By Jay A. Fernandez

Are you ready to see Edward’s cheekbones and Jacob’s abs in full, glistening three dimensions?

It’s well known that Summit Entertainment has considered extending its “Twilight” juggernaut by splitting Stephenie Meyer’s fourth book, “Breaking Dawn,” into two films. The studio continues to deny — and did so again today — that that decision has yet been made. I’m skeptical, but OK.

There is, however, an even more intriguing piece of the “Dawn” puzzle: its dimensionality. And I’m not talking about the depth of the characters (or whether they’ll even be played by the same actors). The halls of Summit are also alive with the parallel potential of filming the last film — or films — in 3D.

By Jay A. Fernandez

When I was sorting through party invitations pre-Sundance, I almost missed it. And then my eyes focused and realized I was being offered a chance to see Joan Jett — and the Blackhearts, thank you — perform a show at HarryO’s on Main Street Saturday night.

It quickly went straight to the top of the personal event list for the week. Not because I have remained a fan since 1981, but because it was a chance to see Joan Jett perform, for chrissakes. My first rock crush (also from my hometown of Philly). Like many contemporaries, “I Love Rock N’ Roll” was my first sing-along anthem (though Pat Benatar’s “Hell Is for Children” came right after), and she, along with Chrissie Hynde, represented the ultimate teenage fantasy: an attractive woman who could rock harder than you.

By Jay A. Fernandez

Here’s a brief Q&A with New York-based Apparition topper Bob Berney, whose new company picked up the indie film “The Runaways” this weekend ahead of its Sundance film festival bow. Berney, an indie veteran via IFC Films, Newmarket Films and Picturehouse (shuttered last year by WB), also shares his thoughts on the state of the indie space leading up to Sundance 2010.

When did you see “The Runaways?”

It’s been about 3 or 4 weeks. [Bill Pohlad's] River Road Productions is run as a separate company than Apparition, but we’re trying to find films that they produce that would match the kind of style and distribution plan that we do. So this was the perfect one. It’s kind of informal, but there’s a relationship.

How long did it take you to pull the trigger?

Really just finally seeing the film. Part of it is the idea of the cast, for sure, is interesting and great. Floria made a film that is really about the relationship, so there’s more to it than just a typical rock bio. It’s really a story of the two girls, Joan and Cherie. She did it really stylized, and it’s done in a real indie spirit, which I think is the spirit of the original group and Joan’s group. It fit with how we wanted to market it. So it was really just finally seeing Floria’s work that convinced us to do it.

The cast opens up some extra possibility overseas given the “Twilight” angle. To what extent did that factor into your decision?

It’s huge. Obviously, there’s a huge base of fans for [Stewart] from the “Twilight” movies, and although this is a different film and it’s R-rated and edgier, it gives you a great fanbase to start with. You just gotta be careful how you market it. I think her fans are interested in her doing something very different, and stretching, and that’s probably why she wanted to make the film. So it’s great as long as we try to be really truthful about what the film is and what it’s going to be about. I think her fans will really like it.

Luckily, some of her “Twilight” fans are the mothers. You don’t have to worry about the R-rating with them.

Yeah, exactly.

By Jay A. Fernandez

You thought Kristen Stewart was big on the blockbuster stage? Wait until she takes over the indie world, too.

I was tooling around the Sundance Film Festival’s ass-kicking new interactive schedule website on Friday, putting together a tentative itinerary for the January event. Among the site’s cool features is a “Buzz” tracker that logs all the interest in the films in the program — both page views and the number of visitors who have tagged a film to insert in their personal festival schedules.

Guess what the top two films are, in terms of both page count and scheduling?

“The Runaways,” a Stewart starrer that Apparition picked up for distribution this weekend, six weeks before it was even scheduled to premiere at Sundance. And “Welcome to the Rileys,” Jake Scott’s new film starring… Kristen Stewart.

“Runaways,” which features Stewart as Joan Jett opposite “New Moon” co-star Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, has 12,326 page views and 287 adds as of Monday at 1 pm, PST. “Rileys,” a competition film that features Stewart as a New Orleans prostitute opposite James Gandolfini’s grieving father, has 5,817 views and 267 adds.

Not to make it a competition or anything…

But really, is Park City ready for some “Twilight”-level chaos?

By Steven Zeitchik

It’s hard for many avid film fans and industry insiders to know how to read the insanely successful  weekend of “New Moon” (unless you’re Summit, the Weitz family or a distant cousin of Taylor Lautner’s,  in which case the only thing you probably need to read at the moment is your bank statement).

On the one hand, it’s hard not to feel some validation at at the fact that a film is in the middle of the pop-cultural conversation — to again see proof that for all the advantages Oprah and Letterman and CNN and a host of other popular TV brands have by regularly entering our homes, there’s still nothing like a bigscreen phenomenon  to galvanize the masses.

By Steven Zeitchik

"Eclipse" has found its Maria, and she's full of grace.

Producers on Summit's third "Twilight" pic have cast Catalina Sandino Moreno, best-known for playing the title character in the indie drama "Maria Full of Grace," to play the vampire character of Maria.

The CAA-repped actress will take on the role of a woman who tries to create a newborn army of vampires, recruiting the Confederate soldier Jasper to her cause. In Stephenie Meyer's book, the character is described as a petite brunette with a soft voice.

The Colombian-born Sandino Moreno most notably starred in "Grace," in which she played a pregnant teenager who becomes a drug mule, as well as Steven Soderbergh's epic "Che" and the upcoming indie drama "Frail," in which she plays the title character, who's described as a naive Midwestern girl.

By Steven Zeitchik

You've gotta love a catfight. Especially when it involves vampires.

Summit has a full-fledged publicity crisis on its hands over casting in the third "Twilight" movie, "Eclipse." And it could get worse.

Here's the skinny: Something seemed odd yesterday when Rachelle Lefevre, a largely unknown actress about to act in the role of her life, walked away from the part of Victoria, a small character in the first two "Twilight" pics but a far more significant player in the third one, "Eclipse," where she becomes a full-on villain who tries to kill Kristen Stewart's Bella.

But on Tuesday evening, Summit released a short statement saying Lefevre had "scheduling conflicts" and would not be to perform in the picture; instead, Bryce Dallas Howard would take her place.

By Steven Zeitchik

Our friend Geoff Berkshire at Metromix just tweeted that "New Moon" should be called "Shirtless Moon." We would laugh if it didn't make us cry.

Two "New Moon" scenes shown by Summit at its Comic-Con panel, two beefcake shots of the male stars slowly and showily taking off their tops.

It's clear from its Comic-Con sneaks that of all the elements the studio had at its disposal to market the pic — Stephenie Meyer's book, Kristen Stewart's star power, the vampire mythology — the one it's settled on is the upper torso of its male stars.

And perhaps for good reason. Any time Lautner said something about his chest — he talked about getting "half-naked" during a rain scene, his diet to work out his abs and other tidbits designed to play to the AMPAS voting block — thousands of screams went up in the crowd. (Then again, the male stars could have talked about Kim Jong-Il and gotten an enthusiastic response.)