Production begins on Eclipse

New Moon isn’t even out in cinemas until November, and yet production has begun on the third instalment in the wildly popular fantasy romance series, Eclipse.

Summit Entertainment announced that work had begun today, with David Slade (30 Days Of Night) directing a script written by Melissa Rosenberg, who penned the last two Twilight films. Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner will reprise their roles as the three principle characters, while Bryce Dallas Howard (Terminator Salvation) takes over the role of Victoria from Rachelle Lefevre.

In the third instalment, Bella (Stewart) finds herself in trouble once more as a string of killings rocks Seattle, and her already tempestuous and slightly ill-advised love life gets even more complicated as she has to choose between Edward (Pattinson) and Jacob (Lautner). Her decision, far from being the simple expression of teenage hormones, has the power to ignite a centuries-old feud between vampires and werewolves.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is scheduled for a 30 June 2010 release date. New Moon is released on 20 November 2009.