Broadway is about to get a little extra sparkle in those famous neon lights.

It was recently announced the Twilight musical is officially happening. Before you book your tickets to NYC (or, conversely, get the heck out of Times Square) you should know it’s not expected to have a very long run. Twilight: The Musical will make its off-Broadway debut as a one-night-only staged reading on January 16th, and the proceeds will benefit the charity Blessings in a Backpack.

The most exciting thing about this announcement may be the cast, and the plot teases their characters’ names give us. In addition to Bella and Edward, (who already sings a lullaby—why shouldn’t he also belt out a Broadway tune?) the name that gets me onboard is the totally awesome Lauren Lopez (Alice), who played Draco Malfoy opposite Darren Criss’ Harry Potter in the spectacular A Very Potter Musical.

read more at ew.com

The good news is that “Breaking Dawn: Part 1″ was a hit with Twi-hards and is still making waves in theaters and breaking box office records. The bad news is that “Breaking Dawn: Part 2″ doesn’t come out until November 2012.

Here are five things to look forward to in the next — and last — of the “Twilight” movies.

Bella as a Vampire

“Breaking Dawn: Part 1″ ended with Bella opening her eyes after undergoing her vampire transformation – much like “Avatar” ended with Sam Worthington’s character waking up in his new body. “Twilight” readers know that Bella immediately feels her new powers. Her senses are sharper, her mind is quicker, and her body is stronger. It will be interesting to see how the bigwigs – and actress Kristen Stewart – pull this off.

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Apologies to David Bowie for this week’s title, but there were — as with any book-to-screen adaptation — several differences between the book and what was portrayed on screen in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. Now, certainly no one expects every scene exactly as written in a novel to make it to the screen; inevitably things need to be condensed or left out all together. On the other hand, sometimes there is material that was never in the books to begin with that makes it onto the screen. The question is, given cuts, how effective is this new material when fans feel very protective of the original source?

The first major insertion of new material that leaps to mind in Breaking Dawn: Part 1 is the presence of Irina of the Denali Coven at Bella and Edward’s wedding. As every Twilight fan knows, Irina sets some major wheels into motion in the second half of the novel Breaking Dawn. Since the Denali Coven and their interaction with Laurent wasn’t focused on in New Moon, it left something of a gaping plot hole that had to be addressed. It was interesting to see screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg and director Bill Condon handle this dilemma. They deftly had Irina react to Seth’s presence at the wedding, have a flashback to Laurent, establish Irina’s romantic ties to him, and then have Irina storm off. That’s a lot of material to cover in roughly ninety seconds of film time, but they managed it. By doing so, they set the plot for Breaking Dawn: Part 2 securely on course.

read the rest at movies.com

The number one movie in America is allegedly giving some viewers seizures.

“Breaking Dawn, Part 1,” the first part of the “Twilight Saga” finale, contains a graphic birthing scene involving star Kristen Stewart and the violent delivery of her child. ABC reports that the flashing of colors and bright lights have caused multiple viewers to suffer from photosensitive epilepsy, including a Salt Lake City man who was, “mumbling and he was blinking on and off with his eyes,” his wife told the news network.

During the build-up to “Breaking Dawn,” Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and director Bill Condon promised that the birthing scene would be as graphic and dramatic as possible.

“I think within the confines of a PG-13 rating, I think we’ve got something that’s pretty powerful,” Condon told Box Office Magazine, saying the scene was like one out of a horror film. “And in terms of the birth, it was, ‘Let’s do it from Bella’s point of view. Let’s see whatever she can see.’ Once you decide on an approach like that, it’s amazing how powerful you can be without being overly explicit.”

This is not the first film to allegedly cause seizures; in 2009, James Cameron’s digital extravaganza, “Avatar,” also reportedly caused some viewers to break into convulsions.

“Breaking Dawn, Part 1,” made $138 million domestically last weekend and is estimated to win the Thanksgiving weekend box office as well.

via huffingtonpost

The lacrosse drama, directed by Michael F. Sears, is set for a limited release on Dec. 2.

Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene play adopted siblings in The Twilight Saga, but the duo pair off romantically for the lacrosse drama A Warrior’s Heart.

The film, produced by California Pictures and Family Productions, is slated for a Dec. 2 limited release and is directed by Michael F. Sears. Lutz stars as Lacrosse player Conor Sullivan, who struggles to come to terms with the death of his Marine father. Through a wilderness camp led by his dad’s former combat pal — played by Adam Beach — Conor learns to live and let go. Greene stars as his high school love interest, Brooklyn.

Gabrielle Anwar and Chord Overstreet also star.

The screenplay was written by Martin Dugard. Camelot Entertainment Group and Xenon Pictures own the rights.

via hollywood reporter

“Breaking Dawn” is bringing the “Twilight” film frenzy back this week, almost three years to the day that the first film in the series was released. Reviews of the new installment are mixed — but regardless, legions of fans have been camping out, tweeting passionately, and buying up movie tickets in advance of this weekend. And through it all, millions of non-Twi-hards are rolling their eyes and scratching their heads, wondering what all the fuss is about.

But there’s no reason that someone who hasn’t read the books (or even seen any of the other movies yet) should be apprehensive about heading to theaters this holiday season to see “Breaking Dawn.” Here, are a few reasons why (**SPOILER ALERT**):

Check out the reasons here

I’m always surprised when I like anything Twilight-related. I’ve written at length on how I find the subtext of the movies repulsive even though I can understand how the text can be enjoyed as shallow fantasy. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 even managed to wrap me up in that fantasy for the first half of the movie. I’m not immune to big weddings and romantic honeymoons, and the first half is filled with happiness and humor. Sadly, the second half of Breaking Dawn transforms into the mopey and idiotic drama I endured for the past three movies, but at least this time the series reached some glorious so-bad-it’s-good moments.

[Because this review is for fans of the series and they already know the plot, I'm going to go ahead with spoilers.]

read the full review (spoilers and all) over at collider.com

At midnight Thursday (Nov. 17), the next installment in the “Twilight” saga hits theaters. “Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ is kind of a watershed event for Twi-hards (Yes, aLL “Twilight” installments are watershed moments for Twi-hards): we know that Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) finally marry, sealing their love for all eternity, and Bella, against all odds, becomes pregnant with a vampire baby. Also, Taylor Lautner at some point inevitably takes his shirt off.

Anyhow, how are critics reacting to the latest, penultimate chapter in the “Twilight” saga? We’ve gathered a few early opinions:

“What we learn in this all-pain/no-pleasure episode is that marriage feels like a life sentence, weddings are miserable events, honeymoon sex is dangerous and leaves a bride covered in bruises, and pregnancy is a torment that leads to death in exchange for birth.” — Lisa Schwarzbaum for EW

“Years have passed for fans waiting to get to this moment, the inarguably gorgeous, wildly over the top nuptials of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, and here, Part 1 doesn’t disappoint.” — Alynda Wheat for People

“I lived a thousand lifetimes watching it, and died a thousand deaths. (The worst one was when Edward looked up “immortalicum” on Yahoo! search. On Yahoo! Search!)” — Dan Kois for The Village Voice.

“…the latest and best of the movies about a girl, her vampire and their impossible, ridiculously appealing — yes, I surrendered — love story.” — Manohla Dargis for the New York Times

“…a significant number of its 117 minutes do seem like hours, and whenever certain actors take the lead and set the pace of the dialogue, time itself begins to crawl backward and the breaking dawn begins to feel like yesterday’s breaking dawn, or last Tuesday’s.” — Michael Phillips for the Chicago Tribune

via zap2it

Bella Swan has had the benefit of my doubt for the previous three installments of The Twilight Saga. But in Breaking Dawn — Part 1, this perpetually sad/sullen/wincing young woman — played as if every scene gives her cramps by the otherwise interesting Kristen Stewart — is a big drip. She’s maddeningly inarticulate. She’s distressingly passive. She’s a bad role model for girls. So, I say enough. Enough with Bella’s depressed, ragdoll posture and her eternal gloom. And a pox on Breaking Dawn, the movie, for its contented complicity with Stephenie Meyer’s ultimately awful message to millions of readers. What we learn in this all-pain/no-pleasure episode is that marriage feels like a life sentence, weddings are miserable events, honeymoon sex is dangerous and leaves a bride covered in bruises, and pregnancy is a torment that leads to death in exchange for birth. Also, during pregnancy, families fight like werewolves and vampires. Way to go, YA message. At least Bella’s wedding gown is pretty. Ooh! Cue the fashion blogs.

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