Here are some articles arount net about Rachelle Lefevre replacement.

Reelz Channel: News that Bryce Dallas Howard is replacing Rachelle Lefevre in Eclipse has set off a firestorm of reaction — and speculation — among Twilight Saga fans.
The responses range from disapointment and anger to some funny jabs and wild conspiracy theories. Here are our favorite reactions to date.

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RadarOnline: Twi-hards expressed their outrage to RadarOnline.com over the lack of respect they precieve Summit to be showing.

Cullenboysanonymous.com said “YES WE ARE SO OUTRAGED!!!! There I got that out of my system. I run a TW fansite but I am a Twilight fan first & foremost. I am not concerned about being politically correct where Summit is concerned.

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the Movie-Fanatic: The biggest news swirling around the Twilight fandom is the ‘abrupt’ casting change for Victoria in the upcoming Twilight: Eclipse, the 3rd installment in the Twilight Saga. Instead of Rachelle Lefevre playing the vampire villain, Summit is reported to have cast Bryce Dallas-Howard instead.

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HITFLIX:This is getting very ugly.

Initially, yesterday’s surprising news of Rachelle Lefevre being replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard in the key role of Victoria in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” seemed like it would fade away as both sides tried to put the best light on the situation.

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From Twilight Lexicon:

We at Summit Entertainment are disappointed by Rachelle Lefevre’s recent comments which attempt to make her career choices the fault of the Studio. Her decision to discuss her version of the scheduling challenges publicly has forced the Studio to set the record straight and correct the facts.

Ms. Lefevre’s representatives were advised as early as April that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE was expected to start shooting in early August.

If Ms. Lefevre was, as she describes “passionate,” about being part of THE TWILIGHT SAGA, we feel that she and her representatives would have included us in her decision to work on another film that would conflict with the shooting schedule of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.

It was not until July 20th that Summit was first informed of Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to BARNEY’S VERSION, a commitment we have since been advised she accepted in early June. Summit had acted in good faith that she would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. We feel that her choice to withhold her scheduling conflict information from us can be viewed as a lack of cooperative spirit which affected the entire production.

Furthermore Ms. Lefevre took a role in the other film that places her in Europe during the required rehearsal time, and at least ten days of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’s principal photography. This period is essential for both rehearsal time with the cast, and for filming at key locations that are only available during the initial part of production.

Contrary to Ms. Lefevre’s statement, it is simply untrue that the Studio dismissed her over a ten day overlap. It is not about a ten day overlap, but instead about the fact that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is an ensemble production that has to accommodate the schedules of numerous actors while respecting the established creative vision of the filmmaker and most importantly the story.

The fact remains that Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to the other project – which she chose to withhold from Summit until the last possible moment – makes her unfortunately unavailable to perform the role of Victoria in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.

Twilight Lexicon has some shocking news regarding the Eclipse cast:

THE TWILIGHT SAGA ADDS ACTRESS BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD TO FILM FRANCHISE

Actress Rachelle Lefevre Will Be Replaced By Howard In The Role Of Victoria

Los Angeles – July 28, 2009 – Summit Entertainment announced today that Bryce Dallas Howard will take over the role of “Victoria” in the studio’s upcoming production of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. Actress, Rachelle Lefevre, who portrayed the character in TWILIGHT as well as the upcoming release of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON, will not continue in the role due to scheduling conflicts with another commitment the actor has made. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE will start filming in Vancouver this coming August.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, the third film in the studio’s TWILIGHT film franchise based on Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster book series, will be directed by David Slade from a screenplay written by Melissa Rosenberg. The film will be released theatrically in North America on Wednesday, June 30, 2010.

“We are incredibly happy that Bryce has agreed to come into the franchise,” said Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Worldwide Production and Acquisitions. “Rachelle brought “Victoria” to great screen life and Bryce will bring a new dimension to the character. The franchise is lucky to have such a talented actress as Bryce coming in to fill the role.”

Howard most recently starred in TERMINATOR SALVATION as Kate Connor and has been seen in SPIDER-MAN 3, LADY IN THE WATER, and THE VILLAGE. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her leading performance as an actress in the HBO film AS YOU LIKE IT.

In THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob — knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life.

We just recieve this great news from Summit.

Summit is also proud to present “The Twilight Experience,” a one-night-only special theatrical re-release of global sensation TWILIGHT, featuring an introduction by cast members. Screening tickets are $10 and can only be purchased online at Fandango and picked up at the theater prior to the event. Multiple staggered showings of TWILIGHT will take place at the Pacific Gaslamp 15. Doors open at 5:30 and fans with tickets will be admitted on a first come, first-seated basis. The Pacific Gaslamp 15 is located at 701 5th Ave., just a few blocks from the Convention Center. Tickets will go on sale on Monday, 7/20 sometime between 9:00-9:30am PST and they must be picked up before Thursday, 7/23 at 1:00 PM PST. Two tickets per person limit.

KEY DETAILS:

Tickets are $10
Tickets will go on sale sometime between 9:00-9:30am PST on Monday, 7/20.
Tickets can be purchased at THIS LINK
You will need to purchase and pick up your tickets before 1:00pm PST on Thursday, 7/23 in person.
Physical tickets are REQUIRED to enter the event.
Comic-Con badges are not required.

** Special theatrical re-release?? How cool is that?!

We received an email from Summit warning about the blog Acting411.blogspot.com who recently posted about Eclipse auditions and casting calls.

I noticed today (and frequently in the past) several sites reporting updates from Acting411.blogspot.com regarding casting and crew information for THE TWILIGHT SAGA. This website is not always accurate. As a matter of fact, it’s only right about 25% of the time. A prime example is today’s
post, which can be found here:

http://acting411.blogspot.com/2009/06/twilight-saga-eclipse-auditions-and.html

This post is false. You may remember when the same gentleman claimed “Paul Weitz will be directing Eclipse”, and was reported by several sites as well.

The information they receive does not come from Summit, and whomever their source is ultimately feeding misinformation most of the time.

Several people from Summit Entertainment was interviewed for an article by Variety. They talk about the success of “Twilight” and future plans.

When Summit Entertainment hit it big with “Twilight,” it followed up almost immediately with plans for three more films based on the Stephenie Meyer novels, with the sequels seen as a good bet for a B.O. windfall.

But even amid its heavy investment in the teen-friendly saga, Summit is trying to avoid the temptation to turn its slate into all vampires, all the time.

The mini-studio is sticking to its original strategy of releasing and distributing 10-12 films per year, including eight inhouse productions, with a focus on the mid-range films that the majors are less likely to greenlight.

Read the whole article

Seth updated Stephenie’s official site today with a information from Summit about the release of the DVD:

On Friday, March 20, 2009, from 10PM until 12 midnight, Summit Home Entertainment and retailers across the country will provide TWILIGHT fans with the chance to celebrate the midnight DVD release of the film that has unanimously been described as a “full-blown pop culture phenomenon.” Participating retailers will stay open late as fans line up to purchase the DVD of the epic romance at midnight parties. While there, contests, autographed merchandise raffles, giveaways, limited edition merchandise including collectable clothing and memorabilia will all be available!

In addition, TWILIGHT actors and filmmakers will be making surprise appearances at select locations throughout the country!

Visit TwilightTheMovie.com to locate a release party near you!

Summit sent an email to all subscribers in the official site, confirming that Dakota Fanning will play Jane in New Moon.  (Full email here)

*** Personally I’m really excited about, she is an amazing actress and I think she will be a great Jane!  =D

Hollywood Insider at EW.com posted an article on why Summit is unlikely to merge with Lionsgate.

Reports that Summit — the studio behind the Twilight movie (pictured) — and Lionsgate, the makers of the Saw franchise, are discussing a merger have been greatly exaggerated, EW has learned. Following a report yesterday on Sharon Waxman’s new website The Wrap, which revealed that the two indie studios are in fact having conversations about a corporate marriage, a source tells EW that those discussions actually occurred before Summit took the $37 million Twilight and turned it into a $340 million worldwide franchise. Now that they’ve got a real hit on their hands, Summit is going it alone for the time being, with the Dakota Fanning-starrer Push releasing on Friday, and New Moon, the studio’s Twilight sequel, scheduled for a Nov. 20 bow.

However, with the economic conditions being as they are, everyone in Hollywood is talking about ways to enhance their business strategically while simultaneously reducing overhead, so it’s certainly not out of the question that we’ll see some kind of changes taking place at various studios in coming months. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.

Source

I know this isn’t a Twilight news, but since it’s related with Summit, I think it’s important to post.

Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment are in talks to merge their two companies, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The plan, if the deal goes through, is for Lionsgate to buy Summit’s library of six films and the rights to the “Twilight” franchise. Early talks last year involved the merger of only the domestic divisions, under the terms of the reported deal. Executives at Lionsgate and Summit declined to comment for this story. But one Lionsgate executive, who declined to speak for attribution, said: “At this time there are no new conversations.” Rumors of a proposed merger have abounded for months, and other executives familiar with the terms said the deal made sense. But Lionsgate just paid $255 million to buy the TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com, in a surprise move. So another high-ticket cash deal might be a stretch for the company. For Summit, the deal would bring a cash payout after nearly two years of operation, with success coming only recently in the “Twilight” phenomenon, which followed a string of heavily-marketed failures.

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