HitFix has an opinion piece up about the She Said / Studio Said ugliness that we're seeing, and here is an excerpt of what they have to say:If you read between the lines, there is way more to this story than what both parties are revealing here. Lefevre's management may be at fault for misrepresenting their client and mistakingly playing hardball, but couldn't the studio really have handled this more smoothly? If Lefevre was truly blindsided by this news -- and you have to take her at her word she was -- why did Summit not try to broach her personally about the conflict? From all accounts, Lefevre has been a willing and drama-less ambassador for the franchise making almost any appearance or publicity request asked of her. What makes this whole situation even more peculiar is Summit expertly maneuvered around the touchy issue of "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke not returning to helm "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" when she'd publicly stated her desire to on numerous occasions. In fact, Hardwicke went on to help publicize the film's DVD release after Chris Weitz was brought on to direct "New Moon" (although she did have a financial incentive for the DVD to do well).Read the rest here.
On the sideline is Howard, who no doubt is wondering, 'What have I gotten into?' and whether she'll be answering questions on the casting change for the next 12 months (yep). It's hard to imagine she thought the blowback would be this bad when she was agreed to come on aboard over the past few days.
Sadly, the biggest losers here are the fans who are getting caught in a tug of war between a rising star whose was extremely fan-friendly and a studio who has done everything possible to satisfy their constant hunger for new material. Is it going to take franchise author Stephenie Meyer to broker peace between everyone involved? One thing is clear, if you end up seeing Lefevre on Larry King Live or hearing her on Ryan Seacrest's radio show over the next few days? Then it's really gotten ugly.
P.S. Poor Bryce. She's just a pawn in this story. I'm guessing that she didn't know what a crap-storm she was walking into. We wish everybody the best!
