'HARRY POTTER' vet turns Vampire for 'TWILIGHT'
Cedric Diggory lusts for more than blood when he grows fangs for the movie version of Stephenie Meyer's teen novel.
Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) has been cast as the vampiric love interest in Summit Entertainment's teen-vampire thriller Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's best-selling 2005 young-adult novel. Catherine Hardwicke (thirteen) will direct from a script by Melissa Rosenberg (Step Up).
The story concerns teenager Isabella "Bella" Swan (Kristen Stewart, Into the Wild) who moves from Phoenix to Washington State and falls in love with her gorgeous, mysterious high school classmate, Edward Cullen (Pattinson), who happens to be a "reformed" vampire.
Head of production Erik Feig said that the project--acquired in turnaround from Paramount--fits nicely into Summit's larger debut slate. "Youth-oriented movies are definitely a major part of our business."
But the company also is focusing on more mature action and thriller projects, such as November's P2 (with Star Trek's Rachel Nichols), as well as 2008's Rian Johnson con job film The Brothers Bloom and the martial arts flick Never Back Down.
Author Meyer produced the Twilight sequels New Moon and Eclipse, and plans to write Breaking Dawn and Midnight Sun, which Summit hopes to adapt into a full-fledged franchise. ED PERKIS at Cinema Blend has labeled the series "vampires meet 'The O.C.'" (Scripter Rosenberg wrote for 'The O.C.')
Production on Twilight begins in February '08.
[Original report by STEVEN ZEITCHIK.]