E! Online's Marc Malkin on Rachelle's Departure

E! Online's Marc Malkin thinks there is more to the story:

Sounds like redheaded beauty Rachelle Lefevre's sudden departure from the Twilight movie franchise may not be as amicable as everyone wants us to believe.

As Twilight aficionados already know, Summit Entertainment announced last night that fellow ginger gal Bryce Dallas Howard will replace Lefevre as Victoria in the just-about-to-start-shooting Eclipse.

Official reason is scheduling conflicts, but money may be a part of the problem, too...
First up, Lefevre got a hefty pay increase for the vampire franchise's third installment, according to sources.

Then she snagged a role in Barney's Version, an indie flick costarring Paul Giamatti, which she planned to film between the New Moon and upcoming Eclipse shoots.
But then, I'm told, Lefevre's Eclipse schedule with director David Slade was tweaked and overlapped with Barney's Version.

"Summit could have made it work," one source says. "But they saw that they could save a lot of money by recasting her. This could get really messy."

You know, I have to agree. I can't think of a reason why she would want to leave right before Eclipse starts filming, it is the most important movie for her character if you ask me. Plus Rachelle herself said Eclipse was a priority:

“HitFix spoke to Lefevre on the set of “New Moon” in Vancouver at the beginning of May and not returning seemed out of the question if she had a conflict. When asked about what she was doing in between the two films, Lefevre said, “I have a couple of things sort of in the mix right now that it looks like I’m going to get to do. One in between this and “Eclipse” but it’s a scheduling thing and so nothing is confirmed yet because you have to be available for the third movie.”

(above via Twilight Lexicon)

So, what do you guys think??