Eclipse (or ‘The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse’ as it’s now called) is scheduled to open Wednesday, June 30, 2010. New Moon is released November 20, 2009.

This puts Eclipse as a summer blockbuster, with the Independence Day holiday its first weekend.

Distributors Summit are looking to strike while the iron is hot, and the cast is young. Here they’ve been squeezed out of winter into summer by Harry Potter. Deathly Hallows Part 1 already has the pre-Thanksgiving release date in 2010, so launching Eclipse the same time of year as Twilight and New Moon would have put it into direct competition with the wizard.

ECLIPSE SPOILERS! The movie’s plot goes like this - As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death.