The Twilight Saga was a landmark franchise. Say what you will about the quality of the movies (and we’ll get to that later), but there is no denying the impact the franchise has had on Hollywood.
Just take a look at the movie adaptations of young adult novels to hit the big screen since Twilight was first released in 2008.
I Am Number Four, The Hunger Games, Beautiful Creatures, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Divergent, The Maze Runner, and The Fifth Wave are just a few of the many, many franchises to launch in the last six years with hopes of becoming the next Twilight (in terms of box office success, at least).
Of those seven, only three successfully launched franchises. And of those three, only The Hunger Games came close to matching Twilight in terms of overall gross.
The Hunger Games movies made $2.9 billion worldwide while Twilight made $3.3 billion (though The Hunger Games had a higher per-film average).
Despite the franchise’s immense success at the box office, The Twilight Saga hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows.
In fact, it’s been just the opposite. Between the five movies, there have been plenty of shady goings-on behind the scenes.
Here are the 15 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets Even True Fans Never Knew About The Twilight Movies.
Kristen Stewart was underage during the filming of the first movie
When casting a movie based on existing characters, it’s usually best to cast actors who are the same age as the characters they play.
This is to avoid the awkwardness of having actors who are clearly in their late 20’s playing characters still in high school. (Just look at the Spider-Man movies before the MCU reboot.)
Twilight did well in this regard when they cast the then-17-year-old Kristen Stewart as Bella. Then they did a few readings with Stewart opposite some actors vying for the role of Edward before settling on 21-year-old Robert Pattinson.
Unfortunately, this age difference posed a bit of a problem since the film was shot in Oregon, where the age of consent is 18.
Director Catherine Hardwicke admits she told Robert Pattinson, “Don’t even think about having a romance with her. She’s under 18. You will be arrested."
Considering how many relationships begin on movie sets, this definitely put Pattinson in an awkward position.
Pattinson bashed the franchise and the author
Robert Pattinson wasn’t very fond of Edward Cullen (but we’ll get to that). As it turns out, he also didn’t particularly care for the author… or the franchise itself.
On the topic of the first novel Pattinson said, “When I read it, it seemed like it was a book that wasn’t supposed to be published.”
As damning as those words are for author Stephenie Meyer, Pattinson wasn’t finished.
“I was convinced Stephenie was convinced she was Bella… It was like reading her fantasy, especially when she said it was based on a dream,” he said.
He continued: “I was just convinced, like, ‘This woman is mad. She’s completely mad and she’s in love with her own fictional creation.’ And sometimes you would feel uncomfortable reading this thing.”
They say you shouldn’t bite the hands that feeds you. It’s also not wise to call the creator of the franchise that made you a star “mad.”
Stephenie Meyer wanted different actors for the leads
When Stephenie Meyer first learned her Twilight series was being adapted for movie, she naturally began casting it with her dream actors for the roles.
This is probably something most authors do. Heck, they may even base entire characters on Hollywood actors while writing the book.
There’s nothing wrong with this, but it does risk making things a bit awkward on set if you make your casting preferences known to the world and then different actors get the roles. This is precisely what happened in Twilight.
Back in 2007, Meyer wrote in her blog the names of a few actors who she would like to see in the movie. These actors included Henry Cavill and Logan Lerman for Edward, and Emily Browning, Ellen Page, and Danielle Panabaker for Bella.
None of Meyer’s choices came to fruition. She did mention Graham Greene though (who appeared in New Moon as Harry Clearwater), so that’s nice.
Robert Pattinson disliked his character
There are times when actors absolutely fall in love with characters and go above and beyond in their attempts to play them. (Check out what Christian Bale and Sean Young did for roles in American Psycho and Batman Returns, respectively.)
Then there are times when actors take roles simply for a paycheck without any real interest in the character. Then there’s Robert Pattinson, who genuinely hated Edward Cullen.
In a 2008 interview with Empire Magazine, Pattinson said, “the more I read the script, the more I hated this guy, so that’s how I played him, as a manic-depressive who hates himself. Plus, he’s a 108 year-old virgin, so he’s obviously got some issues there."
When asked about Edward and Bella’s relationship Pattinson called it “very wrong and very strange.”
The director was fired before the sequel
Summit Entertainment first began developing Twilight for the big screen in 2007. Later that year, Catherine Hardwicke (who previously directed Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown, and The Nativity Story) was hired to direct.
Given that the movie turned into a massive financial success (grossing $393 million on a $37 million budget), it only made sense that Hardwicke would return to direct the sequel.
Instead, she was fired and replaced by Chris Weitz.
In a statement, Summit claimed that the movie’s scheduled release date did not give Hardwick the “required prep time to bring her vision of the movie to the big screen”, but some sources behind the scenes claim “Summit didn’t like her”, and that she was “difficult” and “irrational” during the making of the film.
To make matters worse, the announcement came just a few weeks after the film’s release, forcing Hardwicke and the cast to address the rumors during publicity tours.
Taylor Lautner was nearly replaced for the sequel
Much of the drama in The Twilight Saga comes not from the vampires, werewolves, or blood-thirsty, immortal children, but from the love triangle that develops in New Moon and continues through the rest of the franchise.
If the producers of the film had had their way, a different Jacob (i.e. not Taylor Lautner) would have been the third side of that triangle.
The press release for the movie read, “In New Moon, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black.”
Fans immediately noticed Lautner’s name missing from the statement and a backlash ensued.
The reason Lautner was left out is producers didn’t know if they wanted him back. Given Jacob’s physical transformation in the second book, producers considering re-casting the role entirely.
To keep his part, Lautner gained 30 pounds between movies.
Rachelle LeFevre was fired before Eclipse
Victoria is a crucial part of the first three books in The Twilight Saga.
She is first introduced in Twilight as the mate of James (the vampire who tries to destroy Bella and is ultimately ended by Edward), is a constant threat to Bella throughout New Moon, and finally attempts to destroy Bella and the Cullens (by creating a small army of vampires) in Eclipse.
This is why fans were shocked when actress Rachelle Lefevre (who played the role in the first two films) was replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard for the third one.
According to the official statement from Summit Entertainment, Lefevre was informed of Eclipse’s shooting schedule in April 2009, then accepted a role in the movie Barney’s Version in June, but didn’t inform the studio until July 20th.
Once it was revealed that the shooting schedules for the two films overlapped, Lefevre was fired and subsequently replaced.
Eclipse was rushed into theaters
Making movies takes time. This may not seem to be the case with Marvel Studios turning out three movies per year like clockwork, but each MCU movie has its own unique cast and crew behind the scenes.
For most franchises the same cast and crew work on each film, which is why years usually pass between entries.
The Fast and the Furious franchise, for example, usually had two years between sequels. Each Harry Potter film generally took 1-2 years to produce. And even The Hunger Games films were released at least one calendar year apart.
This was not the case for The Twilight Saga, which saw New Moon released in theaters on November 20, 2009 and Eclipse released just seven months later on June 24, 2010.
In fact, the turnaround between films was so quick that New Moon was still in post-production when Eclipse began shooting, leading to director Chris Weitz being replaced.
The main cast was only contracted for four movies
As audiences may have noticed by now, Hollywood has a tendency to break up the final book of a series into two movies.
This was the case for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and Twilight was no different. It was decided in 2010 that Breaking Dawn would be broken up into The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
The problem with this decision (aside from creating two obnoxiously long titles) was the fact that the main cast members were originally only signed on for four films each.
Thus, the decision to extend the franchise proved to be quite lucrative for the cast.
TMZ reported that Robert Pattinson received $25 million for his role in both Breaking Dawn installments. We can assume Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner were paid something similar, and the rest of the cast must have gotten hefty paychecks as well.
Renesmee’s animatronic had to be scrapped on set
One of the problems director Bill Condon faced with adapting Breaking Dawn for the big screen was figuring out how to portray Edward and Bella’s vampire/human hybrid child, Renesmee.
In the book, Renesmee matures much faster than normal children so the director had to decide how best to capture this in the movie.
Condon ultimately decided to go with creepy CGI, but only after attempting to film with an even creepier animatronic that everyone on set referred to as Chuckesmee (given its similar appearance to horror icon Chucky).
The doll spent very little time on set before being scrapped entirely because of just how awful it looked.
Footage of the Twilight actors (particularly Nikki Reed) interacting with the doll on set are just plain awkward, and even Condon referred to Renesmee as “a giant misfire on all fronts” and “one of the most grotesque things I’ve ever seen.”
The ending of the franchise is completely different from the book
One of the biggest criticisms aimed at Breaking Dawn is a lackluster and underwhelming ending.
Bella, Edward, and the rest of the Cullens spend a large portion of the book assembling an army of witnesses for their meeting with the Volturi and their attempt to convince the royal family that Renesmee is not an immortal child.
New characters with a wide array of fascinating abilities are introduced throughout the book, leading many readers to assume the Cullen army would do battle with the Volturi in an explosive ending to the series.
Then everyone stands around talking while Bella protects her clan with her shield power before the Volturi leave.
It was anticlimactic, to say the least, which is why the filmmakers opted for a more exciting ending in which the two armies do battle and there are huge losses on both sides. It all ends up being one of Alice’s visions, but it’s still better than the book’s ending.
The reviews were generally awful
Of all of the young adult franchises to hit theaters in the last decade, Twilight is in the fascinating position of being the only one to have every book adapted to movie despite generally awful reviews.
The first film received a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the next four received 28%, 48%, 25%, and 49%, respectively, for an average rating of 39.8%.
By comparison, the Harry Potter and Hunger Games movies have an average score of 84.6% and 77.5%, respectively.
The only other YA franchise to receive worse reviews than Twilight is the Divergent series, which kicked things off with a 41% for the first film, and bottomed out with 12% for the third. The planned fourth movie (Ascendant) has since been scrapped.
So while The Twilight Saga is generally considered poor in terms of quality, at least it’s final entry wasn’t scrapped entirely.
Kristen Stewart had an affair
When Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were cast opposite each other in the original movie, it seemed to be only a matter of time before the on-screen romance turned into one off-screen as well.
After all, when actors spend months on end pretending to be a couple it’s only natural for them to develop chemistry and give the real thing a shot.
Stewart and Pattinson kept their relationship secret, but paparazzi pictures of the couple together showed the world that the two were indeed dating.
The relationship ended abruptly, however, when Stewart was photographed looking a bit too comfortable in the arms of Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders in 2012.
Stewart eventually admitted to having an affair with the 41-year-old married director.
Stewart and Pattinson have since moved on to new relationships, breaking the hearts of young fans who wanted to see Bella and Edward stay together in real life.
Kristen Stewart’s comments
It’s hard to put into words just how famous the entire cast of Twilight became after the first movie hit theaters.
For Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in particular, that fame was tenfold. The two literally became overnight sensations, and that level of fame can be difficult to deal with, especially if you are 17-years-old, which Stewart was at the time.
While commenting about the difficulties one faces when being so famous, Stewart compared being photographed by paparazzi to being assaulted.
Stewart said, “The photos are so … I feel like I’m looking at someone being [assaulted]. A lot of the time I can’t handle it. It’s f**ked. I never expected that this would be my life.”
Stewart faced immediate backlash from fans, bloggers, and assault crisis groups who felt the comparison was insensitive to women who actually experienced assault.
Stewart eventually apologized, but the damage was already done.
Stephenie Meyer was sick of the franchise by the end
For the author of a successful book series-turned-movie franchise, the end of the final movie must be overwhelming.
After all, many authors spend years writing their books and then a few more years watching those books play out on movie.
On the completion of the Hunger Games movies author Suzanne Collins said, “I’m thrilled with how this quartet of films, which I find both faithful to the books and innovative in its own right, has been brought to life on the screen.”
After the Harry Potter movie franchise ended author J.K. Rowling said she felt “wonderful” and that the “overall the experience of the films… has been outstanding.”
By comparison, when Stephenie Meyer was asked for her feelings on the franchise by its end the author told Variety, “I get further away every day. I am so over it. For me, it’s not a happy place to be.”
Ouch. Hopefully she enjoyed it while it lasted.
Are there any other behind-the-scenes secrets about the Twilight franchise that we missed? Let us know about them in the comments!
