text: the twilight saga ( film series ) the twilight saga is a series of five romance fantasy films from summit entertainment based on the four novels by american author stephenie meyer . the films star kristen stewart , robert pattinson , and taylor lautner . the series has grossed over $ 3 . 3 billion in worldwide receipts and consists , to date , of five motion pictures . the first installment , twilight , was released on november 21 , 2008 . the second installment , new moon , followed on november 20 , 2009 , breaking box office records as the biggest midnight screening and opening day in history , grossing an estimated $ 72 . 7 million . the third installment , eclipse , was released on june 30 , 2010 , and was the first twilight film to be released in imax . the series was in development since 2004 at paramount pictures , during which time a screen adaptation of twilight that differed significantly from the novel was written . three years later , summit entertainment acquired the rights to the film . after twilight grossed $ 35 . 7 million on its opening day , summit entertainment announced they would begin production on new moon ; they had acquired the rights to the remaining novels earlier that same month . a two - part adaptation of breaking dawn began shooting in november 2010 with november 18 , 2011 , and november 16 , 2012 , release dates . development twilight was in development for approximately three years at paramount pictures 's mtv films , during which time a screen adaptation differing significantly from the novel was written . for example , the script transformed bella into a star athlete . stephenie meyer stated that there was some debate in allowing the movie to be made because of the negative or positive outcome of the movie compared to the book , ' " they could have put that [ earlier ] movie out , called it something else , and no one would have known it was twilight ! " the idea of seeing a scene converted correctly , specifically the meadow scene , convinced meyer to sell the rights . in seeing the script , she was frightened that she had made the wrong decision . when summit entertainment reinvented itself as a full - service studio in april 2007 , it successfully acquired the rights to the novel . erik feig , president of production at summit entertainment , guaranteed a close adaptation to the book . the company perceived the film as an opportunity to launch a franchise based on the success of meyer 's book and its sequels . meyer felt that summit was open to letting her be a part of the film . catherine hardwicke was hired to direct the film , and soon afterward , melissa rosenberg was selected to be the film 's structural base as the writer of the film . rosenberg developed an outline by the end of august and collaborated with hardwicke on writing the screenplay during the following month . " [ she ] was a great sounding board and had all sorts of brilliant ideas .... i 'd finish off scenes and send them to her , and get back her notes . " because of the impending wga strike , rosenberg worked full - time to finish the screenplay before october 31 . in adapting the novel for the screen , she " had to condense a great deal . " some characters were left out , and others were combined . " [ o ] ur intent all along was to stay true to the book , " rosenberg explained , " and it has to do less with adapting it word for word and more with making sure the characters ' arcs and emotional journeys are the same . " hardwicke suggested the use of voice over to convey the protagonist 's internal dialogue , since the novel is told from bella 's point of view ; and she sketched some of the storyboards during pre - production . meyer , the author , and hardwicke , the director , had a close relationship while developing twilight . hardwicke wanted to embrace the experience and make the characters in the books come to life . she would call meyer after changing a scene slightly , which surprised the author because , " i 've heard the stories ... i know it 's not normally like that when you adapt a book . " meyer , a natural pessimist , was waiting for the worst but , instead , called her experience in the book 's film adaptation " the best i could have hoped for . " originally scheduled for release in december 2008 , twilight was moved to a worldwide release of november 21 , 2008 , after harry potter and the half - blood prince moved from a november 2008 release to being released in july 2009 . casting kristen stewart was on the set of adventureland when hardwicke visited her for an informal screen test , which " captivated " the director . hardwicke did not initially choose robert pattinson for the role of edward cullen ; but , after an audition at her home with stewart , he was selected . meyer allowed pattinson to view a manuscript of the unfinished midnight sun , which chronicles the events in twilight from edward 's point of view . meyer was " excited " and " ecstatic " in response to the casting of the two main characters . she had expressed interest in having emily browning and henry cavill cast as bella and edward , respectively , prior to pre - production . peter facinelli was not originally cast as carlisle cullen : " [ hardwicke ] liked [ him ] , but there was another actor that the studio was pushing for . " for unknown reasons , that actor was not able to play the part , and facinelli was selected in his place . the choice of ashley greene to portray alice cullen was criticized by some fans because greene is 7 inches ( 18 cm ) taller than her character as described in the novel . meyer said that rachael leigh cook resembled her vision of alice . nikki reed had previously worked with hardwicke on the successful thirteen ( 2003 ) , which they co - wrote , and lords of dogtown ( 2005 ) . kellan lutz was in africa , shooting the hbo miniseries generation kill , when the auditions for the character of emmett cullen were conducted . the role had already been cast by the time the hbo production ended in december 2007 , but the selected actor " fell through " . lutz subsequently auditioned and was flown to oregon , where hardwicke personally chose him . rachelle lefèvre wanted a role in the film because hardwicke was director ; she saw " the potential to explore a character , hopefully , over three films " ; and she wanted to portray a vampire . " [ she ] thought that vampires were basically the best metaphor for human anxiety and questions about being alive . " christian serratos initially auditioned for jessica stanley , but she " fell totally in love with angela " after reading the books and took advantage of a later opportunity to audition for angela weber . the role of jessica stanley went to anna kendrick , who got the part after two mix - and - match auditions with various actors . because of major physical changes that occur in the character of jacob black between twilight and new moon , director chris weitz considered replacing taylor lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray " the new , larger jacob black . " trying to keep the role , lautner worked out extensively and put on 30 lbs . in january 2009 , weitz and summit entertainment announced that lautner would continue as jacob in the twilight saga : new moon . in late march 2009 , summit entertainment released a list of the actors who would be portraying the " wolf pack " alongside lautner . the casting for the rest of the quileute tribe was headed by casting director rene haynes , who has worked on films with large american indian casts , such as dances with wolves and bury my heart at wounded knee . in mid - 2009 , it was announced that bryce dallas howard would be replacing rachelle lefevre as victoria for the third twilight film , the twilight saga : eclipse . summit entertainment attributed the change to scheduling conflicts . lefevre said she was " stunned " and " greatly saddened " by the decision . ferland was cast as the newly turned vampire , bree . other new cast members for the third film include xavier samuel as riley , jack huston as royce king ii , catalina sandino moreno as maria , julia jones as leah clearwater , and stewart as seth clearwater . production principal photography for twilight took 44 days , after more than a week of rehearsals , and completed on may 2 , 2008 . similar to her directorial debut thirteen , hardwicke opted for an extensive use of hand - held cinematography to make the film " feel real " . meyer visited the production set three times , and was consulted on different aspects of the story ; she also has a brief cameo in the film . to make their bodily movements more elegant , and to get used to their characters ' fighting styles , the cast playing vampires participated in rehearsals with a dance choreographer and observed the physicality of different panthera . instead of shooting at forks high school itself , scenes taking place at the school were filmed at kalama high school and madison high school . other scenes were also filmed in st. helens , oregon , and hardwicke conducted some reshooting in pasadena , california , in august . in early november 2008 , summit announced that they had obtained the rights to the remaining books in stephenie meyer 's twilight series : new moon , eclipse , and breaking dawn . on november 22 , 2008 , one day after the theatrical release of twilight , summit confirmed that they would begin working on new moon . melissa rosenberg had been working on adapting the novel prior to twilight 's release and handed in the draft for new moon during twilight 's opening weekend in november 2008 . in early december 2008 , it was announced that twilight director catherine hardwicke would not be returning to direct the sequel . hardwicke cited time restrictions as the reason behind her leaving the project . instead , chris weitz , director of the golden compass and co - director of american pie , was hired to direct the twilight saga : new moon . filming for new moon began in vancouver in late march 2009 , and in montepulciano , italy , in late may 2009 . in early 2009 , before the release of the twilight saga : new moon , summit confirmed that they would begin production on the twilight saga : eclipse . since weitz would be in post - production for new moon when the twilight saga : eclipse began shooting , he would not be directing the third film . instead , the twilight saga : eclipse was helmed by director david slade , with melissa rosenberg returning as screenwriter . filming began on august 17 , 2009 at vancouver film studios and finished in late october , with post - production beginning early the following month . in april 2010 , it was revealed that re - shoots of the film were needed . slade , who previously said he would not be around for them , was seen , along with stephenie meyer , on set . the three main stars were also present . wyck godfrey , producer of the previous films in the series , stated in mid - 2009 that they had every intention to make the film version of breaking dawn . following months of speculation and cast rumors , it was officially announced on april 28 , 2010 , that academy award winner bill condon , who directed gods and monsters and dreamgirls , would direct breaking dawn ; producing the film will be wyck godfrey , karen rosenfelt , and author stephenie meyer . " i 'm very excited to get the chance to bring the climax of this saga to life on - screen . as fans of the series know , this is a one - of - a - kind book – and we 're hoping to create an equally unique cinematic experience , " said bill condon . a november 18 , 2011 release date has been set for the first part , while the second is scheduled for release on november 16 , 2012 . following that announcement , summit officially confirmed that a two - part adaption of the fourth book would start production in the fall on june 11 , 2010 . with this announcement , it was made clear that all major actors , including the three lead roles , the cullen family , and charlie swan , would return for both parts . bill condon was also confirmed to direct both parts . in order to keep the budget on both parts of breaking dawn reasonable , which would be substantially greater than the previous installments in the series , filming in louisiana is also being negotiated . shooting in louisiana would provide larger tax credits , which a studio as low - profile as summit entertainment would benefit from . films twilight ( 2008 ) twilight was directed by catherine hardwicke and written by melissa rosenberg . it focuses on the development of a personal relationship between human teenager bella swan ( kristen stewart ) and vampire edward cullen ( robert pattinson ) , and the subsequent efforts of edward and his family to keep bella safe from a separate group of hostile vampires . the film was released theatrically starting on november 21 , 2008 . it grossed $ 35 . 7 million on its opening day , and has come to gross us $ 408 . 9 million worldwide . the dvd was released on march 21 , 2009 and grossed an additional $ 201 million from sales . the twilight saga : new moon ( 2009 ) the twilight saga : new moon was directed by chris weitz and written by melissa rosenberg . the film follows bella swan 's fall into a deep depression until she develops a strong friendship with werewolf jacob black . jacob and his tribe must protect bella from victoria , a gregarious herd of vampires . the film was released theatrically starting on november 20 , 2009 , and set numerous records . it is currently the biggest advance - ticket seller on fandango and held the biggest midnight opening in domestic ( united states and canada ) box office history , grossing an estimated $ 26 . 3 million . its sequel , the twilight saga : eclipse , broke that record in june 2010 , grossing $ 72 . 7 million on its opening day domestically , $ 709 million worldwide and becoming the biggest single - day opening in domestic history . it is the twelfth highest opening weekend in domestic history with $ 142 , 839 , 137 . the twilight saga : eclipse ( 2010 ) the twilight saga : eclipse was directed by david slade and written by melissa rosenberg . the film follows bella swan as she develops awareness of the complications of marrying edward cullen . as victoria draws nearer with a group of newborn vampires , jacob black and the rest of the werewolves form a temporary alliance to destroy her , in turn , to keep bella safe . while bella tries to decide who she is , a fight brews and the consequences are paid once jacob gets hurt . intent on keeping a compromise with edward , she vows to keep true to her engagement and marry him . the film was released theatrically starting on june 30 , 2010 , and is the first twilight film to be released in imax . it set a new record for biggest midnight opening in domestic ( united states and canada ) in box office history , grossing an estimated $ 30 million in over 4 , 000 theaters . the previous record holder was the previous film in the series , the twilight saga : new moon with $ 26 . 3 million in 3 , 514 theaters . the film then scored the biggest wednesday opening in domestic history with $ 68 , 533 , 840 beating transformers : revenge of the fallen 's $ 62 million . the twilight saga : eclipse has also become the film with the widest independent release , playing in over 4 , 416 theaters , surpassing its predecessor , the twilight saga : new moon , which held the record since november 2009 . the twilight saga : breaking dawn – part 1 ( 2011 ) the twilight saga : breaking dawn was directed by bill condon , and author stephenie meyer co - produced the film along with karen rosenfelt and wyck godfrey , with melissa rosenberg penning the script . the book 's plot was split into two films , the first of which was released on november 18 , 2011 . the filming of breaking dawn began in november 2010 . the first part follows bella and edward as they get married and then learn that bella has become pregnant . they deal with her struggle of being pregnant and almost passing away because of the half vampire - half human child . the twilight saga : breaking dawn – part 2 ( 2012 ) the twilight saga : breaking dawn part 2 was directed by bill condon , and author stephenie meyer co - produced the film along with karen rosenfelt and wyck godfrey , with melissa rosenberg penning the script . the book 's plot was split into two films , the first of which was released on november 18 , 2011 . the second was released on november 16 , 2012 . the second part of breaking dawn saw the climax of bella and edward 's relationship , as bella must learn to adapt to immortality as a newly transformed vampire and motherhood . soundtracks twilight the twilight original motion picture soundtrack was chosen by music supervisor alexandra patsavas . the album was released on november 4 , 2008 by patsavas ' chop shop label , in conjunction with atlantic records . the album debuted at # 1 on the billboard 200 , having sold about 165 , 000 copies in its first week of release , 29 % of which were digital downloads . twilight is the best - selling theatrical movie soundtrack in the united states since chicago . twilight : the score was composed and orchestrated by carter burwell over a 9 – 10 week period , and was recorded and mixed in about 2 weeks in late september 2008 . burwell began the score with a " love theme " for bella and edward 's relationship , a variation of which became " bella 's lullaby " that robert pattinson plays in the film , and that is included on the twilight original motion picture soundtrack . the original theme is featured throughout the film , and serves to " play the romance that drives the story " . another theme burwell composed was a " predator theme " , which opens the film , and is intended to play edward 's vampire nature . other themes include a bass - line , drum beat and distorted guitar sound for the nomadic vampires , and a melody for the cullen family . twilight : the score was released digitally on november 25 , 2008 and in stores on december 9 . the twilight saga : new moon the score for the twilight saga : new moon was composed by alexandre desplat while alexandra patsavas returned as music supervisor for the rest of the soundtrack . weitz has a working relationship with desplat , who scored one of his previous films , the golden compass . the the twilight saga : new moon : original motion picture soundtrack album was released on october 16 , 2009 by patsavas ' chop shop label , in conjunction with atlantic records . the album debuted at # 2 on the billboard 200 , later jumped to # 1 with 153 , 000 copies sold . the twilight saga : new moon : the score was released on november 24 , 2009 . the twilight saga : eclipse the score for the twilight saga : eclipse was composed by howard shore , who composed the scores for the lord of the rings trilogy . the film 's soundtrack was released on june 8 , 2010 by atlantic records in conjunction with music supervisor alexandra patsavas ' chop shop label . the lead single from the soundtrack is " neutron star collision ( love is forever ) " , performed by the british band muse . the soundtrack debuted at number two on the u.s. billboard 200 albums chart with estimated sales of 144 , 000 copies . the twilight saga : breaking dawn – part 1 the breaking dawn – part 1 soundtrack saw the release of two singles : " a thousand years " by christina perri and " it will rain " by bruno mars . the former reached number one and the latter of the two number three on the billboard hot 100 . the twilight saga : breaking dawn – part 2 reaction box office performance twilight grossed over $ 7 million in ticket sales from midnight showings alone on november 21 , 2008 . it grossed $ 35 . 7 million on its opening day . for its opening weekend in the united states and canada , twilight accumulated $ 69 . 6 million from 3 , 419 theaters at an average of $ 20 , 368 per theater . the film has made $ 192 . 7 million in the united states and canada , and a further $ 192 . 2 million in international territories for a total of $ 384 . 9 million worldwide . the film was released on dvd in north america on march 21 , 2009 through midnight release parties , and sold over 3 million units in its first day . it has continued to sell units , totaling as of july 2012 , making $ 201 , 323 , 629 . the twilight saga : new moon set records for advance ticket sales , causing some theaters to add additional showings . the film set records as the biggest midnight opening in domestic ( united states and canada ) box office history , grossing an estimated $ 26 . 3 million in 3 , 514 theatres , before expanding to 4 , 024 theaters . the record was previously held by harry potter and the half - blood prince , which grossed $ 22 . 2 million domestically during its midnight premiere . the film grossed $ 72 . 7 million on its opening day domestically , becoming the biggest single - day opening in domestic history , beating the dark knight 's $ 67 . 2 million . this opening strongly contributed to another record : the first time that the top ten films at the domestic box office had a combined gross of over $ 100 million in a single day . the opening weekend of the twilight saga : new moon is the ninth - highest opening weekend in domestic history with $ 142 , 839 , 137 . the film also has the sixth highest worldwide opening weekend with $ 274 . 9 million total . critical response while the twilight saga has been successful in the box office , critical reception of the films was mixed , and significantly declined as the series continued . new york press critic armond white called twilight " a genuine pop classic " , and praised hardwicke for turning " meyer 's book series into a brontë - esque vision " . usa today gave the film two out of four stars and claudia puig wrote : " meyer is said to have been involved in the production of twilight , but her novel was substantially more absorbing than the unintentionally funny and quickly forgettable film . " robert ignizio of the cleveland scene described the twilight saga : new moon as an " entertaining fantasy " , and noted that it " has a stronger visual look [ than twilight ] and does a better job with its action scenes while still keeping the focus on the central love triangle . " michael o 'sullivan of the washington post gave the film two and half stars out of four , praised kristen stewart 's performance in the film and wrote : " despite melodrama that , at times , is enough to induce diabetes , there 's enough wolf whistle in this sexy , scary romp to please anyone . " the seattle post - intelligencer gave the film a " b " grading and said , " the movie looks tremendous , the dialogue works , there are numerous well placed jokes , the acting is on point . " mick lasalle from the san francisco chronicle responded with a more mixed review , stating , " [ e ] this film to satisfy its fans . everybody else , get ready for a bizarre soap opera / pageant , consisting of a succession of static scenes with characters loping into the frame to announce exactly what they 're thinking . " roger ebert gave the film 1 star out of 4 and said that it " takes the tepid achievement of twilight , guts it , and leaves it for undead . " the release of the movie has also inspired feminist criticism , with owen gleiberman of entertainment weekly making light of the claim that edward cullen is little better than a stalker . in any case , the influx of female viewers into the theaters indicates the increasing importance of the female demographic in dictating hollywood 's tastes . the hollywood reporter posted a positive review of the twilight saga : eclipse , saying the film " nails it " . variety reports that the film " finally feels more like the blockbuster this top - earning franchise deserves " . one review stated the film was the best in the twilight saga so far , acknowledging that , " the person who should be worried is bill condon , the director tapped for the two - part finale , breaking dawn . he 's got a real challenge to make movies as good as eclipse . " a.o. scott of the new york times praised david slade 's ability to make an entertaining film , calling it funny and better than its predecessors , but pointed out the acting hasn 't improved much . a more negative review said that while " eclipse restores some of the energy new moon zapped out of the franchise and has enough quality performances to keep it involving " , the film " isn 't quite the adrenaline - charged game - changer for love story haters that its marketing might lead you to believe . the majority of the ' action ' remains protracted and not especially scintillating should - we - or - shouldn 't - we conversations between the central triangle . " roger ebert of the chicago sun times gave the film a more positive review than for the first two films in the saga , but still felt the movie was a constant , conversation between the three main characters . he criticized the " gazes " both edward and jacob give bella throughout the movie , and noted that the mountain range that appears in the film looks " like landscapes painted by that guy on tv who shows you how to paint stuff like that . " he also predicted that a lack of understanding for the film series in general would not bode well with the audience , stating , " i doubt anyone not intimately familiar with the earlier installments could make head or tails of the opening scenes . " he gave the film 2 stars out of 4 . breaking dawn – part 1 received mostly negative reviews from critics . review aggregator website rotten tomatoes reports that just 24 % of critics ( of the 188 counted reviews ) gave the film a positive review , and the site 's consensus reads " slow , joyless and loaded with unintentionally humorous moments , breaking dawn part 1 may satisfy the twilight faithful , but it 's strictly for fans of the franchise " . part 2 had a mixed critical reception but was much more favorable than part 1 . bruce of new yorkers gave the film a positive review , citing " a feast of ripe dialogue and bloodsucking action " . on the other hand , richard roeper said that " the fifth and final entry in the historically successful twilight franchise is the most self - aware and in some ways the most entertaining " . review aggregate results home media sales list indicator ( s ) ( b ) indicates the yearly rank based on the number of dvds sold during the year released ( calculated by the numbers ) . twilight in popular culture the 2010 portuguese teen series lua ( red moon ) had a similar premise of vampire romance but differed in the story . the 2010 parody film vampires suck spoofed the film series . a television show within the canon of canadian teen vampire film my babysitter 's a vampire and the television series sequel called dusk is a parody of twilight . the 2012 film breaking wind ( parodying the title of breaking dawn , but parodying the whole film series ) , directed by craig moss ( best known for the 41 - year - old virgin who knocked up sarah marshall and felt superbad about it ) , is also a spoof of the films and a parody version of breaking dawn part – 1 . the 2012 animated movie hotel transylvania has a scene inspired by twilight . the 2013 filipino comedy sitcom entitled my daddy is a vampire resembled some twilight scenes .