‘Twilight’ Fans Can Thank Stephenie Meyer for the ‘Breaking Dawn’ Twist
Before The Twilight Saga became a massive film franchise, it was a bestselling book series written by Stephenie Meyer. Though the films had a massive following, the built-in fan base from the books was what initially helped Twilight become the global phenomenon that it was. Because Meyer knew how attached her fans were to the books, she did everything in her power to ensure that the movies were true to the story and the characters that she created.
In order to make sure that the Twilight movies were kept true to the books, Meyer presented Summit Entertainment (the studio that acquired the rights to make the films) with a list of non-negotiables. One such stipulation was that Bella Swan was not allowed to become a vampire in the movies before she became one in the books. Meyer also worked closely with Melissa Rosenberg (who served as the screenwriter for the Twilight movies) to make sure that Meyer’s story successfully translated to the films.
Stephenie Meyer worked closely with ‘Twilight’ screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg
Of course, Meyer didn’t always get her way. While she went to bat for some things, there were times when she had to make concessions. Still, she appreciated that Rosenberg was always willing to listen to her concerns and rework things if at all possible. “You know, one thing about Melissa is, she’s very collaborative,” the Twilight author shared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “If you say, ‘Uh, Melissa I really would love…’ she’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah,’ or she’ll say, ‘Stephenie, the movie’s gonna be two hours long. We can’t add any more.’ She’s great to work with because she doesn’t have a problem changing things and evolving and discussing.”
One thing, in particular, that Meyer and Rosenberg collaborated closely on was the infamous fight scene in Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Fans of the Twilight movies will recall seeing the Cullens and their allies fight against the Volturi in expansive detail as a part of Alice’s vision. Of course, that fight never actually played out on the page of the books, so it was a shock for fans to see it happen on screen. Overall, the twist added some much-needed action to the final film and went over very well with fans. According to Meyer, adding the big fight scene was actually her idea.
Meyer reveals how she came up with the twist for ‘Breaking Dawn – Part 2’
“It’s something I came up with. Melissa and I together sat down and said, ‘OK, how do we do this book?'” Meyer recalled. “There were some points like, it’s really long, are we going to do two books or are we going to do one? That was one that she ended up making the decision on. She laid it out and said, ‘There’s no way we’re fitting this in.’ Then it was like the end, because we knew that they were going to want some action in the end, so we came up with a way to do that that was organic to the book, and I don’t have a problem with it. We felt like, ‘This totally makes sense, let’s go.'”
We’re sure fans of both the Twilight movies and books appreciated Meyer’s ingenious idea. It provided the film franchise with the dynamically satisfying yet happy ending that most fans were craving.
