The lesson is: Don't talk about not shooting until you see the eyes of Weitz.After a report on Moviemaker.com that he was threatening to abandon the director's chair for, um, surfing, 'New Moon' director Chris Weitz says he's not abandoning filmmaking at all. In fact, he has a new project lined up for Summit Entertainment called 'The Gardener.' After spending the weekend counting up the change from the $140.7 million 'New Moon' opening weekend, you can't blame the guy for a change of heart.
Weitz told Variety that he's excited to direct 'The Gardener,' for which Eric Eason wrote the screenplay. And the project does seem the stylistic opposite of 'New Moon,' involving an immigrant Angeleno doing his fatherly duties on behalf of his son. Shooting starts next spring.
Weitz explained that it wasn't 'New Moon' that made him threaten to bolt the biz, but his experience on 2007's 'The Golden Compass,' which many people in the industry already knew was a nightmare for him. Letting loose on that topic -- the movie was derived from the initial novel in Philip Pullman's religion-flecked 'His Dark Materials' trilogy -- Weitz accused New Line of an "utter violation" of his directorial primacy. He added that New Line, which plunked down over $180 million on the project, "seemed frightened of offending the right" when it came to honoring the film's faith-driven edges.
Given New Line's bottom line on that picture, perhaps they were just as frightened of offending their bankers.
Still, all that seems like history now. Today, it's not just a 'New Moon' for Weitz, but a whole new day.
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