[This article contains BIG SPOILERS about Breaking Dawn‘s plot]
Wyck Godfrey, the producer of Summit Entertainment’s Twilight Saga franchise, recently sat down with The LA Times to discuss how the studio plans to adapt the fourth and final Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, for the big screen.
For those who aren’t drooling fans of the books, there is a lot in Breaking Dawn that’s proving to be a challenge for the filmmakers. However, Godfrey is on the front lines speaking up to assure fans that the film will go into production this fall, along with some other choice updates to share.
I haven’t read the books myself, but apparently in Breaking Dawn Bella (Kristen Stewart) graduates high school and gives birth to a human/vampire hybrid baby. Awesome. The baby matures in Bella’s belly at an accelerated rate, which causes some pregnancy troubles for mommy. Edward (Robert Pattinson) ultimately transforms Bella into a vampire so she can survive childbirth – but once their daughter, Renesmee, is born, Edward and Bella face a whole new problem: protecting her from the Volturi.
There’s much more to the story of course (it’s over 700 pages long), but it’s primarily the issue of how to bring rapidly-aging Renesmee to life onscreen that has the filmmakers stumped at the moment. Said Godfrey:
“I keep having visions of ‘[The Curious Case of] Benjamin Button’ in my head…It’s certainly going to be visual effects in some capacity along with an actor. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being a full CG creation, but it also may be a human shot on a soundstage that then is used to shrink down. I don’t know.”
Click this fan-made image for the source.
Beyond the issue of Renesmee is whether or not Breaking Dawn needs to be split into two films. The book itself is split into three sections and two points of view. First there’s Bella’s POV, dealing with the realization of her pregnancy; the POV then jumps to shape-shifter Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who relates how Bella gives birth and the early days of Renesmee’s life; the final section switches back to Bella and deals with her and Edward’s attempt to protect their daughter from The Volturi.
There’s also a lot of detail in the book, including a slew of new characters, loose ends that need tying… almost too much for screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg (who has penned all the Twilight films) to fit into one film, if everything is to be included. Said Godfrey:
“The issue [of whether there will be one or two movies] is not going to be resolved until we get the full treatment and see whether it’s organic. If it’s not organic, I don’t think it will be done, and if it is, it will be. It really has to do with how much level of detail from the books there is, with all of these new vampires that appear in ‘Breaking Dawn,’ the whole section about Jacob… It’s a very long single movie if it does become a single movie.”
Finally there’s the issue of a director: they don’t yet have one. After the success of New Moon this past fall, many fans have been lobbying for New Moon director Chris Weitz to return. But it’s not looking like that’s a strong possibility, according to Godfrey:
“I think everyone would be happy and excited if he came back, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
So there you have it. If you want to read more of the interview with Godfrey, go HERE.
Click this fan-made image for source.
What do you Twilight fans think? How should they bring Renesmee to life onscreen – CGI? Benjamin Button motion-capture techniques? What about the format of Breaking Dawn? Keep the POV switches like the book, with all of the characters and details? Split the movie into two parts? What about directors? Keep pushing for Chris Weitz or start looking elswhere?
Wow, you guys have a lot to discuss. Thankfully our comment section is wide open. 🙂
Breaking Dawn hopes to be in theaters in 2011. We’ll see if it gets there.
Fan-made Image Sources: Edward (Twilight Aussie Mums) & Bella (Fanpop)
