The recently gave a very interesting interview with Reuters, in which she talks about the success of Twilight and what life AFTER the vampires will be like for her.

Excerpt:

Q: “Twilight” cost $37 million and made nearly $382 million worldwide. Do you feel pressure to top yourself?

A: “I don’t think that’s possible, and I don’t think that’s a healthy way to think. “Twilight” was a phenomenon — the stars just aligned on that film. Thank God (director) Ridley Scott didn’t stop after “Blade Runner.” He made “Thelma and Louise” and “Gladiator” and a million other interesting movies. I still want to make other good films that won’t lose money.”

Read the rest here.

Next in line to be potentially replaced is Taylor Lautner, who Blast already mentioned could be getting booted from his role as Jacob. Hilton said that actor Michael Copon (”The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior”) is a possible candidate for the role.

Both actors have stated their interest in the character, with Lautner promising in an interview with MTV to gain 10 more pounds to flesh out Jacob.

The character of Jacob is supposed to physically look like a 25 year old and grow a lot taller and bulkier in “New Moon,” whereas in “Twilight” he is just an average 16 year old.

Summit Entertainment has not released a statement confirming or denying that Lautner will be replaced for “New Moon.”

Both “New Moon” and “Twilight” are based on the best-selling teen vampire novels by Stephenie Meyer.

Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the “Twilight” franchise, allegedly paid leading man Robert Pattinson too much money to keep him for the next three films and could not afford the rest of the cast, Seacrest said.

“Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke was confirmed to not be returning for “New Moon” last week because she could not commit to the release schedule Summit wanted for the film.

In “New Moon,” Jacob (who Lautner played in “Twilight) plays the leading man role in the absence of Edward (Pattinson) — the love interest of main character, Bella.

Since its release on November 21, “Twilight” has grossed over $140 million, nearly quadrupling its $37 million budget.

Blast’s Editor-in-Chief John Guilfoil contributed to this report.

“Summit’s targeted end of 2009 or early 2010 release of the film, New Moon, does not work with Ms. Hardwicke’s required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen,” Summit and Hardwicke said in a joint statement. “Thus as has been done before with many successful film franchises, the studio will employ a new director for ‘New Moon.’”

“I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct ‘New Moon,’” said Hardwicke. “Directing ‘Twilight’ has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film.”

We’re not sure exactly why Hardwicke is out for the cash machine that is Twilight and its coming sequels.

“Catherine did an incredible job in helping us to launch the Twilight franchise and we thank her for all of her efforts and we very much hope to work with her on future Summit projects,” said Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Production. “We as a studio have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created. We are able to pursue an aggressive time frame as we have the luxury of only adapting the novels into screenplays as opposed to having to create a storyline from scratch.”

About three things I am absolutely positive: first, I just saw Twilight. Second, there is a part of me – and I don’t know how minuscule that part might be – that thinks it was almost okay. Third, it was unconditionally and irrevocably hilarious.

So, all you little spider-monkeys, I did in fact just return from a late-night showing of Twilight (the one that all the embarrassed middle-aged moms went to) and immediately sat down to pen my thoughts on the matter.

In a word? It was hysterical. To borrow a trick from Ms. Meyer’s book (or rather her thesaurus), not only was it funny but it was a riotously jocular humdinger of a film.

First, let’s talk tech specs. The film’s cinematography viewed like a bad spoof of 300, only with more vampires, 98% less blood, and 99.9% more extreme close-ups. And when there aren’t a billion poorly-edited cuts between Edward’s face and Bella’s face, there was slow-mo. And a lot of it. At any moment during the baseball scene, for example, I expected some half-naked guy with a lobster claw arm to glide down from the treetops and ask to join the game. I mean, I have a hard time swallowing slow-mo in an action flick, much less in a film in which half of the scenes consist of the characters stretching out on a field to gaze into each other’s soul.

And that brings me to the moment we were all waiting for, fans and anti-fans alike. I’m not going to lie, folks, I was bouncing on my seat in anticipation of the sparklies. Color me curious, but I was excited to see how they would accomplish that effect. Would they use lens flares? Glitter? Bits of cubic zirconia glued to the makeup caked on Robert Pattinson’s face? There seemed to be a lot of options, so the fact that they decided to use Pattinson’s natural (and profuse) perspiration is something of a letdown.

But to be fair, the effects aren’t all bad. After an hour and a half of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”-style soaring through treetops, the big throw-down at the end between James and Edward is actually pretty exciting. In fact, it almost made me appreciate Meyer’s choice of the ballet studio as the battleground in the first place, and on screen I actually winced at Bella’s injuries whereas in the book my reaction consisted of a dash of meh and decent dose of yawn.

And speaking of yawn, that’s a good description of the acting. Kristen Stewart definitely had her moments, but Robert Pattinson not so much. At times his performance is painfully stale and at others, particularly during his and Bella’s first meeting, it is overworked and over-acted. For most of the film, he comes off as either constipated or as a creepy prima donna, or perhaps as a constipated creepy prima donna. It seems to me though that it’s through no fault of his own; the writing is simply that bad. Lines that are passable in a book (”…and so the lion fell in love with the lamb,” for instance) cannot possibly be delivered in any way that makes them sound anything other than horrifically cheesy.

Which brings me to my absolute favorite line of the film, from the sparkle scene:

[CUE "DRAMATIC" MUSIC]
“…This is the skin of a killer.”

Take a minute to laugh, it’s okay. That’s the line that made me wonder if director Catherine Hardwicke had decided to spoof Twilight rather than adapt it; it was a line that I could imagine in a Cleolinda Jones recap and a line that I’m a little jealous for not having written myself. I mean, Edward, come on – you sparkle. “This is the skin of a killer?” It’s like saying “These are the eyebrows of a vampire!” or “Beware my shins, for they are murderous!” I have to wonder how many takes Pattinson needed for the line just because I would never be able to deliver it with a straight face. And frankly, that line sums up the film perfectly: it’s unintentionally ridiculous and takes itself way too seriously, as if it doesn’t realize that it’s actually a film about glitter.

It’s hard to write a review for “Twilight” objectively since, hopefully, about 95 percent of the perspective audience will have read the novel before seeing the film.

There was a lot of hype about making sure certain scenes were in the movie, or whether or not the characters were acted out properly or how director Catherine Hardwicke would be able to pull off making Edward’s skin sparkle in the same beautiful way it was described in the book (which she didn’t).

What was lost in all the fan-promotion and debate and hysteria that surrounds Stephenie Meyer’s vampire universe was what it would take to make a good movie out of the story; not as an adaptation but as a film.

“Twilight” had its moments. About 50 percent of the film was good, 20 percent was spot-on perfect, and 30 percent was just terrible. And not terrible in the way the romantic Naboo meadow scene in “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” was terrible, but “Doom” or “The Scorpion King” or “Gigli” terrible. Terrible like the type of acting you expect out of inexperienced middle-schoolers performing the first rehearsal of “Scrooge.”

The effort was there, and for a fledgling movie studio like Summit Entertainment, who produced “Twilight” and has signed on for the next three installments in the series, “Twilight” was a valiant effort. It’s going to make them the money they need because fans of the series will ignore the acting and instead swoon over Robert Pattinson and pretend that they are standing in Kristen Stewart’s shoes (which is easier when you’re reading the book and a lot harder when you see how gorgeous they gloss Bella up to be in the movie).

People are going to go see “Twilight” if only because they’re loyal. Unfortunately, as far as movies go, the 30 percent of the movie that was downright awful irrevocably polluted the other decent parts of the movie.

Kristen Stewart did an impressive job as Bella, the protagonist of the movie who moves to Forks, Wash. on behalf of her mother to live in the always-raining town with her father and then discovers that the boy she is enamored with at Forks High School is really a vampire. Some dialogue scenes, like one towards the end where she is recovering in the hospital, ruin the movie’s illusion by Stewart’s awkward delivery, but Stewart proved herself again as one of the stronger teen talents coming out of the MTV generation.

Robert Pattinson, however, did not like up to the buildup. In fact, I doubt that few followers of the progress of the film ever even considered that Pattinson might not pull off the character of Edward, the vampire who Bella falls in love with. Most of the focus on the choice of Pattinson as the male lead was on his looks, not his capabilities.

Sure, Pattinson looked pretty, and there were a couple moments in the film where he absolutely nailed the charming an irresistible creature that Edward was supposed to be. He was nearly unbearable the first half of the movie, though. Pattinson said in an interview with Blast that he had strived to portray Edward as a tortured character who was feeling everything all at once for the first time and it was destroying him. The idea was a good one if it had been executed correctly. Instead it was just annoying watching Edward act insane throughout the first 40 minutes of film – inexplicably insane.

SAUGUS, Mass. — The teenage girl came out of the Hot Topic store, eyes glazed with a silly smile on her face. Her mother ran up to meet her, just as the words started tumbling out of the daughter’s lips.

“He talked to me,” she gasped, as her mother smiled along but tried to calm the teen down.

“She has epilepsy,” the mother explained, “and I don’t want her to seize.”

Then she scooped up her daughter and hurried away, without giving her name, to make room for the next giggling girl.

Fan dedication: defined.

She was just one of hundreds who flocked to the Square One Mall north of Boston on Friday. The object of their fanaticism wasn’t one of the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus, but rather a soft-spoken, spiky-haired Brit named Robert Pattinson.

In the words of one indignant passerby who was turned away from shopping at the barricaded Hot Topic: “He isn’t even famous.”

Though Pattinson, 22, may not be a household name yet, to the fan community of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire “Twilight” series, (and hardcore Harry Potter fans who remember he played Cedric Diggory) he is second to none. Playing the lead male character Edward in the upcoming vampire film “Twilight,” the fan hysteria has reached peak heights.

“At first I thought maybe he wasn’t as good for Edward, but now I think he’s perfect,” said Selys Rivera, 14, of Worcester. “He’s completely perfect for Edward. He’s amazing.”

Pattinson, along with co-stars Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Edi Gathegi and Rachelle Lefavre, is headlining the Hot Topic-sponsored movie tour to promote “Twilight” in the final days before the film’s release on November 21. The Saugus event was Pattinson’s third and final stop on the tour after the event scheduled in San Francisco was canceled after fans mobbed the mall.

Pattinson, Stewart, and the trio of Lautner, Gathegi and Lefavre toured to 13 cities across the U.S. from November 10 through November 15.

“[The hysteria] hasn’t died down at all,” Pattinson told Blast in a brief interview at the Saugus Hot Topic. “It happened in [Italy], it happened in Mexico. It’s completely ridiculous.”

Here in Saugus, the crowd was much tamer than the events in San Francisco and Chicago. Wristbands were given, starting at 9 p.m. Thursday, to the first 500 people who bought the Hot Topic official “Twilight” tour T-shirt. The Saugus police were no-nonsense about the event and were a steady presence around the mall throughout the night.

“We got here at about 9 p.m. yesterday and we were there like all night long,” said Attleboro resident Amanda Pease, 20. “We only left to go to Starbucks.”

At 5 p.m. Friday, a crowd of a couple hundred girls had gathered around a stage that was set up for Pattinson to speak to the fans for the question and answer portion of the event. Some had camped out for more than 20 hours just for the chance to meet their beloved “Edward,” while others had arrived only moments before to wait around until Pattinson spoke at on the stage.

A security presence was felt. A barricade was set up like a moat around the stage to protect Pattinson from the overzealousness of any rabid fan-girls.

When asked what they could possibly be waiting for outside the entrance to the convention center’s massive Hall H entrance, the reply was unanimous.

“Twilight.”

They would wait 16 more hours.

“Twilight” was released in 2005, and has spawned two sequels: “New Moon” and “Eclipse.” Collectively, the series has sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide.

Taylor Lautner, who plays the character Jacob Black in the upcoming movie adaptation of the books said, “The fans are the driving force behind this thing.”

The series tells the story of 17-year-old Bella Swan, who meets the intriguing yet elusive Edward Cullen upon her arrival at Forks, Wash. Edward, as well as the rest of his family, turn out to be a secret coven of vegetarian vampires; they don’t kill humans. Bella and Edward’s inevitable love is doomed from the beginning as her being a human draws various “bad” vampires to come and kill her. In “New Moon”, a second love interest is introduced in the form of Jacob, Bella’s best friend who just happens to be a werewolf.

For the August 2 release of  “Breaking Dawn,” Meyer’s fourth and final book in the series, distributors have printed more than 3.2 million copies; more than half the copies of the rest of the series now in print, and a record first-printing for “Twilight” publishing company Little, Brown and Company.

“Breaking Dawn” will answer the big Twilight questions: Who will Bella choose, and will she become a vampire?

Meyer’s saga has become a cultural phenomenon, though this year is by far its biggest yet. In addition to the release of “Breaking Dawn”, a movie adaptation of the novel will be released December 12 starring Kristen Stewart as Bella and Robert Pattinson as Edward.

This year’s San Diego Comic-con hosted a special event Thursday to promote the upcoming film. Meyer, director Catherine Hardwicke, and some of the movie’s cast attended the panel. Waiting anxiously for them were thousands of screaming fans, though only about 6,500 were admitted to the hall.

“I saw the book as a film before I saw it as a book,” said Meyer of her excitement for the “Twilight” movie.

The Comic-con event was the first experience the cast had of the true intensity behind the “Twilight” fan base, and it was clear from their faces and the nervous hitch in their responses that none of them were prepared for the thousands of girls, women and even men who were screaming their hearts out for the characters that had captured their hearts.

“I fell in love with ["Twilight"] just like you guys did,” said Hardwicke to the audience. “I wanted to see Bella and Edward living, breathing. You know we tried to do the best we could [for the movie].”

Stewart said that, as a “sappy, sensitive girl”, she took the role of Bella to try to depict the “perfect-but-not-perfect-but-perfect-in-its-ideologicalness love” felt between Bella and Edward.

“Bella and I are really different if you get inside my head,” said Meyer, who said she gets just as frustrated with Bella’s decisions as the rest of her fans. “I’m actually a lot more like Edward.”

Meyer was able to confirm that a song by Muse; her favorite band and some of the inspiration behind the series, had been signed for the movie soundtrack, while Hardwicke confirmed that two songs written by Robert Pattinson will be included in the soundtrack of the movie, and that his spontaneous piano playing during filming might be used as Bella’s Lullaby.

The three “bad vampires” were a large part of the panel; Cam Gigandet as James, Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria and Edi Gathegi as Laurent.

“I wanted to be a part of [Bella's] world in every way I could,” said Lefevre. “If that meant I had to terrorize her than so be it.”

Trailers and clips of the film, especially the extended “ballet studio scene” aired at during the panel, show the movie version of “Twilight” focusing more on action than the novel did. This is good news for Gigandet, Lefevre and Gathegi because that means more screen time for them before their inevitable deaths. For Gigandet, his comes at the end of the first movie.

“We don’t actually die because you’re stuck with us on DVD forever,” joked Lefevre.

Fans have been initially hesitant about how the cast compares to the characters, and none have felt this sting more than now-”Twilight”-golden-boy Robert Pattinson.

“I just wanted to play [Edward] because he’s the hottest vampire in the world,” said Pattinson with a laugh, causing a deafening scream from the crown.

“[Vampires are hot] because that’s how I write them,” Meyer added, which turned the screaming into a deafening roar.

Although movie adaptations of “New Moon” and “Eclipse”, the second and third novels in the series, have not yet been confirmed, the idea that the “Twilight” fan base will not cause “Twilight” to be a box-office smash, regardless of the quality of the film, seems nearly impossible.

“I would love to be in [a sequel]. Love to,” said Gathegi .

“So would I,” said Gigandet wistfully.