Fanpires rejoice, Summit Entertainment has confirmed via press release that Breaking Dawn, the final book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, will be adapted into two separate films. Having successfully negotiated their contracts the main cast will return with Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) to direct both films.
Check out the full press release below:
Los Angeles, CA, June 10, 2010 – Summit Entertainment confirmed today that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN will be released as two separate films with the first of the two slated to be released in theatres on November 18, 2011. Academy Award® winner Bill Condon will direct both films starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner along with Billy Burke as Charlie Swan as well as returning members of the Cullen Family including Peter Facinelli as Carlisle, Elizabeth Reaser as Esme, Jackson Rathbone as Jasper, Nikki Reed as Rosalie, Ashley Greene as Alice and Kellan Lutz as Emmett.
The project, based on the fourth novel in author Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, is currently being written by Melissa Rosenberg with Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt and Stephenie Meyer producing. The TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN will start production in the Fall.
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.
This news comes as no shock as rumors of the split have been circulating for months. Having two films adapted for this book, however, is nothing short of a money-making scheme designed to lure dazzled Twilight fans into the theatre. Content-wise, Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, like its predecessors, does not engage with an eventful plot and could easily have fit 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, whether you are a fan or not.
(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.
The third film in the franchise, The Twilight Sage: Eclipse is due in theaters on June 30, 2010.
What do you think of the Breaking Dawn split?