It seems I'm not the only one chomping at the bit to get official confirmation from Summit Entertainment of The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn, the movie. After The Twilight Saga New Moon broke box office records on opening night, the question I heard posed most from reporters was, "Will Breaking Dawn be announced soon?"
The good thing is that, in interviews I've listened to or watched, Kristen Stewart has said she is frustrated it will take so long to make this movie because she's wants to make the movie NOW. Robert Pattinson has echoed that sentiment, as have Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Michael Welch and Nikki Reed. That's a good thing. That's a very good thing, because the cast is so popular and well known now that any one among them could easily pull a diva hissy fit and opt out of the project since, from all accounts, no one has yet to be signed onto the project. There have actually been conflicting reports on this, so I could be wrong. Variety reports they've all been signed onto one film, but not two, for BD. Yet Dakota Fanning, Kellan Lutz and Michael Sheen have all said in interviews that they haven't even been contacted about doing one BD film, let alone two. And I won't pretend to know why KStew an RPatz and the gang are so gung ho to get this movie finished. It could be because they want to put all things Twilight behind them, or maybe they just love working together that much. I'm just glad that they've all publicly committed to seeing the project through.
Variety had a great article on the dilemma of The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn, the movie, from Summit's perspective. It basically listed all of the problems I foresaw two weeks ago when New Moon was such an immediate hit. For one, the cast will likely and understandably request massive pay raises now. If Summit had locked them all in from the beginning, this wouldn't be a problem for the studio now. I think Ashley Greene's response on Ellen yesterday kind of exemplifies this. Ellen said, "I bet you're making a lot of money off of Twilight," and Ashley Greene laughed and said, "We're working on it." Yep, very telling.
The studio also has the problem of deciding whether to split the book into two films, or try to condense the massive book into one film. If they're smart, they'll make it into two. You know they'll both be hits and do well at the box office. Why make one movie and pull in $300 million when you can make two films and pull in $600 million? It would also extend the Twilight pandemonium even longer for fans, which equals more profit from merchandising, etc. Oh yeah, they would be stupid not to make two films. I can even predict how the first BD will end - with Renesme's birth. Edward turns Bella. Jacob goes down the stairs to kill Renesme. Rosalie sends him a fierce protective look and braces for a fight. Jacob glances at Renesme for the first time. Taylor Lautner's face morphs from angry to amazed. He freezes. The music swells. Cut to Edward crying over Bella's body. Zoom in to Kristen Stewart's face. Her eyes open. Zoom into her eyes. Red eyes. Fade to black. Roll the credits. I guarantee you that's how they will end the movie. I'm jotting this down now so I can direct you back to it when the movie comes out. Mark my words.
The next problem is finding a director. Fans want Chris Weitz, who did such an amazing job with New Moon. The cast wants Chris Weitz, because he was so easy to work with and did such an amazing job with New Moon. Chris Weitz, however, has publicly stated that he needs a break from filming now, and that he wants his next project to be "The Gardner." And if Summit did convince him to hop on board to BD before the cast gets any older, would he commit to two films shot back-to-back?
And of course, the biggest problem the studio probably has with this project is getting approval from author Stephenie Meyer before going into production. The studio very wisely has given Stephenie A LOT of control over the films, which is highly unusual with book-to-film translations. The benefit from this has been that the movies have been fairly true to the books and totally kickass. But the negative, if there is one, is that she has always said she didn't think Breaking Dawn could be turned into a film. So she might not allow it, when all is said and done. Melissa Rosenberg is reportedly working on a script for BD right now, but if Stephenie doesn't like it, it could hold things up.
I tend to agree with the actor Michael Welch, who said there is no doubt in his mind that BD would be made. I think the fans would riot if it wasn't. But the question is, when, and with what cast members?
Personally, I hope it's soon. I'm looking forward to The Twilight Saga Eclipse, but The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn is the movie I might sell my car to attend the premiere for.
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