We’re in no way invested in the Twilight franchise — we were planning on seeing the first one but then we kind of forgot?–but this morning’s news that Drew Barrymore might direct the third installment got us a bit more interested. It took us a few minutes and a few more film blogs to remind us that Drew hasn’t actually ever directed anything yet — not that we’ve seen, anyway, since her debut Whip It! just wrapped — but doesn’t it seem like she’d be able to get Kristen Stewart to do more than a moody Blue Steel? Or craft some kickass normal-girl-on-vampire-girl action sequences? (We haven’t read Twilight, but we’re just assuming Bella gets into fights at some point).
It’s not like the Twilight films could get any worse — or could they?
On the plus side, Barrymore would generate a lot of positive buzz for a movie that, while was obviously highly popular, left a lot to be desired. She would also help producers save some face after they fired one of the few women directors at the helm of big-budget blockbusters and hired Chris Weitz instead.
Of course, that comes with its own downsides. There are so few women directing right now, that wouldn’t it be better to not hire the newbie whose directing credits aren’t even common knowledge yet?
Twilight wasn’t necessarily praised for its excellence as artistic cinema, and neither is Barrymore, but she can probably understand the mind of a goth-y romantic more than many. And if she crafted a sub-par film, it’s not like anyone would be shocked. For a franchise that has no one holding their breath (Edward Cullen is at the Oscars now, what more could Twiaddicts or Bellaheads or whatever they call themselves want?) in terms of directing, it couldn’t hurt to inject a bit of fun into it. If Drew Barrymore directed, we’d probably remember to watch, at least to act as objective observers.