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!
"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.
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.
The press push continues for Rihanna, who is coming off her big interview with Diane Sawyer last week and currently making the rounds in New York. She stopped by "It's On with Alexa Chung" on Monday (with the entire half-hour show devoted to her) and she also sat down with Sway to talk about her big collaborations, how she feels about Chris Brown and some stories behind her upcoming album Rated R (which stands for "Rihanna," not "Restricted"). Yesterday, she was spotted on the street outside the Gramercy Park Hotel, looking cool and fashion-forward as always (that is an excellent hat). She has managed to keep her name in the news, as she's got a racy new single cover and a video for "Russian Roulette" that is set to premiere this Friday.
Rihanna wasn't the only star on the move yesterday, as Shakira was caught leaving the MTV building (shortly after her conversation with MTV News' Jim Cantiello, which will be rolling out soon) and Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were seen getting off a plane holding hands, further fueling speculation about their relationship. Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted!" archive, which features over 350 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Madonna, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Adam Lambert, the Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Jay-Z and Mariah Carey!
"One of the main things I felt [while filming the breakup scene] was what fans think of Bella and Edward's relationship, what that represents to them as the ideal relationship. You're breaking up the ideal relationship. I felt a lot of the weight behind that ... you could really feel the audience watching as you're doing it."
-"New Moon" star and international heartthrob Robert Pattinson, discussing the difficulty in trying to keep his character heroic while breaking up a relationship that the audience clearly doesn't want to see dissolved. In an interview with MTV News' Larry Carroll, Pattinson admitted that Edward Cullen, the undead object of affection in the "Twilight" series, could be considered something of a jerk. Not only that, but he's something of a stalker. "I guess that's what the story is about in 'New Moon'," Pattinson said. "I love Charlie — Bella's dad's — attitude toward Edward in this one; he never gives him a break about anything, he's just constantly saying, 'That guy. He's just terrible for you.'" Why doesn't he just leave that up to the proper authorities? "I guess the restraining order wouldn't really be very good for anyone," he joked. "But [Bella] could use a restraining order. I think if [Edward] wasn't a vampire, and this was in reality, a girl's parents would think he was an oddball."
Given the fact that A.J. McLean have always been the Backstreet Boy who wears eyeliner and occasionally dons shirts that sparkle in the sun (like in the "I'll Never Break Your Heart" music video), it seems pretty unsurprising that the dude loves himself some "Twilight."
His bandmate, Brian Littrell, has been going around revealing to everyone that A.J. adores the vampire-centric teen movie, so when MTV News got our grubby little hands on him, we had to hear it straight from A.J. himself about how much he adores the story of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. And in case anybody was wondering: A.J. is Team Edward.
"'New Moon' looks amazing," he told us. "I'm glad they're actually upping it and making it like more real vampire, no so much a love story. It's gonna be great. There's more werewolves in this one! It's gonna be good," he said. But despite his excitement for the werewolves, he added, "I'm Team Edward. Jacob's gotta sneak it in there."
That admission got him so good-natured ribbing, especially from Nick Carter and Littrell. But A.J., being the perfectly cool guy that he is, completely ignored them. Plus, he can always get Johnny No Name to beat them up. That guy was pretty tough.
On last night's episode of "Saturday Night Live," Taylor Swift made her second appearance as a musical guest and her first ever as the host. The result was the finest episode of the long-running late-night series so far this season (which, to be fair, has been pretty uneven). Sometimes the cast will wear kid gloves around non-actors, but Swift obviously delivered on her promise on being game for anything, as she was in most every segment on the show. Rarely has a performer worked so hard, and she was rewarded for it with a handful of big laughs and torrents of applause.
As usual, the highlight of the night was the digital short, which was a trailer for a "Twilight" spoof called "Firelight." In it, Swift (in an awesomely bad Bella wig) pines over Frankenstein (who can't kiss people because he accidentally chokes them to death). Instead of a werewolf getting jealous, Swift's character is warned by a mummy. It was fantastically hilarious, especially Bill Hader's performance as the object of Swift's affection. The rest of the show was formidable, but "Firelight" will certainly live on as a classic bit of comedy that Swift can add to her constantly-growing resumé as a multi-dimensional entertainer.
"There's no answer that's not going to tip you one way or the other. Think about every hypothetical situation: 'OK, we are. We aren't. I'm a lesbian.' I'm just trying to keep something. I'm not going to give the fiending an answer. I know that people are really funny about 'Well, you chose to be an actor, why don't you just f---ing give your whole life away?! Can I have your firstborn child?'"
-"New Moon" star Kristen Stewart, talking to Entertainment Weekly about the constant questions she gets about her personal life — and specifically her relationship with co-star Robert Pattinson. Ever since "Twilight" became a smash success and Stewart became both a household name and a tabloid staple, the rumors about her relationship with Pattinson have been constant. She's clearly frustrated by the media blitz on her life, and she's not taking it lying down. "I probably would've answered it if people hadn't made such a big deal about it," she said.
