"Prepare for battle on the streets of Vancouver. The latest instalment of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, Eclipse - currently in production and due out in 2010 - is a love triangle set against a backdrop of vampire wars with Vancouver substituting for the streets of Seattle.
Mortal humans are being devoured by a new vampire army in the bricky byways and urban alleys of the sleepless city.
Eclipse finds human heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) in a state of confused bliss as her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (played by brooding super- hunk Robert Pattinson) is back from a self-imposed exile and vows never to leave her side again.
Trouble is, Bella's close werewolf friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) has made a similar vow to himself and continues to pitch woo in spite of Edward's return.
Undead Edward grudgingly allows Bella to maintain her friendship with Jacob despite his correct suspicions that Jacob has more than platonic love in mind, a decision he will unlive to regret.
In spite of their romantic competition, Edward and Jacob will have to join forces to protect mortal Bella from the ravenous newly turned vampires led by the flame-haired Victoria. They flee into the mountains - conveniently remote from delirious fans, known as Twi-hards, and paparazzi as well as Edward and Bella's vampire pursuers - to hide.
Jacob's werewolf clan, the Quileute Indians from the nearby La Push Reservation, leave the woods for the city streets to quell the blood-thirsty mob with the help of the Cullen-allied vampires.
When Victoria finds the young lovers in their mountain hideout, Edward must step up to fight the ultimate battle.
The bigger battle for Eclipse producers Summit Entertainment will be keeping young vampire hunters from disrupting the film sets.
Some of the more remote New Moon locations on Vancouver Island and Port Coquitlam are easy to defend and they will undoubtedly be used again.
- Bella's house is under canvas and behind wire fencing in Surrey awaiting her return.
However, urban settings in New Moon, such as the Ridge Theatre and David Thompson secondary school in Vancouver, drew large crowds of fans during New Moon production last spring, some travelling thousands of kilometres in hopes of catching a glimpse of the movie stars.
- This time, Twi-hards are not even waiting for filming to get underway and are already piling into town to take commercial Twilight set tours or track down the locations and stars for themselves.
- The actors are routinely ambushed by fans in local nightclubs and restaurants, particularly Yaletown's Glowbal Grill, a favourite of Pattinson. To his credit, Pattinson is reportedly patient and friendly with his fans.
Many Eclipse cast members have been in town for a week or more in advance of rehearsals. Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black), Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen), Nikki Reed (Rosalie Hale), Bryce Dallas Howard (Victoria) and Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen) are already in Vancouver and have been photographed by relentless paparazzi and fans in the airport and downtown.
Lautner and Reed, who spend much of their free time together, have stopped to chat and have their pictures taken with fans almost daily.
- Filming on Eclipse is scheduled to start Monday. As with New Moon, its locations are kept tightly under wraps - but the story itself yields some hints as to where the production might touch down.
- Sometime between its starting date and the target wrap date on (spooky) Oct. 31, Eclipse will require a downtown backdrop, likely the city's heritage district on the western edge of Gastown.
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