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Late last evening Summit Entertainment announced that Rachelle Lefevre would not be returning to the role of Victoria in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Instead, Lefevre would be replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard, the actress known for her roles in Lady in the Water, Spider-Man 3 and most recently Terminator: Salvation. In their announcement the studio explained that Lefevre would not be playing the evil Victoria for a third time due to scheduling conflicts. "Rachelle brought Victoria to great screen life and Bryce will bring a new dimension to the character," said Erik Feig, Summit's president of production.

Now Lefevre has gone on the record and said that being told that she was "stunned" not be playing Victoria in Eclipse. "I was fully committed to the Twilight saga, and to the portrayal of Victoria," the Canadian born actress said in a statement first aired by Access Hollywood. "I turned down several other film opportunities and, in accordance with my contractual rights, accepted only roles that would involve very short shooting schedules. My commitment to Barney's Version is only ten days. Summit picked up my option for Eclipse. Although the production schedule for Eclipse is over three months long, Summit said they had a conflict during those ten days and would not accommodate me. Given the length of filming for Eclipse, never did I fathom I would lose the role over a 10 day overlap. I was happy with my contract with Summit and was fully prepared to continue to honor it. Summit chose simply to recast the part.

"I am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the Twilight audience. This is a story, a theatrical journey and a character that I truly love and about which I am very passionate. I will be forever grateful to the fan support and loyalty I've received since being cast for this role, and I am hurt deeply by Summit's surprising decision to move on without me. I wish the cast and crew of Eclipse only the very best."

Given that Lefevre played the role in both the original Twilight and New Moon, it seemed unusual when Summit announced a substitute to come in halfway through the quadrilogy and inherit Victoria's villainy. Could there still be a side to this story that hasn't been publically heard? Perhaps one of the factors that went into Summit choosing Howard over Lefevre was concern over cutting a bigger check to Rachelle in Eclipse and the final fourth Twilight film Breaking Dawn. Or maybe Lefevre's agent had a hand in what went down, asking for their client to receive more attention in the publicity campaign of the next Twilight movie.

So far Summit hasn't responded to Lefevre's statements.

UPDATE! Summit Entertainment has issued a statement rebuting Lefevre's version of events!