Update
New Moon Shut Down? Stephenie Meyer a Plagiarist? "A Hoax, Pure and Simple"
DZILLA/bauergriffinonline.com
Relax. This New Moon rumor has nothing to do with a Kristen Stewart-Robert Pattinson hookup. And unlike the latter, this one has already been proven false.
Numerous blogs and news sites, including The Insider, have picked up a fan-forum item claiming that filming on the Twilight sequel has been halted due to a plagiarism lawsuit filed by one of author Stephenie Meyer's Brigham Young University classmates.
As the story goes, this person, "Heidi Stanton," alleges she wrote a short story that included the teen vampire romance concept and is now out for blood after Meyer swiped the premise for her hugely successful franchise.
"Quite frankly, I was shocked when I began watching the movie with my husband last week. I immediately told him that she got that idea from me! I wrote a fictional short story with the same ideas when we were in college together," the posting quotes Stanton as saying. Supposedly, she claims that as a mother of four, she has no time to see movies or read books, which is why she's taken so long to come forward.
Backing up her accusations is a supposed BYU professor. But that's where the red flags start to fly ridiculously high.
The purported English department chairman, Dr. Peter Benton, appears nowhere on the university's website and, as fan blog OMG Vampires points out, was the name of Eriq La Salle's long-running character on ER.
Most important, a spokesman for Summit Entertainment says, "There is absolutely no truth to the rumor about any interruption to the filming of New Moon. The production of the film has not been stalled or interrupted in any way and filming continues as planned.
"Additionally, after consulting with Stephenie Meyer and her publishers, speculation about any claims of plagiarism are also completely not true. This is a hoax, pure and simple.
"The Internet, for all of its assets, can still be an easy breeding ground for such hoaxes and detractors, and we hope that people will not be duped so easily, and use appropriate diligence before perpetuating everything or anyone that claims to have information about the Twilight franchise."
The rep also declined to comment on a report at TheWrap.com claiming Summit had greenlit the fourth and final installment in the franchise, Breaking Dawn.
Now about that Stewart-Pattison hookup...
(Originally published April 20, 2009, at 12:40 p.m. PT)
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