Rob said that HE is not getting paid $12 million. That's understandable. He's probably in New Moon for all of ten minutes. He also said HE didn't get $2 million for Twilight, which again, is understandable. Besides Harry Potter, he only did TV films. How to Be & Little Ashes were only released in 2008, so his resume really had nothing.
Kristen's resume is quite different. She has at least had experience in films, her reputation is that she's not your average talentless Disney star, etc. Plus, if you look at her style thread, girl has made upgrades in her wardrobe to Juicy Couture leather jackets, $2000 Chanel and Ralph Lauren purses. But you know... maybe they were gifts.
The rumor's source comes from the Chicago Sun-Times, not a random internet gossip board. The page actually containing the news is now no longer available on the internet, but every single site that reports this cites the Chicago Sun-Times as their source. Also, if you go to
this ONTD post, they copy and pasted the article in its entirety.
Anyway, the sole reason I brought up the budget of the film in the first place is because no indie gets $40 million. An indie director would be jumping for joy to get $40 million for their film.
Yes, Catherine rejected New Moon. I'm pretty sure I read that she rejected it because (1) they wanted to shoot too early & she didn't have enough time to prepare; (2) they weren't interested in keeping true to the story, they just saw Twilight as a cash cow**; (3) there were rumors that Catherine was difficult to work with in the first place.
** Summit's decision to not increase the budget and it's huge rush job to get it out ASAP indicates its lack of interest in the series. They are a new studio which has been having financial difficulties (rumored). They've just found a film that can make tons of money yet still be crap because teen girls will see it anyway. They're not interested in keeping the spirit of the story alive, which is why the script/shooting is rushed and the budget unchanged. I mean, they want to start shooting Eclipse in AUGUST. Catherine actually really loves the story and wants to keep its integrity so they clashed there. I think that was the main reason she didn't want to do it, because the studio is not really interested in making a good film, just money.