New BTS pictures on the set of Vampire Academy

+ Possible/Minor Spoiler BTS below:

On Set Interview: Richelle Mead talks the upcoming ‘Vampire Academy’ movie with Page to Premiere

Q: Rose and Lucy’s bond is really one of the most captivating things about the book and one of the things fans love so much. I was wondering what do you think of Zoey and Lucy bringing that to life and how well they did it?
Richelle: It’s funny that you bring that up, because I just witnessed that tonight. I was watching a scene where Lissa is comforting Rose. If you meet them, Lucy and Zoey, they are just so different. They have these wildly contradicting personalities, just like the characters. And they just mesh perfectly. I mean Lucy, she’s just so centered and so calm, and just happy to be a part of it. Lissa is like that. And Zoey she’s just out there, she’s energetic and larger than life, and they just balance. They are the yin and the yang. They’ve got that going. Don Murphy was telling us when they did the casting they tested that. Those two read together, so that they could check that chemistry. I think they nailed it.

Q: We previously spoke to Danila. The way he spoke, he really seemed to understand and adore the character of Dmitri. I wanted to know what your thoughts on Danila were when you first met him and you spoke to him about the character.Richelle: I was star struck when I first met him. But he’s so approachable and so easy going when you talk to him. You would never guess, I mean, he’s a megastar in Russia. He’s so friendly, very humble, very charming. He’s a perfect gentleman. I just love talking to him. We actually just talked over there and I signed a book for him and he had me sign another one for a friend in Russia. He’s been really great and he’s excited about the character. He thanked me for writing the books and someone who had spoken to him earlier was saying that he is excited for the way the story develops and the rest of the series if we make more movies, what happens to Dmitiri. I am thrilled he is so invested in it.

Q: One of the most anticipated castings was Christian. The fan base was going insane for it. I wanted to know what was your opinion when Dominic was cast and have you met him and what do you think of him?
Richelle: I didn’t know anything about him. I wasn’t part of the casting process. Mostly he was an unknown to me as I think he was to so many people. I was probably like all the fans, I was heading to google to see what he looked like. I couldn’t see very many shots of him, but every other choice he made was so smart. I had to assume there was a reason. Especially since it took them a long time. I know they did a lot of hunting. He was one of the last people cast. When I met him for the first time yesterday, it was like that’s it, that’s him. I see why they took so long. He looks the part. I have been watching him act. He’s got that attitude there. I think it was a brilliant choice.

read the rest of the interview from Page to Premiere HERE

Yahoo! Movies Interviews Dan Waters (October 10)

Silver Stakes and More: ‘Vampire Academy’ Screenwriter Will Ease Your Mind on 5 Big Differences

Yes, Rose has a silver stake. Don't freak out.

When the 60-second teaser trailer for "Vampire Academy" premiered here on Yahoo Movies, fans got a bit nervous. Despite its sassy voiceover and quick cuts, eagle eyes caught onto some key moments that didn't quite mesh with the first book in Richelle Mead's bestselling series about a pair of teen vampire BFFs.

We get it … and so do the film's screenwriter, Dan Waters, and his brother Mark, who's directing it. And they want to make you happy.

"I have always had an attitude from the beginning that I would listen to fans and respect the fans, but not be their bitch," Dan told Yahoo Movies. "At some point, I know a little more about turning a book into a movie. I'm not one of these people who just take a paycheck and do anything, who just take the title and go with it. I'm adapting 'Vampire Academy' because I love 'Vampire Academy.'"

Before we get into Dan's explanation of some of his changes, here's one thing he didn't change that he totally wanted to: the title.

"I'm not crazy about the title — it's hard to tell the title to your adult friends," he confessed. "It sounds like Saturday morning cartoons … It just seems so kiddie. But it's so much more than that, obviously."

1. Rose has the silver stake. In the books, heroine and protector Rose Hathaway doesn't get her hands on the coveted Guardian weapon until the second book, but the trailer shows her clutching one. Dan's excuse? He wants to be able to make a second movie! "I'm sorry, I had to do it to make it interesting," he said. "When you are writing five books, you can move things at a deliberate pace. I think that without a great first movie, there is no second one." That's a fair reason, right?

Read about the other 4 big differences HERE

Claire Foy talks Vampire Academy with Red Carpet News TV!

Claire Foy was interviewed by Red Carpet News TV and talked a bit about her role as Sonya Karp, Dan Waters adaptation of Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters, and more! See the video below:

Starts at 1:52

Teen Interviews Screenwriter Dan Waters

There’s still a fair amount of time before Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters hits theaters — seriously, February 14 can’t come soon enough! — but that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of VA treats to snack on in the meantime… like a Q&A with the screenwriter!

We had the chance to chat with Dan Waters about the Zoey Deutch-led film based off of author Richelle Mead‘s YA novel, and he spilled some of the juiciest details on the upcoming movie, including the comparisons to Twilight (with mentions of The Hunger Games and The Mortal Instruments as well), the bad-ass that is Dimitri Belikov, and the steamy necklace scene…

First off, we loved the teaser trailer, and we’re so excited for Vampire Academy! Tell us about your experience working with the movie.
Dan Waters: I hadn’t read the book, so you can imagine when the producers came and said, “Would you like to write Vampire Academy?” I thought, “Oh no, has my career come to this? Is this like a Saturday morning show? Is this like a Zack and Cody Go to Space? [However], when I read the book, I was exhilarated because I didn’t know the book. Then I immediately read all of the books before I even began thinking of doing the first movie. Then I was completely into it. I think when people say they’re sick of the vampire genre — believe me I was sick of it too — but to me when people are sick of a genre, that’s the best time to go into the genre, because that way you can play with the clichés and kind of move things around and mess with people’s brains. And I think Vampire Academy is the perfect vehicle to do that because it has so much more going on than just the vampires.

How involved were you with filming the movie? Were you on set a lot?
Dan: I was in London right before the movie started shooting [because I had to do all that last-minute work on the script], and then I was at the very start and the very end. That’s was probably the best thing for a writer because you don’t want to be there too much. Because when they see the writer, they’ll start to rewrite things and I thought we had the adaptation in a perfect place. Thank you for liking the teaser! I think people are over-analyzing it not knowing it’s just a one-minute piece of marketing that I think a lot of people get a little too crazy analyzing it because a lot of time the surface clichés are going to come through. And if you read the book, you know there’s a lot more complexity, a lot more going on then we could possibly show in a teaser.

Read more of the full interview where he talks about scenes, the cast, Dimitri and more at Teen!

Cinema Blend Interviews Screenwriter Dan Waters

Vampire Academy Screenwriter Daniel Waters Talks Vampire Humor, High School And More

The fangs come out next Valentine's Day when Vampire Academy arrives in theaters. We had the opportunity to speak with screenwriter Daniel Waters about his part in adapting the first book in Richelle Mead's popular young adult series. Waters spoke to us about the tone of the book as well as the difference between the things he could alter in the adaptation and the things Mead insisted had to stay the same. Like Christian's hair. What compelled him to adaptVampire Academy? How does this film stack up next to the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? What changes should fans expect from the adaptation? Waters addresses all of those topics and more. 

Daniel Waters is no stranger to teen drama. He penned the script for the 1988 dark comedyHeathers. Armed with some notable experience in getting into the mindset of teenage girls, Waters tackled the screenplay for Vampire Academy, while his brother Mark -- director ofMean Girls -- was at the helm for this adaptation. Mead's novel takes place at an academy for teen vampires. While some of them do appreciate a bloody beverage for sustenance, these "Moroi" vampires aren't immortal. They do age, and they're not without their souls, unlike the vicious Strigoi vampires, who hunt Morois and the Dhampirs (half-human, half vampire supernatural beings). 

The story is told from the perspective of Rose Hathaway (Zoey Deutch), a beautiful and strong young Dhampir with a very close bond with Moroi vampire Lissa Dragomir (Lucy Fry). While Lissa trains to develop her supernatural abilities, Rose works hard to improve her strength and fighting techniques in order to eventually assume the role of Lissa's guard. While there are obviously some seriously supernatural elements at work in this story, St. Vladimir Academy is still a high school where teens are busy, coming of age, establishing friendships and romances, while also seeking out their own identities. One of the first things Daniel Waters spoke to us about was the multiple themes of the book and the relationship Rose and Lissa have with one another… 

What compelled you to do this adaptation? Were you looking for a young adult series to adapt, or was there something about this book in particular that kind of jumped out at you?

It’s funny, only now I’m starting to think about those first days, where I was offered Vampire Academy and I wasn’t aware... Don’t be mad, but I wasn’t even aware of the book and the series until I heard about it, and for a man who’s kind of getting on the old side, to hear the words like, “Ok, hey do you want to adapt this series of books called Vampire Academy?” To me, obviously my brain went to all the wrong places of like, “Oh no, is this a Saturday morning cartoon? Is this Zack and Cody Go To Space?” It took actually reading the books --and once I read one I had to read all of them -- that I realized that this was a much more fertile and complex and interesting -- and I like things that have a lot of different tones, like I love the bookHunger Games, but to me, I’m not the right writer for Hunger Games, because to me, that’s the kind of material you just stand back and do the plot, but to me Vampire Academy is so much more than just the plot or just the mystery, that to me -- I’ve always been fascinated with female characters and female relationships -- even taking away the supernatural elements, just to have two best friend characters where one can read the mind of the other one and knows what she’s thinking and feeling at all times. To me, you can do a movie just like that, in a kitchen without any of the supernatural elements, so I was obviously taken with all material and all the potential the material had.

 +(Read MORE from the interview below!)

Movies.com Interviews VA Screenwriter Dan Waters

Dialogue: Screenwriter Daniel Waters on Why 'Vampire Academy' Is Nothing Like Those Other YA Movies

It’s easy to look at the promotional campaign for the adaptation of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy and brand the film another Twilight or just another one-note teen supernatural adventure, but screenwriter Daniel Waters is well aware of that and expects to prove those naysayers wrong come February 14, 2014.

The film’s first teaser trailer just dropped and, as it should, only scratches the surface of the narrative: best friends Rose (Zoey Deutch) and Lissa (Lucy Fry) attend St. Vladimir’s Academy, your typical high school filled with young love, parties, and gossip. Oh, and vampires, too. Lissa is a Moroi, a benevolent breed of vampire whose existence is threatened by the malicious Strigoi. That’s where Rose steps in. She’s a Dhampir, half human and half vampire, and is studying to become Lissa’s guardian in order to protect her from the Strigoi.

Again, that’s only the surface. The story is loaded with curious characters, varying relationships, sass, action, and a particularly unique set of world rules. The film isn’t due in theaters until Valentine’s Day of next year, but Waters took the time out of post-production work to give us an update on the project, enlighten us on his adaptation process, and offer some thoughts on the book-to-film potential beyond Vampire Academy. Catch it all for yourself in the interview below.

Movies.com: How far along are you in the editing process?

Daniel Waters: We’re just coming on our first cut, so it’s still very early on. We’re trying to get out at Valentine’s Day so everything is a little accelerated. Things are going good, but it’s still at the first cut stage.

Movies.com: Based on the footage you’ve seen so far, is there anything that you’re particularly excited to show fans – perhaps even in the marketing campaign?

Waters: Well, yeah. It’s tricky because I’m still recovering from the over-hysteria and over-analysis of the one-minute teaser trailer. I’m afraid to turn on my computer nowadays. [Laughs] But unfortunately, for me, a lot of my favorite scenes are the scenes towards the end of the movie that you don’t want to give away in a teaser or a trailer, so it’s gonna be weird to see how we end up using that in marketing. The problem I have with marketing in general when you tie it to trailers and commercials and things, is that only the surface clichés of the vampire genre are gonna come across, when the movie, like the book, is much richer and more complex than any commercial or any trailer could be.

Read the FULL interview from Movies.com HERE

MTV's Hollywood Crush Interviews VA Screenwriter Dan Waters

Nobody In 'Vampire Academy' Is Innocent, Says Screenwriter Dan Waters

Fans got their first taste of the big-screen adaptation of Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" earlier this month with the bloody fabulous debut of a teaser trailer. (SHIRTLESS DIMITRI WHAT!!!!!!!) But with a big-screen bow more than six months away, we're already bloodlusting for more.

Sooooooo... we hopped on the phone with screenwriter Daniel Waters (probably best known for penning 1988's "Heathers") to get all the dirty details about the Zoey Deutch-starring film, including what's changed from the book and how "Vampire Academy" will be different than other teen flicks.

Hollywood Crush: "Heathers" came out 25 years ago. How do you think the teen sensibility has changed since then? 

Dan Waters: I think it goes through different patterns and waves. Certainly, when "Heathers" came around, I think people were sick of a certain kind of teen film, like, even John Hughes films that we loved then and love now, I think it came at a period when people were sick of them, and I think we're getting to that point again, where we've seen so many different teen cliches and young-adult cliches and even vampire-themed cliches. I'm happy to be coming back to the teen genre, because I think it's time to slap those cliches around again. We need something new because I think everybody kind of feels like we're in a rut of the same kind of thing over and over.

(Read more after the jump)