David Slade, who is set direct the third of the Twilight films, has apologised for past comments in which he criticised the Vampire franchise.

In an archived audio clip, which emerged over the weekend, the director poked fun at the movie, which stars Robert Pattinson.

"Twilight drunk? No, not even drunk. Twilight on acid? No, not even on acid? Twilight at gun point? Just shoot me,” he said in the clip.

Slade is also reported to have criticised the movie in a message on his Twitter account, which has since been deleted.

In response, Slade told a Twilight fansite via email that the comments represented his views before he had read the popular book series and seen the first film.

“I was promoting a comedy short film that I had made for Xbox and every pop culture subject was seen as a possible comedy target,” he wrote.

“I was being silly and none of the statements were from the heart.”

The director added that he had been “quickly consumed” by the franchise and praised the “beautifully honest characters” created by author Stephenie Meyer.

Slade is due to direct the movie adaptation of Eclipse - the third of four books in the Twilight series.

New Moon, the second instalment, is currently being filmed in Vancouver.

Check out cast members from the forthcoming films below: