Summit Entertainment Fires Back at Lefevre’s Claims

Summit Entertainment, the studio responsible for the Twilight movie franchise, has hit back at Rachelle Lefevre’s claims that she was unfairly treated when she was dumped from the series, saying that it was “disappointed” she had decided to discuss her recasting publicly.

Lefevre released a statement on Wednesday, and said she was “stunned” and “saddened” that the studio had replaced her with actress Bryce Dallas Howard in the third Twilight film, Eclipse, due to a conflicting work schedule.

The actress, who was set to reprise her role as the evil vampire Victoria in the saga’s third installment later this year, had signed on to shoot the Dustin Hoffman independent film, Barney’s Version, but had no idea she would be sacked by Summit “over a 10-day overlap.”

However, Summit Entertainment has a different take on exactly how the recasting went down, and said in a statement yesterday:

“We at Summit Entertainment are disappointed by Rachelle Lefevre’s recent comments, which attempt to make her career choices the fault of the studio. Her decision to discuss her version of the scheduling challenges publicly has forced the studio to set the record straight and correct the facts.

“Ms. Lefevre’s representatives were advised as early as April that The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was expected to start shooting in early August.

“If Ms. Lefevre was, as she describes, ‘passionate’ about being part of the Twilight saga, we feel that she and her representatives would have included us in her decision to work on another film that would conflict with the shooting schedule of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

“It was not until July 20th that Summit was first informed of Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to Barney’s Version, a commitment we have since been advised she accepted in early June. Summit had acted in good faith that she would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. We feel that her choice to withhold her scheduling conflict information from us can be viewed as a lack of cooperative spirit which affected the entire production.

“Furthermore, Ms. Lefevre took a role in the other film that places her in Europe during the required rehearsal time, and at least 10 days of [Eclipse]’s principal photography. This period is essential for both rehearsal time with the cast and for filming at key locations that are only available during the initial part of production.

The statement concluded: “Contrary to Ms. Lefevre’s statement, it is simply untrue that the studio dismissed her over a 10-day overlap. It is not about a 10-day overlap, but instead about the fact that The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is an ensemble production that has to accommodate the schedules of numerous actors while respecting the established creative vision of the filmmaker and most importantly the story.”

The second installment in the series, New Moon, is slated for release in November.

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