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Oh snap! The grand dame of vampire literature, Anne Rice, had some not-so-nice things to say about Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight Saga" universe in a recent interview with New Jersey's The Star-Ledger while promoting her new novel "Of Love and Evil." We're wondering if this will spark a verbal smack-down in the bloodsucking book world!

"['Twilight']’s based on a really silly premise: that immortals would go to high school. It's a failure of imagination, but at the same time, that silly premise has provided Stephenie Meyer with huge success," Anne said. "The idea that if you are immortal you would go to high school instead of Katmandu or Paris or Venice, it’s the vampire dumbed down for kids. But it's worked. It's successful. It makes kids really happy."

It's not too surprising that Anne had less-than-sweet nothings to whisper about the series that has made vampires the hottest supernatural property around and virtually diluted a genre that had been a sophisticated cultural metaphor. Still, wow, those are some pretty harsh words towards Stephenie! Anne did add that "it's almost like a stroke of genius to put vampires in high school," but that still sounds a bit derogatory to us.

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Tags anne rice, Interview With The Vampire, Stephenie Meyer, the twilight saga, True Blood, Twilight, Vampire Diaries

Goodness gracious! When it rains, it pours in "The Twilight Saga" casting universe (this is Forks, Wash., after all). All but three of the new vampires introduced in "Breaking Dawn" have now been cast, and trust me, there are a lot of names in this list.

We'll get to the full rundown after the jump, but first we'd like to point out that all those rumors about Lee Pace being cast in the film turned out to be true! The "Pushing Daisies" star was the subject of much casting speculation before any official news was ever released, but he has in fact been cast as the American nomadic vampire, Garrett, who is Carlisle Cullen's BFF and ends up teaming with the Denali Coven. Another exciting addition is Andrea Gabriel, a.k.a Nadia on "Lost," as the Egyptian vamp Kebi.

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Tags Andrea Gabriel, Angela Sarafyan, Bill Tangradi, Breaking Dawn, Erik Odom, Guri Weinberg, Joe Anderson, Judi Shekoni, Lee Pace, Lisa Howard, Marlane Barnes, Noel Fisher, Omar Metwally, Patrick Brennan, Rami Malek, the twilight saga, Toni Trucks, Tracey Heggins, Valorie Curry

(From left to right: MyAnna Buring, Mia Maestro, Casey LaBow and Christian Camargo)

It may have taken a while to happen, but now the "Breaking Dawn" casting news is coming fast and furiously. Summit Entertainment must have been working hard at keeping this one covered up, because today The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog announced that the entire Denali coven has been cast.

This fleshes out the news from earlier this week that "Lost" star Maggie Grace had been cast as Irina, the rebel from within the Denali coven's ranks. The actors cast as Eleazar, Carmen, Tanya and Kate are relatively unknown, but are sure to be catapulted into fame thanks to their involvement in "The Twilight Saga."

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Tags Breaking Dawn, Casey LaBow, Christian Camargo, Dexter, Maggie Grace, Mia Maestro, midnight sun, MyAnna Buring, Skateland, the twilight saga

Just because one is immortal, it doesn't mean she shouldn't celebrate another year of life. To her chagrin, we're going to point out that today is Bella Swan's 23rd birthday. Happy birthday, Bella!

It's no secret that Bella and her posse of supernatural buds have become quite the pop-culture juggernaut over the past few years, thanks to the success of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight Saga" book series and the three (soon-to-be five!) film adaptations. In honor of Bella's special day, and the impact she's made on what we read and watch, we're looking back at the pop-culture highlights from the year Miss Swan was born: 1987.

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Tags Bella Swan, the twilight saga

Labor Day weekend has passed, so now sounds about as good a time as any to start getting knee deep in "Breaking Dawn" news. This latest piece might get you a bit more excited than your average casting announcement though, because it involves meeting the cast of the film in person, if you have the dough to cough up for it.

We've covered the Stand Up To Cancer charity before and were excited by how many actors and actresses gathered to support their cause, but this just puts it over the top. SU2C is auctioning off a trip on eBay to visit the Vancouver set of "Breaking Dawn."

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Tags Breaking Dawn, stand up to cancer, the twilight saga

Two big "Twilight Saga"-related rumors came out over the weekend, and we're sorry to say that only one of them could potentially be true. No, Robert Pattinson's rep told MTV News, he will not be guest starring on an episode of "Entourage" (only in our wildest dreams, huh?), but there does seem to be some chance that a "Bree Tanner" spin-off film could be hitting theaters after both parts of "Breaking Dawn" come out. Sadly, the speculation is that it won't be starring Jodelle Ferland.

Whether or not Bree gets her own story depends on the success and reception of "Breaking Dawn" (though "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" is a much more traditional vampire story than the final installments of "Twilight"). Summit could instead choose to take this opportunity to make spin-offs of characters whose stories haven't been told, or maybe even just stop after "Breaking Dawn." Cast your vote after the jump to share which "Twilight Saga" spin-off you most want to see hit theaters.

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Tags Breaking Dawn, Eclipse, Entourage, Jodelle Ferland, midnight sun, Robert Pattinson, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, the twilight saga

The rumormill has been churning for months, speculating on just who will be joining the highly anticipated two-part finale of "The Twilight Saga" (remember those Lee Pace whisperings?). Well today, courtesy of ET Online, we have confirmation of one new "Breaking Dawn" face: "The Pacific" star Rami Malek. Rami will be playing vampire Benjamin, and, unsurprisingly, he's super-psyched to be joining the franchise. "I think it's going to be great," he told ET. "It's going to be super-exciting, and I'm thrilled."

You'll recall from the novel that Benjamin is a member of the Egyptian coven summoned by Carlisle to help battle the Volturi at the end of "Breaking Dawn." Benjamin's special vamp ability is controlling the elements, though he has yet to fully master his powers. He's described as a young-looking vampire with dark hair and olive skin.

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Tags Breaking Dawn, Rami Malek, the twilight saga

FROM SPLASH PAGE Earlier this month we brought you an exclusive preview of "Archie & Friends" #146, in which Archie and the Riverdale gang encounter a brooding vampire, a shirt-adverse werewolf, and a host of other characters inspired by the wildly popular "Twilight" franchise.

For more on the "Twilight/Archie" parody (including the full Part 2 cover), check out SplashPage.MTV.com.

Tags the twilight saga, Twilight

MTV News was lucky enough to catch up with "Dexter" writer-turned-"The Twilight Saga" scribe Melissa Rosenberg last night at the Emmy's red carpet. As is our natural response when face-to-face with anyone involved in the "Twilight" universe, we had to ask for any update on "Breaking Dawn," which begins shooting in November.

Fortunately, Melissa is the best woman to talk to considering she is writing the not-yet-finished script. She told us that the two screenplays (for "Part 1" and "Part 2") are about 75 to 80 percent completed. A bit surprisingly, it's the finale of the second film that is giving her the toughest time, and not "Part 1's" infamous birthing scene.

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Tags Bill Condon, Breaking Dawn, Emmy Awards 2010, Melissa Rosenberg, the twilight saga

After a summer spent dominating the box office with "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and "The Last Airbender," Jackson Rathbone is trying his hand at a different venture. The 25-year-old actor will appear on ABC's new series "No Ordinary Family" in what EW.com describes as a "potentially recurring role."

Since "The Twilight Saga" features vampires struggling to conceal their true identities and coexist with humans in the real world, and "No Ordinary Family" is about a supernaturally gifted family trying to conceal their superpowers and coexist with regular folks in the real world, the subject matter shouldn't be too much of a departure for Jackson. The one difference: This time, he'll be playing one of the humans.

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Tags Eclipse, Jackson Rathbone, No Ordinary Family, the twilight saga