Review : The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - Can we have some novelty please?

Vampires and the wolves are back and for millions of global fans that 'The Twilight Saga' has managed to accumulate over the years. In fact if there is one franchise in recent times that has made me wonder about the sheer reason behind such immense popularity, it is 'Twilight'. The basic story is entirely unimaginable, the chemistry between the lead couple (Bella Swan and Edward Cullen - who are supposed to be totally in love) is weird, the presence of another male lead (Jacob Black) who ends up contributing to the love triangle is amusing more than being romantic while the whole fight between vampires and wolves has now been stretched beyond limits. Moreover, if one has seen the earlier three instalments of 'Twilight', the plot just moves ahead as soap opera episodes instead of a full fledged film. 

Still, and that's a 'big' still actually, there are millions out there who are fascinated every time a 'Twilight' movie hits the screens. Strange, but true! I am told that the franchise is such a huge success because women really love the romantic drama here. Well, I do agree to an extent here going by the fan following that so many similarly paced soaps on television enjoy as well!

I did expect the same in case of 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn' when it came to the basic plot being repeated and guess what, I wasn't disappointed. So yet again Bella is unconditionally in love with Edward and he feels that the two would be better off not to be together due to her being a human and he a vampire. Nevertheless, since this basic argument has been milked so much in the first three instalments that this time around it doesn't go beyond the first 10 minutes.

Of course there is Jacob who has a habit of jumping between the scenes at just the wrong times and much to the annoyance of Edward, he does that here as well. All of this means that even that segment of the audience which is unfamiliar with the 'Twilight' saga would more or less understand how the love triangle actually work.

Nevertheless, a series of extended love making scenes later, Bella becomes pregnant in a jiffy, well literally so, as neither her nor Edward were prepared for this, more so because she is now carrying a vampire's child. Her health starts deteriorating while Jacob's own kin now want her to die lest her child becomes a problem for them all. How Jacob, Edward and his family go about defending Bella all over again (something that they have been tirelessly doing for each of the earlier instalments as well) is what forms the crux of 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn'.

As expected from the film's narrative, this time too it is pretty slow paced with long pauses interspersed here and there, hence leading to those silences that are perceived as romantic by many. Of course the later part of the film just turn far grimmer than what has seen in the 'Twilight' series since Emma becomes a sorry picture of herself due to her unwanted pregnancy. There are some sequences that literally make you squirm in the seats as well, what with her sipping blood from a plastic cup and a delivery that turns out to be bloody and messy.

There is no novelty either in the sequences featuring wolves as edge of the seat excitement is clearly missing. There are no vampire chases either, something that had impressed in the first two instalments while the overall dramatic quotient is conspicuous by its absence. Also, there is unintentional laughter that comes in quite a few sequences, especially the ones where Jacob repeats his hatred act for Edward entering Bella's life.

As expected though, the film ends on an open note since the makers were clear from the very beginning to come up with Part 2. One hopes though that at least in that part, there is something much more interesting, engaging and exciting for audience to cheer about. 
  

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‘Breaking Dawn’ keeps ‘Twilight’ magic alive

 

 

I’m not ashamed to admit that I like the Twilight movie saga.

I can admit that watching Bella choose between bestiality and necrophilia is very intriguing, and the newest installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn: Part One does a bang up-job of displaying the struggle that Bella must go through.

It also reminds us not to reproduce with the undead.

In Breaking Dawn: Part One, Bella Swan, played by the lackluster Kristen Stewart, is about to embark on her next journey with the love of her life the vampire Edward Cullen, played by real-life dirty boy Robert Pattinson.

The two are set to walk down the aisle and become man and wife, which happens successfully and in the most romantic and expensive way. For a group of vampires, the Cullens create the most extravagant and jealousy-inducing wedding I think I’ve ever seen in a movie.

The film continues to be less and less of a family film and creeps into the category of soft-core porn when Bella and Edward take their honeymoon on a private island off the coast of Brazil.

The point where they struggled to have sex because of Edward’s massive strength is the point where I covered my 12-year-old sister’s eyes.

But alas, it seemed to go off without a hitch, aside from the bruises and broken bed frame. I did, however, have several questions I asked myself after the fact – none of which are appropriate for a college newspaper.

Somehow, the film continues with the “impossible” creation of a zygote inside of Bella’s perfect stomach, which set off a frenzy of panic and dismay in both the Cullen family and their werewolf enemies.

Pacts were made, treaties were broken and the family was at war with the clan of werewolves, trying their hardest to protect what was a miracle in some eyes and a curse in others.

Throughout the war going on in his family, Edward still seemed to figure out how to be his romantic, mysterious self, which made all the female hearts in the audience melt in some cases.

He was suave, sexy and pretty much everything you want in a man who may or may not have blood.

In the end, Bella suffers, gets super skinny and eventually dies in order to give birth to her baby girl, with the most hideous name, Renesemee, only to come back to life as a blood-hungry vampire and leave a cliff hanger for part two to sum up.

In the end, the film was great, hands down.

The movie business is a pain in the butt when they try to double up on cash by making two installments and taking all of my cash, but I think it may be worth it in the end.

I do hate that we have wait to see the second installment in order to find out the ending because let’s face it, I don’t read books. But kudos to Stephanie Meyer for bringing me into this trend they call Twilight and making me a die-hard fan.

 

‘Breaking Dawn’ potentially best comedy of 2011

 

The “Twilight” series has a negative reputation, and for good reason. On the surface, it appears to be somewhat exciting, revolving around a woman’s interaction with an elusive vampire family living among humans. Upon reading the first pages of the novels or watching the first minutes of any of the four films, however, it is quite clear what it is—a teenager’s deliriously hopeless fanfics that somehow ended up becoming best-selling books and high-grossing films, the latest of which is “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.”

I confess that I am part of the reason that “Twilight” is so well known at this point. I have seen each of the movies a week within their release dates, but mostly to enjoy the teenage girls squealing every time Taylor Lautner removes his shirt (which is quite often, faithful to the books) and to wallow in how awful the films are. Needless to say, after watching the first three movies, I was excited and had the lowest expectations for “Breaking Dawn,” but was pleasantly surprised!

In short, “Breaking Dawn” is one of the funniest and most hilarious movies I’ve seen this year. To recap the “Twilight Saga,” Bella Swan (played by oh-so-pale and oh-so-sulky Kristen Stewart) moves to Forks, Wash., the dullest and dreariest place in the world. She sulks and expects to be as much of an outcast as she has been her entire life but, surprise! Everyone loves her there! They all want to be her friend! That is, everyone but oh-so-sparkly Edward Cullen (the awkward Robert Pattinson), the only single member of the Cullen clan. 

After the longest video montages of ignoring someone, Edward and Bella start dating, and Bella finds out he’s a vampire. Some other stuff happens afterward, though nothing quite as interesting: There are continuous threats to Bella’s life, a game of vampire baseball, a love triangle ensues between the couple and Jacob Black (the continuously shirtless Lautner), and Bella begs to become a vampire.

Now, Bella begging to be a vampire is where the movie becomes interesting. As Bella begs to become immortal, she is also begging for Edward to put out. But Edward, with his Stephanie Meyer/Mormon-inspired morals, refuses to do the dirty unless she marries him first. It is hilarious and silly and, essentially, “Breaking Dawn” is the movie about Bella getting married and becoming a vampire just so her 18-year-old self can finally get some.

It is this reason and this reason alone why “Breaking Dawn” is so successful. The other films were attempting to be taken seriously as “vampire films” by having constant threats to her life related to Edward being a vampire. With the end of “Eclipse,” however, it appeared that all other threats to her life were momentarily gone, leaving the plot to focus on my favorite part: Edward and Bella’s silly relationship. The fact that “Breaking Dawn” is broken into two movies (a la “Harry Potter”) is a testament to how much ground parts one and two have to cover (in addition to how ridiculous this whole thing is).

In fact, “Breaking Dawn” opens with Edward and Bella’s wedding. How does this differ from any other rom-com that we pretend to hate? There is some “drama” here involving this indicating the end of her human life and the beginning of an immortal life that possibly involves the damnation of her soul, but for now, it’s just a fun wedding!

This becomes even funnier when Bella tries finally to have sex with Edward on their honeymoon. Even though they are legally wed, there are some aspects of human-vampire coitus that are apparently really dangerous. Whether the danger is in the fact Edward literally broke the bed, Bella got bruised up or that we had to see Kristen Stewart awkwardly wearing lingerie is never quite made clear. It was funny though, and made doubly hilarious when Bella gets knocked up with a half-vampire, half-human baby that slowly kills Bella unless she drinks blood with a straw.

“What about the crazy love triangle?” you’re probably asking yourself. Does that ever resolve? By the end of “Breaking Dawn – Part I,” this resolves with the birth of Bella’s demon-child. Apparently werewolves have another word for “awkwardly obsessing over someone” called “imprinting.” Once a werewolf “imprints” on someone else, they always have to be around them and continuously guard them no matter what. In other words, because it’s abundantly clear that Bella isn’t single, and the main characters always have to be some sort of strange and no one’s allowed to be in a normal relationship, Jacob falls for his former love’s just-born daughter, the curiously named Renesmee.

There is no lack of ridiculous happenstance in this film, and knowing that another equally ridiculous film is coming out in a year brings me a good amount of glee. My advice, however, is to watch it only if you have absurdly low expectations for the film. Nothing can keep “Breaking Dawn” from being a truly awful movie other than the lowest of expectations and the best attitude—and maybe a theater full of prepubescent girls watching a post-marital sex scene.

 

'Breaking Dawn' Box Office: What It Means For 'Part 2'

 Box-office experts weigh in on whether 'Twilight' series can top blockbuster 'Harry Potter' finale.

 

Opening weekend has come and gone for the first part of the "Twilight Saga" finale, and "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" bowed to an impressive $139.5 million at the box office, just short of the series-record $142 million for "New Moon" in 2009. 

But $139.5 million is certainly nothing to shake a stick at, and a number of box-office experts are agreed with  the number represents a serious accomplishment, despite coming up just short. 

"When the final numbers come in today, 'Breaking Dawn' will have the fifth-best opening ever, a record I'm sure every studio wouldn't mind having," said Jeff Bock, box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "

And even though 'Breaking Dawn' will always be in the shadow of 'New Moon,' which hit $142 million two years ago when it debuted over the same weekend, 'Breaking Dawn,' and the 'Twilight' franchise in general, is one of those rare commodities in Hollywood that sustains its audience from film to film." 

The question of the drop in revenue from "New Moon" still remains. By normal box-office logic, returns would ramp up in anticipation for the finale, yet the penultimate entry in the series could not top the second. Phil Contrino, editor of Boxoffice.com, said it has to do with the fanbase. 

"I think a healthy portion of the audience is growing up and forgetting about this franchise. It's not enough to put a significant dent in the grosses, but there's definitely an impact," he said. 

As "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" approaches, fans of both the "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" series anxiously await to see which finale will come out on top at the box office. Gitesh Pandya from Box Office Guru said Potter's record will remain. 

"Since 'Part 2' is the final 'Twilight' film, I expect it to open a little higher and maybe even beat 'New Moon,' " Pandya said. "But it won't match the numbers for the final 'Harry Potter' unless it's converted into 3-D."

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Twilight: Breaking Dawn Director Bill Condon Discusses Making Two Films At Once

 

 Making a film is not an easy process. There are thousands of moving pieces, scheduling complications, budgetary restrictions, off-days, weather, and the need to maintain constant continuity. But all of those problems become even more intense when you’re shooting two films at the same time, which is exactly what director Bill Condon did while helming The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn: Part 1.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the filmmaker one on one not only to talk about the two simultaneous productions, but also many other details surrounding the franchise. Check out my interview with Bill Condon below in which he talks about the double edge sword of extremely loyal fans, the involvement of author Stephanie Meyer during production, and the decision of where to cut the book in half. This is something that I want to ask about just to start, which is that the fans are incredibly passionate about these films, the books, the characters everything about it. And obviously with that fever pitch excitement, where it has to be, like, well it has to feel really great.

Right.

But is there a double edged sword to it as well?

I think y'know, well you want to be true to the books but you also want to be true to how you visualize them, how you see them. So in a way, yes. Y'know, I started a relationship with them early on. It was always interesting and occasionally helpful. But it was, at a certain point you're making your movie, and you just hope that it intersects with what they dreamed about when they read it.

Sure. And I guess, because the fans are so passionate about the source material, how much pressure is on you to kind of keep the on-screen portrayal as close to the book as possible?

Well, I think, um... I don't know. I just feel like obviously you make it visual, and that involves a different kind of storytelling sometimes. But I think in general, everyone involved in the movie, starting with Kristen Stewart, is, like, really intent on trying to capture the things that are happening inside of these characters' heads.

Sure. And what do you think it is about this franchise that really has captured so many peoples' love and attention?

I think like anything it's the yearning. I mean, yearning is almost better than getting, y'know? [Laughs] Um, and that's the answer. Because the yearning changes in this movie. But it has been a lot of foreplay and now here we go in this one. And it'll be interesting to see. So much happens here. So much stuff happens to these characters. That's what turned me on. But I do think that initially it was about that sense of, like, there's a certain kind of image that we all have of someone we'd fall in love with. And I think this really speaks to that.

And just to talk a bit more about the technical side, um, Miss Rosenberg has written all of these movies thus far. And you yourself have directed. So I'm curious, how did you collaborate with her in that sense?

It was great. It was so great, right from the beginning. I didn't want to do it. She's done an incredible job with this, she knows it better than anybody, and because I think we speak the same language, it was just such a fun part, a fun way to get started on this process. We spent months and months and months when she was just outlining it and writing, and we would just go back and forth. It was really a great experience.

And I guess on that same level, Stephanie Meyer, in addition to writing the source material, also serves as a producer on this. For starters, how often was she on set?

Every day.

Every day?

Every minute, yes.

And how much input did she provide? Did you go to her?

Absolutely. It was this invaluable resource, y'know, the person from whose brain all of this came. And you could always just be there and ask about a bit of behavior or a quote or part of a back story that never made it into print. And that was incredibly helpful.

Yeah.

And she was also extremely respectful.

What would you say is the biggest piece of input she put in?

Um...

If you can narrow it down. [Laughs]

Yeah, because it was throughout, y'know? She's part of every bit of the process. Um... y'know, I think I'm going to save that. Because there's a thing in the second movie that... we'll do it next year. [Laughs] I'll take a trip.

Right, right. So I guess just to talk about the conquest of two movies. I mean, few movies are actually filmed in sequence.

Yes.

But here you are dealing with two movies that are being filmed simultaneously. How on Earth can you keep the story together just in your head?

It sometimes got confusing, but I got to say, because it's one book, and because movie two starts a second after movie one ends, I very early on put the two scripts together. It's like, this is the script. This is the movie we're making. It covers a lot of territory. So that mostly worked, but then sometimes when you sort of turn around and Bella's a vampire, and you turn around and she's dying in childbirth it's kind of, “Oh I'm disoriented, does this happen before or after that?” But mostly, no.

And how do you get the actors in the proper mindset in that sense?

Right, well, that's a big part of their challenge I think.

Sure.

You know, especially Kristen's. Because she is the one who changes the most. Many of these characters are kind of magical creatures who are as they were when they died. But Bella, with this huge transformation, Kristen really had a lot of work to do to keep herself clear. But I think she liked it.

Another question I have, you mentioned that it picks up in a second and you mentioned that it was this whole thing- is there a concept out there where you could basically take out the credits from the first movie and kind of put them together?

I would love to see it like that, yeah.

Do you think that would ever possibly fly?

Oh, it's um, maybe down the line, I think that would be fun, don't you think? Or make one ten hour movie. 

And I guess there have been- well you take the Matrix movies, the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean, Back to the Future- I'm curious, how do you find that place where you split the story?

I thought it was pretty clear. Actually, when I got involved they put it somewhere else, and I didn't think it was right. But it just seemed to me that- um, the other books are told from Bella's point of view. This one has this unique thing of being told from Bella's point of view first, and then Jacob's, and then back to Bella's.

Sure.

The first half seemed to be right at that moment when you shift back to Bella's point of view. And it's opening her eyes and having her become again.

Right. And I guess, where was the first break?

When I first got involved, I think they wanted to send her out on her first hunt.

Ok.

Um, I think that was it. It was the hunt and that didn't seem right to me.

Why?

Because it felt as though... First of all, just good story telling, it's just a great cliffhanger. What is going to happen now? That to me is a huge part of the appeal of the second movie. The first act is, now you've gone throughout the looking glass, it's like we've been watching this from Bella's point of view, but now you're a vampire and you're experiencing that. So it's a big stylistic change, something that to me, it would be jarring to give a taste of that and then stop.

And one thing I'm also curious about is that there is a certain level of humor to this.

Yes.

And I'm curious, where did you feel that was appropriate to put in? I mean, obviously there are serious dramatic themes, but once you feel it's appropriate...

Well, if you have a wedding, you've got to do awkward wedding speeches. [Laughs] There's something awful and funny about that. And the same is like, the first time you have sex- you can't do that without being a little funny.

Right.

Because there's such incredible anxiety surrounding it. 

Each movie has had its own director. In fact, you're the first person to take on two of them. So it really does inhabit its own world. And what was your research process into kind of gearing into that universe?

Well, you're right, it is a whole universe that you're getting into. But you have the text, y'know, and that's sort of where it starts. And then you have the author. It's about, Tolkien, y'know, trying to figure out what he's getting at.

Sure. And was the source material something that you constantly referred to?

Oh yeah, absolutely. Yes.

How many times would you say you read them?

Oh, so many times. And also, just as you're, y'know, it happens so much in this book and in the whole process of working with Melissa, but then the night before I would shoot a scene I would look at it again. Just to see if there was some other detail or some other approach, some other thing that I want to make sure I got.

And did the movies provide a reference point as well?

To a degree. Yeah.

I mean, is there any kind of pressure to match or add on stylistically?

No. That's the thing that made it- I don't think I would have done it if those movies had all been of a similar style. I think the whole point of it is that there's no stylistic template that you're following. I mean Katherine's is such an indie movie, it's got that great indie spirit as well as capturing the soul of a teenage girl. Chris's is very, very classical, and David's again is incredibly intense and dark. And this one is something else again.

Can you define it?

I would say that to me it's in a kind of old tradition. A Hollywood tradition of romantic melodrama. And then it turns, kind of merged with a flat out horror movie.

And one thing that I guess has been brought up throughout the entire franchise are the horror movie elements. I mean, the fact that you are dealing with vampires and werewolves and shape-shifters. Is there ever an inclination to kind of bring in horrors? I mean, you have the flashback sequence with Edward in the '30's. So I was wondering if you could just talk about implementing those horror elements.

Right. Um, yeah, that one- when people see it, they'll see that- I just thought this was a neat joke that everyone is screaming at The Bride of Frankenstein and there's a monster right in their midst. But also, y'know, the fact that Bella is in a way the bride of Frankenstein. But, you know, it's one of my favorite movies and I remember hearing stories about- well, it was actually not that movie, it was on Frankenstein- that when it first previewed in Santa Barbara that people were fainting and that someone tracked down the director, James Well, and said, “Were you sleeping?” “Well, yes.” “Well, I'm glad you're awake now because I can't sleep.” [Laughs] People were so upset by it. That visceral reaction you have to horror, y'know, I think that's a hugely exciting part of taking this on.

Do you see a connection back to Gods and Monsters?

Oh yeah, definitely, yeah. Also I do think there's a, tonally... horror is usually so ripe, y'know, in a way that it can't help but being done with a little bit of a wink. Here too- it's not like anything is not being taken seriously, but I do think there's something fun about it all.

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'Twilight Breaking Dawn, Pt 1' Features Long-Awaited Vampire Wedding

 

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart star in the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part 1

Fans around the world are queueing up to see the latest film based on author Stephanie Meyers' Twilight novels. The final book chronicling the romance of teenager Bella and vampire Edward has been split into a pair of films.
The wedding vows may be traditional, but the bride and groom are most unusual. She is a human teenager, just beginning her adult life. He looks like a teen but is actually a 108-year-old vampire. After their picture-perfect wedding in rain-soaked Washington state, Edward whisks Bella off to Brazil for a rainforest honeymoon that starts when he carries her over the threshold.

BELLA "Is this totally necessary?"
EDWARD "I'm nothing if not traditional."

Their idyllic interlude is all-too short. Bella expected Edward to turn her into a vampire so they could share immortality. But before that can happen she becomes pregnant and the baby could be deadly.

While Bella's new vampire in-laws struggle to save her life, her pregnancy threatens to break the fragile peace treaty with their werewolf neighbors.

The combination of teenage romance and supernatural characters has captivated fans of the Twilight novels and films - most of them young women. Kristen Stewart, who stars as Bella, believes the themes resonate with that audience.

Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

"It's such a far-fetched story and all …but it's really not if you just compare it to somebody who is my age and not in agreement with people that think they are making the wrong decision. That's such a common position," Stewart says.
Robert Pattinson co-stars as Edward. He says, supernatural elements aside, it's basically about the emotions that teenagers everywhere experience.
"He is a 108-year-old guy and he has never achieved anything he has wanted to achieve. He is stuck in adolescence," explains Pattinson. "When you're an adolescent you think nothing is given to you. You think everything is unfair …and he's been living that that for 100 years."
The romantic triangle in the Twilight saga includes Bella's best friend Jacob, who happens to be a werewolf, the mortal enemy of her beloved. He is again played by Taylor Lautner.

Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

 

"Jacob becomes a man in this one and he has to make a lot of decisions," explains Lautner. "He is being torn between his two families so it was really tough. It was by far the most challenging one for me and it's just very exciting to see him in a completely different light than ever before."

Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has adapted all of the Twilight novels. But since the first film in 2008, different directors have taken on each chapter. Bill Condon, who helmed the musical Dreamgirls, takes over for Breaking Dawn.

"Obviously it's my take on the material, but you want to make sure that it doesn't betray what people's expectations are and yet still becomes a full cinematic experience," Condon says.

The Twilight experience ends with Breaking Dawn - Part 2 which Condon also filmed. It arrives in theaters this time next year. 

'Twilight: Breaking Dawn' smashes UK box office record 

 

 Video: 'Twilight Breaking Dawn' - UK Premiere Report

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 has broken records to top the UK box office.

The penultimate movie in the supernatural series took over £13.9 million on its opening weekend, making it the biggest opening of a US movie ever in the UK.
Its Friday figure of £6.35 million surpassed the non-3D opening record set by Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 last year.
Director of film at Entertainment One Alex Hamilton said: "We have the highest three-day opening ever for an American film in the UK. I'd like to thank all the fans of Twilight that have given this three-year-old independent distributor a weekend to remember."
Elsewhere in the top ten, Arthur Christmas and The Adventures Of Tintin hold at numbers two and three respectively, while last week’s number one Immortals drops to four. The only other new entry is Justice at seven.

The UK box office top ten is:

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - £13,910,877
2. Arthur Christmas - £2,317,953
3. The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn - £988,578
4. Immortals - £950,230
5. In Time - £453,958
6. Tower Heist - £411,888
7. Justice - £276,483
8. Johnny English Reborn - £256,828
9. The Rum Diary - £230,740
10. The Ides Of March - £180,692

How Much Did The Twilight: Breaking Dawn Wedding Cost?

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Now that the Twilight Wedding of the Century is out in theaters and we have fed ourselves on its succulent romantic juices, we can get down to doing what you do after any good wedding: gossiping about how much it cost! Luckily, the folks at Centives have done the hard work for us, and the grand total for the whole shebang is… $38,000!

Sure, that is a lot of money, but when you amortize that out over the length of eternity, it's a pretty good value. Especially if you consider that the average American wedding in 2010 cost $27,800, and those were for mere mortals who will realistically only squeeze a few decades of marriage out of it. So actually Edward and Bella's nuptials come off as pretty darn frugal. 

They could have been even more budget-friendly if they hadn't gone so overboard on the flowers, which, using a conservative estimate, cost them $20,000. But they are Edward and Bella! Come on! They deserve all the beautiful flowers in the world. Regardless, the cost of the Twilight wedding still pales in comparison to the Kardashian Wedding Shamtacular(worth all $10 million!) and the Prince William and Kate Middleton Royal Wedding Bonanza (which ran somewhere around $60 million).

 

Twilight's Robert Pattinson on the 'scary' Breaking Dawn sex scene 

 

Twilight star Robert Pattinson on why the Breaking Dawn sex scene was all in your imagination.

So having a look through this book, the sex scenes are pretty dramatic. How is that to film?

Well, it’s funny when people talk about the sex scenes in the book because there aren’t actually any, and it’s all people’s imaginations. They think, ‘Oh it’s so hardcore,’ and it fades to black every single time and it just shows little bits of the aftermath. The book is the best example of how to keep something censored and still be kind of erotic.

Like the thing with the feathers, we didn’t mention anything apart from the fact that there’s feathers afterwards and that’s why all the Twilight fans are so fixated on the feathers. It’s like all their fantasies about this story are based on that one image.

But the whole sex scene is just totally in their own heads.

I mean, I guess that’s the only scary thing about doing it in the movie - you have to show something. If you fade to black in the movie a bit then people will go insane.

But at the end of the day, watching some other people have sex is never going to be that spectacular. I mean, hopefully it will be kind of good but it’s a strange thing when there’s so much hype about it. You are like, ‘God, I hope this lives up to it.’

So Edward is very protective of Bella. Who do you feel protective of in your life and how can you relate to that sort of total protectiveness he has?

I guess anyone close to me. When people start talking about your friends or your associations and stuff, that’s the one time I feel like you really have to do something about it.

So are you a little nervous about the reception of this film, or are you pretty blasé these days?

When the book came out, I was like, ‘Wow, [Stephanie Meyer] really just broke the whole box.’ She’s not even thinking outside the box anymore. She went all out in the last one having such an incredibly bizarre storyline. It was really brave, it’s a different genre of movie so I don’t know, hopefully it will be interesting.

 What’s the best thing that fame has brought you?

I am living a life which I had never knew existed, and you can kind of delay being an adult for quite a while. But it’s fun; you get to meet really interesting people. There’s very few jobs where almost everyone in the industry loves their job, and it’s nice to go to work everyday when people are really excited about it and think that they are making something great.

Do you look forward getting past this moment of fame that’s connected to Twilight?

Whenever you get big, it seems you have an equal number of haters and detractors. I remember before Twilight, if there was something on the internet, I mean every single comment would be positive, whereas when you have to do image saturation a little bit, then it just drives people crazy for some reason. But also, the great thing about Twilight fans, they are all very, very vocal and they are very protective of our stuff. And so you always have a kind of army of people defending you.

 

Box office update: 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn' bites into the third-best opening day ever with $72 mil 

 

The draining of money has begun. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1, the fourth movie in the supernatural-romance franchise, grossed an incredible $72 million on Friday, according to early estimates.

That’s the third-best opening day ever, behind only this year’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 ($91.1 million) and 2009′s The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($72.7 million). And while Breaking Dawn fell slightly short of New Moon, it did surpass the opening day of last year’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which debuted to $68.5 million (albeit on a Wednesday).

New Moon is the best comparison point for Breaking Dawn since it hit theaters on the same November weekend two years ago. If Breaking Dawn follows New Moon‘s trajectory, it will drop 42 percent on Saturday and another 34 percent on Sunday. That’d give Breaking Dawn an opening weekend total of about $141 million, which would rank as the fifth-best debut ever (behind Potter, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 3, and New Moon). An $141 million opening would be a bit below what many box-office prognosticators (myself included) were predicting for Breaking Dawn, but is still an absolutely outstanding start for the film.

Included in the PG-13 movie’s $72 million Friday figure was $30.3 million from Thursday midnight showings — a midnight debut second to only the final Potter film. Breaking Dawn cost $110 million to produce and received a good-but-not-great B+ rating from CinemaScore moviegoers.

The dancing penguins of Happy Feet Two failed to bring fluffy back, as the $135 million animated sequel underperformed by grossing only $5.9 million on Friday. Factoring in a likely Saturday bump from family audiences, the PG-rated flick should finish the weekend with around $22 million. By comparison, the original Happy Feet nearly doubled that amount by debuting to $41.5 million in 2006. Clearly penguins’ moment in the box-office spotlight has passed, which is too bad considering they’re pretty much the coolest animals on Earth.

Among holdovers, Immortals plummeted 74 percent for $3.8 million on Friday. The Adam Sandler comedy Jack and Jill fell 64 percent for $3.5 million. And Puss in Boots swiped $3.4 million — down 62 percent from last week. In limited release, Alexander Payne’s Hawaiian dramedy The Descendants, starring George Clooney, collected an impressive $319,000 from 29 theaters. Check back here on Sunday for the complete box office report.

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 — $72.0 mil
2. Happy Feet Two — $5.9 mil
3. Immortals — $3.8 mil
4. Jack and Jill — $3.5 mil
5. Puss in Boots — $3.4 mil

 

Breaking Dawn Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg On Why Twilight Is So Polarizing

   Melissa Rosenberg's name has become almost as synonymous with the Twilight franchise as Stephenie Meyer's or Robert Pattinson's. As the screenwriter of all five movies, Rosenberg has shaped the onscreen version of Bella, Edward, Jacob and company as we know them today, helping build Bella into a more proactive character, making other incremental changes over the years, and now splitting the series' final book, Breaking Dawn, into two films. With Breaking Dawn - Part 1 in theaters today, I talked to Rosenberg about the challenges of this movie's plot, how she wrote a scene about two people wanting to sleep together when no one said the word "sex," and how she reacts to the polarizing reaction Twilight gets online-- you may be surprised by how fired up she gets about it. Check out our conversation below, and see Breaking Dawn pretty much anywhere this weekend.

What was the difference in what Bill Condon brought as a director, especially the way he worked with the actors?
Bill, first and foremost, is a storyteller. He's an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, so he really speaks the language of character and theme and emotional complexity. That's really his forte. He certainly pushed me in that direction. He really kept on pushing me deeper and deeper. He was always more drawn to the first movie than the second, because it's a more intimate story, it's a more character-driven story.

There's a huge section of the film that's basically just Bella trying to get Edward to sleep with her. How do you tell a story about sexual frustration where no one ever says the word sex?
It's al about giving the actors something to play. In this case Bella, she's got that whole case of lingerie-- a lot of it is lifted from the book. I expanded on some of stuff, like the waterfall leaping, and the chess game was Bill's idea. He loved the idea of bringing that into it. A lot of people who are less familiar with how things work thick of screenwriting as dialogue, that we're just writing the dialogue. Actually the thing you're always striving for is to convey something cinematically. If you can convey a story without dialogue, that's sometimes what you're really striving for.



You've had these three movies with these characters who love each other but can't be together, and this time they get to cut loose and actually enjoy married life.
That was great. I loved writing the whole honeymoon section, because they're actually having fun. The struggle is over whether they're going to have sex or not. It's not life or death here! This is about desire and playfulness, and it's lovely to be able to see those actors play that.

What can you write for the actors now that you couldn't when you didn't know them that well?
I wrote Twilight in a vacuum-- we hadn't cast yet, so I didn't know who I was writing for. The script needed some adjustments when they came on, to write toward them. The characters and the actors became one and the same as the movies went on. You just become more familiar with your voice. It takes less effort to actually hit it.

What specific things do you write for the actors? Are there particularly people who get along, or actors who are especially good at comedy?
Oh yeah-- you always want to give Billy Burke something funny. He's amazing, he not only can deliver the driest line, he also really delivers the poignancy and emotion of scenes. He's a very versatile actor. And Anna Kendrick, you just want to throw funny lines at her.

Anna Kendrick is interesting, because she's the audience surrogate in that wedding scene. How important is it to have someone standing outside the situation and recognizing, yeah, this is kind of extreme, to get married at 18.
I personally love to undercut the earnestness as much as I can without-- you want to have a sense of humor about yourself. And there's plenty of earnestness left, so I wasn't undercutting them too much.

Was there a challenge in Bella's role in the second half of this movie, because she's literally stuck on the couch in her pregnancy. How did you make sure she wasn't just lost in the narrative?
Well, she's fighting for her life. It's a challenge, and that was one of the hardest parts of writing this movie. From the moment she's pregnant to the moment she gives birth, how do you have this not being about someone lying around dying. She, in this movie, the character of Bella is the most pro-active in some ways. She has made a decision to keep this child, and she is convinced that she can do it. She's convinced that she's going to live. She's not waiting around to die, she doesn't think she's going to. But the whole time she's really fighting to survive. It has to be conveyed by the actor, and in the scenes she has with Edward and Jacob. She doesn't see it as lying around waiting to die.



Do you have a favorite part in the movie?
The wedding. The wedding toasts, for sure. That's the kind of stuff I love writing. And Bill shot it with all the reaction shots he gets out of Billy, Bill is a really good partner for delivering that humor.

Have you learned to look past the criticism and the negative attention from fans?
I can read 20 comments that are all positive and glowing, and then there's the one guy, wherever he is, who says "Yeah, she butchered these, her hands should be cut off." And that colors my whole day, and I can't write then. The critics I hear louder than the praise, and I think for sure there's a lot more praise than critics. But my personal damaged psyche hears the critiques more.

Do you know why Twilight is so polarizing?
It's seen as a girl movie. And girl is not cool. Anything female is not cool in the Comic Con world. If you're a guy who likes this movie, it's like, oh, you're not a real man, this is a girl thing. It falls into that, and it pisses me off actually. It's a reflection of our culture and our culture sees anything female as less-than. You know what? These girls around the world have made us a $1.8 billion franchise. So there's a lot of power going on there. If the culture could allow guys to enjoy something that was actually female, I think that stuff would go away.

I wish people could recognize how much fun the wedding scene is to watch. It's a spectacle like an action movie, and instead of explosions it's a wedding dress.
Guys naturally are not going to be drawn in by that, but it's also so much social conditioning, that it's not OK for them to be drawn into that. It's the same social conditioning that ends with us making 77 cents on the dollar. 

 

'Breaking Dawn': Twihards gather to watch Bella and Edward wed

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” grossed $30.3 million from midnight showings early Friday morning according to an estimate from distributor Summit Entertainment, and it appears to be on pace to have the biggest opening yet for any movie in the vampire franchise adapted from author Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novels.
24 Frames checked in with some fans who came out for the movie’s first screenings at the Rave Motion Pictures 18, which showed the vampire flick on five screens at 12:01 a.m., with one additional showing at 12:45 a.m. Many people at the theater were continuing a tradition of seeing each installment at midnight that dated back to the 2009 debut of the second "Twilight" movie, “New Moon.”
“We’ve been doing it for two or three years. You wait all year to watch it, so you might as well come and see it at midnight,” said Alejandra Toribio, 21, of Long Beach.
“I feel like the movie’s always better when you see it before it’s really out,” said Liz Hook, 14, of Westchester, who came to the movie in her pajamas with her twin sister and a friend.
The audience was by far mostly female, but there were a few men on hand to support their friends and some fathers bringing young daughters to watch Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) marry her undead beau Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), despite the protestations of her best friend, werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).
“I’m not a fan. I’m just here to support my friends. I’m just dragged along,” said Jay Rice, 24, of Gardena.
His friend Yontique McHenry, 21, of Harbor City said to him, “People are gonna see this [article], and they’re gonna beat you up because you’re a fake fan. And you have a seat!”
“Go 'Twilight,' ” he responded, flashing a thumbs-up.
There were the occasional guys who considered themselves true fans, though, including 25-year-old Alexander Solis of South Gate, who donned a “Twilight” sweatshirt and T-shirt for the event. So what’s his answer to the great “Twilight” debate?
“Team Edward. Because he will be marrying Bella!” said Solis, who bought his ticket for the movie a month ago.
Favorite characters varied from Jacob (“I don’t find Edward attractive. He’s too pale,” said Rosario Carrera, 31, of Orange County) to Jasper, a vampire played by Jackson Rathbone.
“I’m Team Jasper. I think he’s funny-looking. In the film he’s all crazy-eyed,” Hook said.
Melissa Nelson, 31, of Torrance, said she was eager to see how the movie depicted Bella's surprise pregnancy -- in the film, she and Edward conceive a child on their honeymoon, though carrying the baby to term threatens Bella's life -- because of how she was introduced to the series. Nelson said she watched the first movie on a portable DVD player while her cousin was in labor.
“I was her birthing partner… While we were waiting for the baby to come, we were like, ‘Might as well watch a movie,’ ” Nelson said. “I’m really interested to see the transformation of [Bella’s] body when she’s pregnant.”
Nelson came to see the movie with other adult friends, but on Saturday she plans to bring young cousins and her 4-year-old son –- who’s Team Jacob and “can recite the movies for you” she said -– after she makes “sure it’s child appropriate” at the midnight screening. “He asked today, ‘Well, when am I going to see ‘Twilight’? Cause you know the new one is out today and we have to go see it,’ ” Nelson explained.
She said her husband scoffs at the series. “He says they’re fake vampires. He’s like, ‘How do they walk around in the daylight?’ ”
As for the franchise's enduring popularity, most fans chalked it up to the sweeping romance of the supernatural tale.
“It’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for now,” said Dawn Fagenson, 45, of Brentwood, who owns a cardboard cutout of Lautner as Jacob and has traveled to Forks, Wash., where the series takes place.
“It’s a very classic story,” said Jennifer Daskevich, 43, of Westchester. “They’ve done really well with marketing to younger people. We don’t really fit into that category, but they’ve done a really good job of casting young, dynamic people. It’s a great love story.”
A number of moviegoers cited their awe for the “great love story," but there were a few who were more cynical. Liz Hook’s sister, Joans, discovered the series when she was in fifth grade and “was really into them” upon the first read.
“And then after I read them, I was like, ‘Why did I read these? These are really stupid,’ ” she said. “Bella’s so desperate. She needs a man in her life, otherwise she cannot function. So I really hate the point of it, but it’s just fun to go [to the movies] with your friends.”

4th ‘Twilight’ movie features adult content, themes

With the release of “Breaking Dawn: Part 1,” the pop culture phenomenon can no longer be written off as kid stuff.

Until now, it was easy to dismiss the Twilight film series — which has grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide — as fodder for adolescent girls. Lots and lots of girls.
But with the arrival of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, which will begin breaking box office records at 12:01 a.m. Friday, the story takes a surprisingly adult turn. This one tackles marriage, sex, abortion and family demands, themes that can no longer be deemed kid stuff — and reflects the growing inclusion of adult content in TV shows and movies aimed primarily at teens.
The legions of fans who devoured Stephenie Meyer’s novels, which have sold more than 100 million copies, knew what was coming: In Breaking Dawn, the 18 year-old Bella (Kristen Stewart) marries the vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson), who looks 17 but was born in 1901 (he could be her great-grandfather!) They honeymoon on a remote island off the coast of Brazil, where Bella loses her virginity and discovers vampires like their sex extra rough.
Then, along with the black and purple bruises dotting her body, Bella discovers she is pregnant — and the baby she’s carrying, which is growing at a supernaturally fast rate, may be an immortal human-vampire hybrid that will drain the life from her before it’s born. Edward and his clan of vampires implore her to terminate the pregnancy, because it may kill her. But Bella refuses.
Strong stuff — strong enough, in fact, to earn the first cut of Breaking Dawn - Part 1 an R rating. But Oscar-winning director Bill Condon ( Dreamgirls, Kinsey, Gods and Monsters), who shot the two Breaking Dawn movies back to back, knew he was required to edit the film down to a PG-13.
“More than anything, I wanted to make sure that the intensity of two specific things — the first time they make love during their honeymoon and the birth scene — wasn’t watered down,” Condon said from Los Angeles. “The ratings board is so subjective. They have certain rules everyone has to follow, and one of them has to do with the amount of thrusting you can show. There was never any nudity or anything like that. And the solution we settled on was to give you Bella’s point of view as much as I could in those scenes. For example, during the birth scene, we limited what you can see to her point of view as she’s lying on that gurney. And it turns out that allowing the audience to use their imaginations to fill in what’s happening makes the scene even more powerful.”
Despite the restraint, though, Breaking Dawn - Part 1 represents a surprisingly bold change of direction for a series that, in the previous three films, had traded primarily on high-school angst and boyfriend troubles. This time, there will be blood. The movie is the latest example of an ongoing cultural shift that allows movies ( Easy A, Remember Me) and TV shows ( The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl) aimed at teenagers to tackle subject matter that might have seemed too adult even a decade ago.
“The culture has gotten more comfortable over time talking about issues,” said Breaking Dawn screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who was an executive producer on several TV series (including The O.C. and Dexter) before signing on to adapt all of Meyer’s Twilight novels into movies. “Maybe this is an overly hopeful and idealist perspective, but we’ve learned that talking about something is much healthier than pretending it doesn’t exist. In the TV and film world, that allows us to get into these issues within the context of a story. Everyone is always nostalgic about the 1950s, but there was all this horrible stuff going on then, too. Film and TV have helped bring these things out into the open.”
The ability to delve into adult territory within the context of a familiar horror genre — vampires — also earned Twilight a devoted following that transcends adolescents. Danai Pestana, 26, a fifth-grade teacher at Somerset Academy in South Miami, happily admits that she read all four Twilight novels in the span of a week — and had to lock them in the trunk of her car so she wouldn’t keep reading whenever she stopped at a traffic light.
“ Breaking Dawn is very much an adult book, very intense,” Pestana says. “It’s pretty crazy. The whole series is bizarre, but I thought it was perfection. This is a true love story, so it’s going to appeal to an older crowd. You can relate to her first love, her first time. And that’s a wonderful thing.”
But even as Meyer’s novel brought adults into the Twilight fold, the book also drew the attention of critics who disapproved of the message it might be conveying to young people — a complaint that will only grow louder when the movie opens.
“ Breaking Dawn was what got me interested enough in Twilight to write a book,” said Beth Felker Jones, a professor of Christian theology at Wheaton College in Illinois and author of Touched by a Vampire: Discovering the Hidden Messages in the Twilight Saga. “The themes are so intense: the wedding night, the honeymoon that leaves the wife bruised and then this horrific vampire C-section. Meyer took some criticism from her fan base because they did not expect this pregnancy/child birth narrative. They loved the romantic teenage-love part. Maybe they could get into a wedding, but not a devastating childbirth.
“There is also a kind of abusive strand to the Edward and Bella’s relationship,” Jones said. “Edward is very controlling, watches her sleep and prevents her from going to visit her friends. That’s a lot like abusive relationships in real life. And then that she’s willing to give up her humanity for him — her soul, her life? There are questions to be raised here for the way girls are being trained to think about love.”
For Condon, the rich stew suddenly bubbling beneath Twilight’s simple surface was one of the main reasons why he wanted to be part of the series.
“Within all of Hollywood’s oldest genres, there were always ‘encoded movies’ in which all this stuff was going on that none of the characters ever spoke about directly,” he said. “A lot of people have complained about the last two Twilight films, but they were really just one long, extended second act. This one is the third act. When I read the book, I was blown away by how much happens, but also how strange it all is. Twilight has always had the potential to be a horror movie, but it hasn’t quite embraced it until we get to this story. I hope it doesn’t upset the girls too much. We’ll see.”
Gabriela Gomez, 15, a sophomore at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami and unabashed Twi-hard — the preferred moniker of the Twilight hardcore — says she knows exactly what’s in store for Edward and Bella and still can’t wait to see the movie.
“ Breaking Dawn was my favorite of all the novels,” she said. “I know everybody hates it, but I loved it. It’s a different concept from anything that I’ve ever seen or read before. It was disturbing, but it was cool because you learned a lot about the vampire stuff. Which is pretty gross!”
Whatever critical barbs are slung at Breaking Dawn — and there will be many — fans will not be able to complain that the movie doesn’t do the book justice.
“People assume a great deal was edited out of the movie in order to get the PG-13,” Rosenberg said. “But we didn’t hold anything back. In fact, when it came to the birth scene, I was going to cut out the, um, sort of Caesarean, if you will. I was saying ‘We don’t really need to see that.’ But Bill was like ‘No no no. It’s gotta be in there.’ I can’t imagine people walking out of the movie thinking ‘I just wanted more blood and guts.’
“But maybe they will. I’m sure the deleted footage will show up on the DVD,” Rosenberg added, laughing. “And the movie is still pretty damn sexy!”
The heated discussions that Breaking Dawn - Part 1 will generate should keep fans tuned in until Nov. 16, 2012 — when Part 2 finally arrives.