‘Twilight’: The Original Script Included Boat Chases & Bella With a Gun
Unlike many other authors, Stephenie Meyer never set out to write a bestselling book series. But, when a scene from what would become Twilight came to her in an extremely vivid dream, she was consumed by the idea. The then stay-at-home mom became completely enamored with the concept of vampires and began incessantly writing Bella and Edward’s story. Still, Meyer didn’t realize she had a book on her hand until she saw just how much she’d written. But even when she knew she was writing a novel, she never dreamed that her story would inspire blockbuster movies.
Meyer’s four books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn would go on to serve as the basis for five movies. Together the films formed one of the most successful film franchises of all time, grossing over $3 billion at the box office. Fans of the books tend to enjoy the movies also, as the story is fairly consistent with what occurs in the novels. However, things could have just as easily went the other way.
Stephenie Meyer reveals that the original ‘Twilight’ script was drastically different from the books
What fans of the Twilight movies may not know was that there was a completely different version of Twilight that never saw the light of day. Prior to Summit Entertainment (the production company that distributed all five films) acquiring the rights to the movie, Meyer signed over her rights to a different company that had a completely different vision for what the film adaptation should look like.
“We got lucky with [Twilight director] Catherine Hardwicke, she really wanted to make it like the book,” Meyer shared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “There was an original script before we were with Summit that was so completely bizarrely different.” But what was so different about the original script in comparison to the one that was eventually adapted? According to Meyer, quite a lot.
Summit Entertainment practically begged the writer for the rights to make the movies
“FBI, boat chases, night vision goggles, Bella with a gun,” Meyer revealed when asked about what was bizarre about the original Twilight script. “Yeah, it was crazy. At the time — once you give away your rights, you can’t object to the changes. It was just kind of like, ‘Ahh!’ And then they didn’t make it and they let the rights come back, and it was like, ‘OK, I’m taking this home and no one’s ever touching it again.'”
Considering the original Twilight script was so far away from the story that Meyer penned, it makes sense that the writer was hesitant to sign over the rights to her story again. So what exactly changed her mind? According to Meyer, Erik Feig (who was an executive of Summit Entertainment at the time) practically begged for the rights. Meyer was still hesitant, but when Feig gave her the opportunity to insist that certain things couldn’t be altered from the books, she eventually changed her tune.
‘Twilight’ could’ve been a completely different film
We’re sure that Meyer is pleased that she took a chance with Summit. Not only did the Twilight movies make her millions of dollars, but the films made were much more in line with her overall vision. We can’t deny that we’re intrigued by the idea of an armed Bella but, ultimately, we’d wager that the right script was the one that made it to the big screens.
