(Photos From "A Better Life" Screening ) Chris Weitz Talks About "New Moon" Mentions Kristen On Indiewire

ElleSpice / @ Twilight

First Person | Director Chris Weitz on Moving From “Twilight” to “A Better Life” in East L.A.

Chris Weitz is the director of “A Better Life,” which will have its world premiere June 21 as a gala in the Los Angeles Film Festival, which starts tomorrow. He also directed “Twilight” franchise entry “New Moon,” “The Golden Compass” and “About a Boy,” among others. “A Better Life” will be released through Summit Entertainment June 24.

The last two movies I directed, “The Golden Compass” and “New Moon,” had the combined budgets and box office of the GDP of a small country in the Caucasus. This is something you’re meant to feel sheepish about, as though you were a dealer in, say, ground-to-air missiles rather than cinema. In fact, the experience of making these films was emotionally grueling rather than glitzy.

When I turned in my director’s cut for “The Golden Compass,” the studio concluded that I was trying to turn a popcorn movie into the world’s most expensive art film; they fired my editor and took the cut from me.

“New Moon” was all about getting back on the horse for me and working with some very talented people - Kristen Stewart, Alexandre DesPlat, the great Spanish cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe. I wanted to make a lush widescreen romance out of a ‘tweener phenomenon and I knew the audience would come. I would say, “They’re expecting a cheeseburger, but I’m going to give them foie gras.” 

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