Even though there was big money moved around at a Michael Jackson auction and plenty of people are buzzing about last night's American Music Awards, the weekend was really about one story. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" stormed into theaters just after midnight last Thursday (November 19) and racked up massive numbers care of some devoted fans, who nursed the film to the third biggest film opening of all time (though still falling $18 million short of the impressive tally brought in by "The Dark Knight" last year). There's no doubt that the "New Moon" stars are everywhere, from our talk shows to our meals at Burger King to our local Volvo dealer.

In fact, there are plenty of places where "New Moon" characters have shown up that you might have missed. For instance, when Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed "Empire State of Mind" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, everybody remembers Lil Mama crashing the stage and posing alongside the two stars. But did you notice that Caius (played by Jamie Campbell Bower) also got in on the action? Take a look.

MTV News' resident photo expert Sohyung Kang has combed through the archives and unearthed a number of revelatory shots that show the "New Moon" characters dropping into the most unlikely of scenarios. Which of the "New Moon" crew was spotted cruising around with Kristin Cavallari? Which character did a sexy dance at the Teen Choice Awards? Which one snuck into an episode of "Glee"? Which one infiltrated one of Michael Jackson's most famous album covers? Click here to see all of your favorite "New Moon" characters — including Bella, Edward, Jacob, Jasper, Rosalie and Esme — sneaking into all corners of pop culture!

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" opened up to a record-busting weekend, bringing in over $140 million over the weekend (making it the third-largest film opening of all time, behind "Spider-Man 3" and "The Dark Knight"). Certainly the business generated by the second film in the series was due to the buzz created by stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart last week. The promotional push doesn't slow down this week on the TV talk shows, many of which are dark or running limited schedules because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Tonight, Ashley Greene will try to follow Pattinson's appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," while co-star Taylor Lautner will be Conan O'Brien's guest on "The Tonight Show."

Letterman also has some top-shelf musical talent this week, as he welcomes Rihanna on Tuesday night (November 24) and Adam Lambert on Wednesday (November 25). Conan, meanwhile, has Timbaland on tonight and Weezer on Tuesday. Need more Weezer? Check them out on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" tonight. Kimmel will also have Wolfmother and the winner of "Dancing with the Stars" (almost certainly Mya) on Tuesday.

Perhaps the strangest encounter this week will happen on "The Jay Leno Show," which tonight not only has California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger but also Lady Gaga, who is coming off a triumphant performance at last night's American Music Awards. Hardcore hip-hop heads can look forward to Jimmy Fallon's show every night (because you always get killer stuff from the Roots), but Wednesday night's episode of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" will feature a performance from Mos Def and Talib Kweli, who collaborated on the legendarily great album Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star and will no doubt throw down something fierce with the house band. But the story is still "New Moon" and probably will be for some time.

Look, we all know what you're doing this weekend. You're not preparing for Thanksgiving, raking the last of your leaves before the snow arrives or indulging in this year's batch of Beaujolais Nouveau. Rather, you're going to be at your local cinema watching Taylor Lautner's perfectly-sculpted abdominal muscles in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon." And we can't blame you — it's a heck of a roller coaster ride through teenage angst and vampire mythology. But in between screenings (because you're obviously seeing it more than once), you should catch up on everything you missed this week here on the Newsroom blog.

» Last weekend saw a couple of cool-looking flash mobs in honor of Janet Jackson's Number Ones, and we had a first-person account from one of the dancers. (Be sure to catch Janet this Sunday on the American Music Awards, where she'll open the show.)

» MTV mourned the passing of comedian, TV producer and "Remote Control" host Ken Ober with classic clips and testimonials from friends.

» Rihanna premiered the hotly-anticipated video for "Russian Roulette," which really made us think about the head wound Balthazar Getty received in a David Lynch movie.

» Are you a hardcore fan of Adam Lambert, Kris Allen or Allison Iraheta? Make sure you enter our photo contest, with the winner receiving an autographed copy of the new issue of Elle magazine, which features all three!

» There was no shortage of other "American Idol" news this week. For example, we now know why Kris Allen changed his Twitter name.
Read more...

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is out in theaters now, and is already breaking records and attracting all sorts of fervor about the ending, whether it's better than the first film and what the possibilities are for "Eclipse" (which is set to release in June of 2010 but is already being buzzed about in the "Twilight" fan community). The "New Moon" soundtrack has also been tearing up the Billboard album chart, selling half a million copies in only five weeks of release on the back of Death Cab for Cutie's excellent, moody new single "Meet Me on the Equinox." The rock-centric soundtrack also features tunes by Muse, Thom Yorke, the Killers, OK Go, Editors, Band of Skulls and Grizzly Bear. It's an excellent batch of songs that compliments the film about as well as a soundtrack can, making it the perfect companion piece.

But here in the MTV Newsroom, we like things to be just a little bit louder, which is why we've put together a "New Moon" video playlist that packs a little extra adrenaline and gives the werewolf and vampire love story an added bit of punch. AC/DC's "If You Want Blood (You Got It)" provides a little bit of blood-sucking thump, while the squall of Mudhoney's "Suck You Dry" will psych you up for your next vampire baseball game. Ozzy Osbourne is there, of course, because he likes to "Bark at the Moon." And what song better describes the eternal Edward Cullen than Bruce Springsteen's "Dead Man Walkin'"?

Check out the complete video playlist below, starting with Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly," which sums up the spirit of "New Moon" about as well as an '80s metal star could.

Right now, this very second, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is playing at a theater near you. Perhaps you're going to see it tonight. Perhaps you're taking the afternoon off to see it. Perhaps you're a true devotee and you've seen it already. Twice. No matter what your level of enthusiasm is, one thing is for certain: The story of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan has captured the imaginations of millions, and the hunger for the continuation of the films is real. It's telling that one of the most searched-for items on the Internet this morning had to do with the release date of "Eclipse," the already-completed third film in the "Twilight" series (for those curious, it's June 30, 2010, so feel free to get in line now).

The anticipation over "New Moon" has hit a fever pitch this week, with stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner making the rounds on talk shows and late night programs all week. In fact, all three of them will be on tonight's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Also appearing on tonight's episode? Death Cab for Cutie, who are fresh off their excellent performance at Wednesday night's Woodie Awards taping. Their new single "Meet Me on the Equinox" is the lead track from the soundtrack to "New Moon." Sadly, after all the anticipation over where the song would appear in the film, it only runs over the credits). Still, the video is a delightfully moody piece, full of neo-goth foreboding that perfectly matches the song's dreamy melody.

"There are some mothers, and then also there are a couple more guys from this sequel. There was a guy, maybe a 230-pound guy who was at the premiere, kind of maybe Hispanic looking, and he was asking me to bite him as well. And so I did, and the surprising thing was, I kind of liked it afterwards. And I've been out to dinner with him a couple of times."

-Cheeky "New Moon" star Robert Pattinson, who joked around about biting people with veteran host David Letterman on Wednesday night's episode of "The Late Show with David Letterman." Pattinson has been on a whirlwind press tour to promote the second film in the "Twilight" series, which opens with a handful of sold-out shows Thursday at midnight and goes wide Friday. Though he plays a brooding undead loverman in the movies, Pattinson himself has been keeping it loose with various interviewers. In an appearance on Thursday morning's edition of "Today," Matt Lauer asked him about a bunch of tabloid rumors, and Pattinson confirmed every one. "I actually come up with these rumors myself," he said with a smirk. "I'm my own press agent." He was honest about the process of going from anonymity to superstardom almost overnight. "It's kind of incredible. I mean, especially — literally the day before I auditioned, I was going to quit acting 'cause I never got any jobs," he told Laure. "So I guess that's not really quitting, when you're not really getting any jobs. It's just surrendering to fate."

Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

There might have been other cultural events happening last night, but as far as the pop universe is concerned, the only real event last night (and all week, really) was the premiere of "New Moon," the hotly-anticipated second entry in the "Twilight" film series. The film had its big red carpet event last night (check out last night's live blog over at Hollywood Crush for all the sordid details) that again brought together the series' hot trio of Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. The premiere was also attended by co-stars Dakota Fanning, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene, as well as 50 Cent, Death Cab for Cutie frontman Chris Walla, Emma Roberts, OK Go, film director Kevin Smith and, of course, hundreds of fans who gathered outside the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles.

There were other lower-profile events happening yesterday too, as Rihanna celebrated the release of her new album Rated R at a London club and Justin Bieber hung out in Queens on the eve of his album's release. Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted!" archive, which features over 350 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Madonna, Adam Lambert, Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, the Jonas Brothers and Shakira!

"There's so much money involved, and it's such a huge investment to make a movie, and it's difficult to make money in this climate. But when you hear about [people] at film festivals saying, 'There are no passion purchases anymore at all,' like, when people just say, 'This is a great movie, and I want to distribute it because people wouldn't be able to see it [otherwise].' There's none of that anymore. So what I'm saying is that I'd love to invest in stuff which wouldn't make any money. But I think there is a compromise in between the two."

-"New Moon" star Robert Pattinson, talking about his goal of being not just an actor but a producer in the film industry. While speaking to MTV News' Larry Carroll, Pattinson expanded on something he recently said to Italian Vanity Fair about wanting to open up his own production company. "I guess, just from my experience in the industry and stuff like that, I'd like to make it a lot easier for the creative people to get their thoughts heard," Pattinson explained. "Because I think it's difficult." Pattinson's fresh clout comes from his work as Edward Cullen in the "Twilight" films, which turned him from an unknown to an instantly recognizable superstar almost overnight. "New Moon" is in theaters next week, so stay tuned to MTV Movies, Hollywood Crush and the MTV Movies Blog for the latest on all the goings-on in Forks, and be sure to check out two specials — "Love Bites" and "New Moon Revealed" — airing this Monday, November 16 at 10 p.m. on MTV.

"I want to do nothing. I literally just want to go outside and go for a walk. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and not know what I'm going to do, and feel out the day. But the way I like to do that is to just get up, and go outside. And I can't really do that. I literally don't have anything besides the walk thing [to complain about]. I should stop saying that. Because I do get to take walks — it's just not the same kind as I used to. And it's also like, I think this is the most intense that it's going to get. After this, it's only going to put me in a better position to do what I love after this saga is complete."

-"New Moon" star Kristen Stewart, discussing the strange things that fame sometimes takes away from young people. The 19-year-old actress went from vaguely recognizable to ubiquity almost overnight, but she's not complaining about the life that "Twilight" has created for her. "I'm the luckiest person in the world," she told MTV News' Larry Carroll. "I get to do every single day what I [want to do with my life]. If I wasn't doing this, I would be searching to find another venue in which I could express myself." In addition to starring as Bella in the remaining "Twilight" films (the second of which, "New Moon," opens next week), Stewart will also be appearing in the rock biopic "The Runaways," in which she plays female punk legend Joan Jett.

"There was an interview where somebody asked me how I was feeling at that moment with everything that was going on with 'Twilight,' and I said, 'You know? I'm really devastated right now, because I have never heard the amount of criticism and hurt and pain from some things that I've read going on the Internet [about me] right now, like, 'She's fat' and 'She's ugly' and 'She's not blond' and 'She's supposed to be the most beautiful girl in the world?' and 'Couldn't they cast someone who was remotely beautiful?' It's like, thank God I'm not so callous that I'm totally desensitized, but I am sensitive and that really hurt my feelings."

-"Twilight" and "New Moon" star Nikki Reed, admitting that she is engaged in the online fervor surrounding the vampire-centric film series. The actress was responding to a question posed by a reader on the site as a part of the ongoing series of "Twilight" stars answering fan questions. She also added that though the thought has crossed her mine, she doesn't get involved in the Internet rumors herself. "I've joked with Kristen [Stewart] a few times about how tempted we are to defend ourselves. But there's no point," she said. "For every one person who says something, you always hear about the squeaky wheel or the plane that crashes. There might be a person that is really mean, but [you hear about them, not] the million people that say really nice things."

"New Moon," the second film in the series, hits theaters on November 20, and you can stay tuned to MTV News, MTV Movies and Hollywood Crush for all the latest insider information, cast interview, exclusive clips and fan reactions.