Twilight Books vs Movies: How Each Novel Became a Film

Twilight (2008), directed by Catherine Hardwicke, is the first film in the series and runs 122 minutes. The studio moved its release from December 12 to November 21, 2008, and MTV Films had earlier shelved the project before it found a home. It cost $37 million and earned about $405 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

The film keeps the shape of Bella's arrival in Forks: she leaves Phoenix to live with her father, Charlie Swan, notices the Cullens at school, and is saved from a sliding van in the parking lot by Edward Cullen. The hunt by the nomad James, with Victoria and Laurent beside him, drives the second half, and the ballet studio trap, where James fakes the kidnapping of Bella's mother, is the main set piece.

Bella's feelings land mostly through Kristen Stewart's performance. The ending, where Edward draws the venom from Bella's wound and Victoria survives to seek revenge, plants the threat that New Moon picks up. Full details are on twilight 2008.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), directed by Chris Weitz, is the second film and turns Bella's heartbreak into a film about absence. Screen Daily reported in December 2008 that Weitz took over after Hardwicke's exit, and the film earned about $710 million worldwide on a $50 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo and The Numbers.

The story begins with Bella's eighteenth birthday, where a paper cut makes Jasper lunge, and Edward ends the relationship so the Cullens can leave Forks. What follows is months of numbness, then the motorbikes she repairs with Jacob Black, the cliff jump that nearly drowns her, and the discovery that Jacob and his Quileute friends are werewolves.

The Italian chapter is the film's biggest location change. Montepulciano stands in for Volterra, with the Piazza Grande fountain used for the Volturi scenes, and Michael Sheen's Aro and Dakota Fanning's Jane arrive as the series' new villains. The film ends with Edward's offer to change Bella if she marries him. Details are on twilight new moon.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), directed by David Slade, is the third film and balances a love triangle against an action plot about Victoria's newborn army. TheWrap reported in April 2009 that Slade would direct a script by Melissa Rosenberg, and filming began in Vancouver that August. The film earned about $698 million worldwide on a $68 million budget.

Victoria turns Riley into a vampire and builds an army aimed at Edward, so the Cullens and the wolf pack agree to fight together. The training sequence, in which Jasper explains newborn tactics, gives the Cullen ensemble more to do than in earlier films. Jacob confesses his feelings, and the freezing tent scene is where Bella kisses him before choosing Edward.

Edward kills Victoria and Riley, and the Volturi arrive afterward to find the surviving newborn, Bree Tanner, whom Jane has executed. That short, cold scene reminds the audience that the Volturi are watching. Howard Shore composed the score, and the songs include Muse's Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever). More on this entry is at twilight eclipse.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011), directed by Bill Condon, is the fourth film and covers the first half of the Breaking Dawn story. Condon shot both parts back to back, and the Christian Science Monitor reported on edits made to keep the film at PG-13 in the US. It earned about $732 million worldwide on a $110 million budget.

The film moves through the forest wedding, Jacob storming away from the reception, and the honeymoon on a private island off Brazil. Bella's pregnancy then takes over, with the baby growing at an alarming speed, Edward frightened, and Rosalie guarding Bella. Jacob breaks from the pack's leader and leaves with Seth and Leah to protect her.

The delivery is violent, and Edward saves Bella by injecting venom into her heart, while Jacob bonds with the newborn Renesmee. A post credit scene shows the Volturi receiving Carlisle's letter. Carter Burwell composed the score, and the full breakdown is at breaking dawn part 1.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012), directed by Bill Condon, finishes the series in 115 minutes and is the highest grossing film in the run at about $889 million worldwide on a $120 million budget. Both parts were filmed in Baton Rouge, with filming wrapping around February 2011.

Bella wakes as a newborn vampire, and the film follows her learning control, Jacob's bond with Renesmee, and Irina's mistaken report to the Volturi. The Cullens gather vampire witnesses from around the world, and Bella trains her mental shield to protect others. Renesmee was created with CGI face mapping on Mackenzie Foy, after an animatronic doll was dropped.

The central set piece is the confrontation in the snowy fields near Forks. A bloody battle unfolds, then proves to be Alice's vision, which shows Aro that the Volturi would lose heavily. They withdraw, and Alice glimpses Renesmee and Jacob together in the future, a bond shown on screen rather than a wedding. The credits run a montage of cast members from earlier films, and more is at breaking dawn part 2.

In my opinion, the films are the better way to meet the story for the first time, and the novels are the better way to stay with it. That is a taste call, and it rests on what each format can do: the five films run 609 minutes in total (about ten hours), so they trade long stretches of inner thought for faces, locations and music.

Perhaps three adaptation choices matter most. First, splitting Breaking Dawn gave the ending room, and Part 1 spends real time on the wedding and the pregnancy before the finale. Second, the Part 2 vision battle lets the film deliver a huge fight and still end the saga peacefully, which I find a bold bit of showmanship. Third, Eclipse gives the newborn army and Bree Tanner a sharper edge than a love triangle alone could.

If you are a parent choosing tonight's film, the official US rating is PG-13 for all five, and Breaking Dawn Part 1 is MA15+ in Australia. If you grew up on the books, see where each film lands in twilight movies ranked. If you are new, watch in release order, then read the novels to spend more time with Bella Swan and the Cullens. No new live action film has been announced, so check new twilight movie for any change.