Twilight' Director Catherine Hardwicke Tells Why She Turned Down 'New Moon'

Despite being offered a huge sum of money to come onboard, Catherine Hardwicke decided not to direct "Twilight" sequel "New Moon." The director told Entertainment Weekly that she didn't want to make the film under the deadline and budget restraints that would have been placed on her for the follow-up, reports the Associated Press.

She recalls being at dinner with "Twilight" stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in Paris when she got the call from Summit Entertainment, which offered her "more money than I or anyone in my family has ever seen."

But, she added that with the payday came tight budget restraints and deadlines. "I was devastated," said Hardwick, who will release her book "Twilight: Director's Notebook" in March. "I really did feel a strong connection to the people around the world that liked the movie, and to Stephenie and the actors. But I just didn't think I could make a good movie under those circumstances."

A spokesperson for Summit Entertainment had no comment about the report. "New Moon," which is due out on November 20, will now be directed by "Golden Compass" director Chris Weitz, and both Pattinson and Stewart will reprise their roles as lovestruck Edward Cullen and Bella Swan.

For "New Moon," Dakota Fanning has been rumored and shown interest in joining the cast as Jane. And it was recently reported that although Vanessa Hudgens auditioned for the part of Leah Clearwater, that character will most likely not appear in "New Moon."

And in a scenario that would surely fulfill many a fan dream, the Jonas Brothers have recently shown interest in having a part on the "New Moon" soundtrack. "The movie was obviously a huge success, and if they asked us to be a part of [the sequel], that would be great," Nick Jonas told MTV News. "That would be really cool," agreed Joe and Kevin about the prospect.

‘American Idol’ Semifinalist Disqualified

LOS ANGELES — The producers of “American Idol” had hoped that a new focus this season on the personal stories of the contestants would stem a slide in ratings. But on Wednesday it was one of those personal stories that apparently spawned this season’s first big scandal on “Idol.”



Hours after Joanna Pacitti, a 23-year-old Philadelphia native, was named one of the 36 semifinalists in the show’s eighth season on Wednesday’s broadcast, the producers of the series disqualified her from the competition and replaced her with another female performer who viewers had been told was eliminated.

The producers would not give a reason for the disqualification, which followed a recent report in Star magazine that Ms. Pacitti had professional or personal relationships with two executives at 19 Entertainment, the company founded by Simon Fuller, one of the creators and an executive producer of “American Idol.”

An “Editor’s Note” tacked on to the end of a news release issued shortly after the West Coast broadcast of “American Idol” on Wednesday said, in its entirety: “It has been determined that Joanna Pacitti is ineligible to continue in the competition. ‘American Idol’ contestant Felicia Barton has replaced Ms. Pacitti as part of the top 36.”

Spokesmen for Fox, for 19 Entertainment and for Fremantle North America, which also produces the show, declined to comment further.

Ms. Pacitti attracted attention almost from the beginning of this season because of her previous professional singing career. When Ms. Pacitti arrived to audition before the show’s judges last summer in Louisville, Ky., Kara DioGuardi, who joined the series as the fourth judge this year, said on camera that she recognized Ms. Pacitti and asked if she was the same person who previously had a recording contract with A&M Records.

Ms. Pacitti told Ms. DioGuardi that her contract had ended “a while ago.” “American Idol” requires only that contestants not be under contract with a management or recording company.

Ms. Pacitti was one of 147 contestants — out of the tens of thousands who auditioned — who made it through to the Hollywood round, which was conducted in January but not shown until this month.

“American Idol” on Wednesday showed that Ms. Pacitti twice forgot the words to her songs during Hollywood week performances. Nevertheless, the judges put her through to the semifinals, telling her that she deserved a break.