Director nearly turned 'Twilight' down

'Twilight' director Chris Weitz nearly turned down the film series as he thought vampires were "done".

Chris said he tried to warn his brother, Paul - also a Hollywood filmmaker - against exploring supernatural themes as he thought they had already been covered by US TV series' in the 90s.

Chris said: "It's funny, but when Paul was considering 'Cirque du Freak' a few years back, he asked my opinion and I was like, 'Be careful. After 'Buffy Teh Vampire Slayer', this vampire thing is kind of done. It's over.' How wrong could I be?"

He also claimed the second film in the series, 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', holds much more appeal for boys, as opposed to the first film which very popular with younger girls, partly because of heartthrob vampire character Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson.

He added: "There is more for boys, more action, more relatable characters, like Jacob Black, who's into fixing cars, and is not, like Edward Cullen, a representation of male perfection."

16 November 2009, 08:00am