Teen love triangle remains at centre of new Twilight

The makers of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse hired a horror film director to pump up the action, but what they got instead was a film filled with love. And 'Twi-hard' fans of the hit film franchise may be happy.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse premiered on Thursday to throngs of  screaming young women in Los Angeles with its usual mix of razor-toothed werewolves and bloodthirsty vampires, but the film's true heroes are the pair of lovers who long for the affection of a teenage girl.

But even as they vie for her in the third film of the smash hit Twilight franchise, which makes its debut across the United States on June 30, one-time rivals werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) must band together to save the object of their desire, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), as she is hunted.

As in the two previous Twilight films, studio Summit Entertainment brought in a new director, this time David Slade, who is best known for horror flicks.

While some 'Twi-hards' showed concern that Slade would turn the film into a dark and bloody tale, influential fans who have seen it say love remains in the air in Eclipse, which is expected to be among the highest grossing films of 2010.

"Really the love triangle is at its hottest, at its peak in Eclipse," said Lori Joffs, 36, creator of Twi-hard fan site TwilightLexicon.com.

To readers of author Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books, on which the film franchise is based, the winner of Bella's heart will come as no surprise. But watching the romance play out — as Jacob steals a kiss from Bella and Edward enthrals her with visions of marriage — should make Twi-hards swoon.

In Eclipse, a band of newly minted vampires hunts Bella. To protect her, Edward's vampire clan and Jacob's werewolf pack unite to fight the invading bloodsuckers.

As Bella, Jacob and Edward seek refuge on a snow-capped mountain, the boys who in the second film both showed love for her must now decide who will be her only boyfriend and who will leave her side forever.

The 24 year-old Pattinson told reporters recently that in his own life, he would rather be like his Cullen in Eclipse — namely, the one who starts off with the girl as in the first Twilight, compared with Jacob, whose desire for Bella sets up a love triangle in the second film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

"I would never be in Jacob's position, because then you just end up being the guy who broke up a couple," he said.

Lautner, 18, said his character Jacob gets frustrated in Eclipse because he "gets told 'no' over and over again".

For her part, Stewart told Reuters that though Bella seems bound to choose Edward, Jacob makes things interesting. "What I really like about the love triangle is she thinks there could absolutely be no one else for her [except Edward] and... she [later] sees that she could totally be with someone else," said Stewart.

Love triangles are the stuff of Hollywood legend, which is surely what independent studio Summit has on its mind as it seeks to keep up the box-office momentum of the film.

"Twilight from director Catherine Hardwicke made $409 million at global box offices in 2008, and one year later, the sequel Twilight Saga: New Moon by filmmaker Chris Weitz earned $710 million.

Ben Carlson, president of Hollywood buzz monitoring firm Fizziology, said Eclipse is generating as much buzz as any film this year, and is on a par with Toy Story 3, which enjoyed an opening weekend box-office collection of more than $100 million.

One of the blogs generating that buzz is Joffs' TwilightLexicon.com, where the Tennessee mother of two children addresses such topics as Eclipse's new director.

Joffs said Slade, who previously made the horror film 30 Days of Night, had fans worried that he "was just going to be so dark as a horror movie director". But after seeing the film, Joffs said those audience concerns will evaporate.

"He understands that the love triangle is what keeps fans coming back for more," she said.