David Slade Confirmed As Director Of TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE!

Beaks here...

Every now and then, the internet gets one right. This is one of those occasions. Sort of. A month ago, Nikki Finke was talking up THE ORPHANGE's Juan Antonio Bayona as the director of TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE, the third film in the insanely popular (for now) teenage vampire series. She got that wrong - and then excoriated the head of Summit Entertainment, Eric Feig, for doing her dirty. This resulted in a profoundly uninteresting slapfight between the DeadlineHollywoodDaily grande dame and the L.A. Times' blandly contentious Patrick Goldstein. It was like Hopper v. Parsons on Quaaludes. So when Finke shot off her mouth yesterday that Summit was talking to the "very edgy" David Slade for ECLIPSE, most sites spread the news with an "It's 50-50 bullshit, but TWILIGHT = traffic!" kind of vigor. Obviously, since he's coming off a fairly successful vampire movie of his own (30 DAYS OF NIGHT), Slade made perfect sense. But this also sounded a little too good to be true. Well, turns out Finke got this one right. "Toldja," she cried! Here's the official press release from Summit:

Los Angeles, CA April 22, 2009 – Summit Entertainment announced today that David Slade has been hired to direct THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE from a screenplay written by Melissa Rosenberg. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, the third film in the studio’s TWILIGHT film franchise based on the Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster book series, will be released theatrically in North America on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. The announcement was made by Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Production. Meyer stated, “I am thrilled that David Slade will be directing ECLIPSE. He's a visionary filmmaker who has so much to offer this franchise. From the beginning, we've been blessed with wonderful directorial talent for the Twilight Saga, and I'm so happy that ECLIPSE will be carrying on with that tradition.” Feig said, “Stephenie Meyer's ECLIPSE is a muscular, rich, vivid book and we at Summit looked long and hard for a director who could do it justice. We believe we have found that talent in David Slade, a director who has been able to create complex, visually arresting worlds. We cannot wait to see the ECLIPSE he brings to life and brings to the fans eagerly awaiting its arrival in summer of 2010.” Filmmaker Slade came to prominence as a director for his work on 2006’s engrossing film HARD CANDY starring Academy Award® Nominated actress Ellen Page as well as directing 2007’s genre hit 30 DAYS OF NIGHT which opened to number one at the box office its first weekend of release. In ECLIPSE, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob — knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life. Slade is represented by William Morris Agency.

Someone who's read these books tell me why I should be ecstatic or incensed about this.