Summit Entertainment has announced that the official release date for Breaking Dawn, the final chapter in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, will be November 18, 2011. While this will be the longest wait between Twilight films, with Eclipse due out on June 30 this year, the biggest question is whether Summit will capitalize on the franchise’s success and turn Breaking Dawn into two films.
The smartest financial decision would be to produce two films, just as Warner Brothers is doing with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Deadline has already stated that Breaking Dawn will definitely be split, and filmed back-to-back. Bill Condon will likely direct both parts, having already been confirmed as the director of Breaking Dawn. Summit has still not made any official comment regarding this rumor that has been circulating among fans and film sites for some time.
Content-wise, Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, like its predecessors, does not engage with an eventful plot and could probably be condensed into a single film. That being said it does contain some shocking and quite mature themes that will make it the most worthy of Twilight films to see: (Spoiler-alert) Bella marries her vampire love, gives birth to a half-breed in a graphically grotesque birth scene and is ‘saved’ from death by being transformed into a vampire. Her former almost-lover Jacob, imprints upon the baby and they become inseparable. They play happy families for a while until the creepy Italians, the Volturi, throw their vampire authority weight around and come after them for breaking a law.
Summit is probably waiting for the cast to be signed up for both parts before making an announcement, but at this point with Twilight fever still high, there is money to be made and Summit will be raking it in twice.
Do you think Breaking Dawn will be split into two films?