This is not a diatribe against Stephenie Meyers's TWILIGHT Saga. I'm on record as believing that anything that gets young people to read, and anything that might steer them towards horror fiction, cannot be all bad. The teenage girls who swoon over Robert Pattinson are no more ridiculous than housewives who found DARK SHADOWS' Barnabas Collins irresistable, or goths who fantasized over Anne Rice's Lestat. Every generation expresses their vampire lust, and Meyers simply tapped into a younger vein than most other creators have.

No, I'm talking aboutt he film series. First Summit Entertainment replaced TWILIGHT director Catherine Hardwicke with Chris Weitz on THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON because Hardwicke wanted a little more time and money to make a better movie. Then producers threatened to oust werewolf boy Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black becuase he didn't look bulky enough for his enlarged role in the sequel; the poor kid had to bust his ass to "make weight," but kudos to him, he managed to keep the role. Good on you, Taylor. Then the filmmakers switched locales from Oregon to (cheaper) Vancouver. And now, for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE - which hasn't even started filming yet! - they've replaced Rachelle Lefevre with Bryce Dallas Howard in the role of vampire vixen Victoria over a 10-day schedule conflict!

What gives with all of this chaos? TWILIGHT and the novels that inspired it has spawned a legion of bloodthirsty fans. Fans like continuity and consistency. Why is the production company so disrespectful of these fans? Obviously, the executives believe squealing teenage girls won't care that actors and locations have changed, and maybe some of them won't, but I bet plenty will. I find it very cynical that these suits want viewers' cash but won't spend additional money, or make a few accomodations for continuing cast members, to give the fans what they really want.