FROM MTV.COM: Rachelle Lefevre opted not to stop by the "New Moon" premiere Monday night to bid farewell the "Twilight" franchise before Bryce Dallas Howard replaces her in "Eclipse."

The actress, who plays the evil vampire Victoria in the first two movies, gave two reasons for not attending the premiere on her Twitter. "2 fans at the premiere: w/ Honey in hospital," she wrote. "& being fired from Eclipse tonight was just 2 emotional 4 me & I couldn't manage it. So sorry."

Continue reading Rachelle Lefevre Says She 'Couldn't Manage' Going To 'New Moon' Premiere

Now that production is underway, reports of "Eclipse" set photos will be popping up more and more frequently. I've never understood the appeal myself. These days, so much of the glue that brings a movie together is applied during the post-production phase that they tend to be pretty boring. Sure, you sometimes get a glimpse of cool costumes or foreground set trappings, but with a movie like "Eclipse," even that will be relatively unexciting.

Then again, that's kind of what being a fan is all about. Obsessing over the small stuff just as much as you do over the big stuff. And here you've got set photos featuring two newcomers to the "Twilight" team: Bryce Dallas Howard, who replaces Rachelle Lefevre in the role of Victoria, and Xavier Samuel, who plays Victoria's lackey Riley. They're blurry and captured from a distance, but there are a lot of them. The pic up there is just a piece of one; head over to Lainey Gossip for the full set.

"Twilight" stuff. It's a pretty random assortment, though much of it predictably relates to this week's "New Moon" trailer. I'll admit that I've been somewhat remiss in bringing you these weekly round-ups, but its been crazy up in this MTV newsroom lately. Before the jump, you've got top stories 6 through 10 for the past week. After the jump, 1 through 5. Enjoy.

10. Rounding Up Your Reactions To Rachelle Lefevre Being Re-cast in 'Eclipse' -- You all know that Bryce Dallas Howard replaced Rachelle Lefevre in "Eclipse." It made quite a big splash, that news. So big that I felt compelled to dig through your comments and share some highlights in a dedicated blog post. This blog post.

9. 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn' Plagiarism Controversy Devolves Into Hilarity -- Some nutjob writer decided that because she and "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer wrote a book featuring a wedding, a honeymoon and a troubled pregnancy, all of it with supernatural undertones, Meyer's later effort was a work of plagiarism. I won't reprint the other writer's name here because let's face it folks: she's gotten more than enough press already.

8. EXCLUSIVE JUDD APATOW BLOG: 'Funny People' Director Answers Questions You Haven't Asked -- Unbelievably, this guest blog entry from "Funny People" director Judd Apatow is still popping. Glad y'all are enjoying it.

7. 'New Moon' Trailer Tease Goes Interactive! -- The latest "New Moon" trailer hits today, but the teaser for said trailer hit on Wednesday. We decided to try out a new piece of web tech on you community-loving Twilighters, and this here interactive trailer tease is it.

6. An Early Taste Of The 'New Moon' Trailer On Wednesday -- More on that new "New Moon" trailer. This was the news brief informing you of the upcoming trailer tease. Now it's not upcoming anymore. So this news brief is pointless, a relic of bygone days. Read more...

Last week, the "Twilight"-loving Internet was set ablaze when the news broke that Rachelle Lefevre, who played Victoria in "Twilight" and the upcoming "New Moon," would be replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard in "Eclipse," the third movie in the series based on Stephenie Meyer's popular book series. As you might imagine, Twilighters had some things to say over the weekend at the annual TwiCon gathering. See for yourself:

You Twilighters here on the MTV Movies Blog had plenty to say yourselves too. In fact, that's why I'm here today. I figure if we're going to highlight TwiCon goers on video, I can at least highlight some of you commenters here on the blog. So keep reading for some of your own thoughtful responses to the Lefevre/Howard controversy. By the way: kudos to you all for keeping things relatively civil and respectful. Read more...

I asked, and you all answered with your clicks. To recap briefly for those who have just returned from Mars: Rachelle Lefevre, who played Victoria in "Twilight" and the upcoming "New Moon," has been replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard for the third (and presumably fourth) film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's four-part vampire romance series. Lefevre was not amused. "Twilight" studio Summit Entertainment was even less amused. Words were exchanged and things got ugly.

That all went down in the space of a day. Not even a full day. Since "Twilight" is all the rage right now, I figured I'd poll you readers to get an idea of how the casting switch changes your interest in the series, if it does at all. The numbers are in now and... well... they surprise me a little bit. Only a little though. Read more...

Okay, last big "Twilight" post for the day. This Lefevre/Howard scandal is taking up a lot of bandwidth, but it happens to be a pretty unique and discussion-worthy situation. "Twilight" is a major franchise, so big in fact that it's easy to forget the first big screen adaptation in the series hit theaters considerably less than a year ago. The fanbase has only grown since then, and at an exceptional rate.

Personally, I've done all that I can with this story. I've opined to you. I've thrown images your way. I've polled you. And that about taps me and my admittedly limited knowledge of the franchise out. There's plenty more being said however, out there Around the Blogosphere. And that's the focus of today's column, to bring you opinions from the four corners of the Internet. Enjoy! Read more...

I keep asking you all for opinions about Rachelle Lefevre, Bryce Dallas Howard and the "Eclipse" casting change, and I've gotten some very reasoned, informative responses across a variety of blog posts. This morning's opinion piece has generated some nice back and forth chatter. In short, it's good to hear what you all think.

But now I've decided to just bite the bullet and poll you all. Is the casting switch a dealbreaker? I know that many of you disapprove of the change, but how far are you willing to take that disapproval. Let's continue the dialogue here, in this comments section. I'll rig the blog so that this post appears on the side of the page for the next couple days.

"New Moon" is still four months away, but that doesn't mean the hype train for its successor, "Eclipse," hasn't left the station. Not only is it long gone, but it seems to be picking up steam each day. First there was the Xavier Samuel casting announcement. Then there was yesterday's controversial Victoria casting change, with Rachelle Lefevre being replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard. And with the August principal shooting start date mere weeks away, expect photos, set reports and perhaps even a leak or two to flood the Internet in short order.

To get you Twilighters pumped, we've put together a little photo gallery of confirmed "Eclipse" cast members. It isn't complete complete (take note, nitpickers), but we'll be adding to it as more news emerges. For now, enjoy the beautiful people.

Late yesterday, Rachelle Lefevre issued a public statement concerning Summit Entertainment's decision to replace her with Bryce Dallas Howard in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse." I won't reprint the comments in their entirety, but Lefevre admits that she was "stunned" by the decision and is "greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the 'Twilight' audience."

It's an unusually frank admission and -- to be honest -- it reads to me like an indirect appeal to the sizable "Twilight" fan community. Or it could just be a kneejerk disappointed response (and an ill-advised one) to the sudden firing. Unsurprisingly, Summit issued a responding statement shortly afterwards. Their release boils down to a list of bullet points meant to "set the record straight" after Lefevre's "decision to discuss her version of the scheduling challenges publicly" left the blame squarely in the studio's lap. Again, I'm not going to reprint the whole thing; here's the punchline: Read more...

Nobody likes recasting roles. It confuses continuity, befuddles audiences and sometimes upsets the original actors. But there are times when such a shake-up in performers is both necessary... and even an improvement.

Take, for example, today's news that Bryce Dallas Howard will take over for Rachelle Lefevre in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," the third installment in the bloodsucking 'tween-friendly franchise. While it's still too early to call the casting an upgrade over Lefevre, it's certainly not as bad of a replacement as it could be. If nothing else, Howard is in good company -- plenty of Hollywood-folk have been in her shoes before, and many of them proved successful in their reinterpreted roles.

Don't believe me? This stroll down memory lane of five re-cast roles should be proof enough that Howard's upcoming gig might work out for the best. Read more...