Twilight (film)

Twilight  is the movie adaptation of the novel Twilight, the first book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Starring Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, it was released November 21, 2008 in North America and December 11, 2008 in Australia. It was released on DVD March 21, 2009.

History
Twilight was originally optioned by Paramount Pictures' MTV Films. According to Catherine Hardwicke, a script was produced even before the novel was published. It bore little resemblence to the actual novel or the final movie; for example Bella was a track star, and the FBI was chasing the vampires on jet skis. When that option lapsed in summer 2007, the novel was optioned by Summit Entertainment. Catherine Hardwicke was brought in to direct the film. After reading the original script, she went and read the novel. She decided that the script needed to be rewritten from scratch. Melissa Rosenberg was hired for the new version. On November 16, 2007, Summit Entertainment, along with Stephenie Meyer, announced that Kristen Stewart had been cast in the role of Isabella Swan. A month later, on December 11, 2007 it was announced that Robert Pattinson (who portrayed Cedric Diggory in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) had been cast as Edward Cullen. Summit Entertainment had an open casting call for the role of Jacob Black on January 19, 2008, and Taylor Lautner was cast.

Short Plot Summary
When seventeen year-old Bella Swan leaves sunny Phoenix, Arizona and moves to the rainy town of Forks, she discovers her life will never be the same again, when she meets Edward Cullen, a boy hiding a dark secret. He's a Vampire with an urge for human blood. However he does not wish to be a killer and now must turn to Bella, in the meantime controling his urge for her blood and protecting her from three hungry Vampires, who would make Bella their next meal.

Detailed Plot Summary
Isabella "Bella" Swan lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her mother Renée, and stepfather Phil, who is a baseball player. Phil gets transferred to play baseball in Florida and they decide to live there but Bella decides to live with her father, Charlie, who is the chief of police in Forks, Washington. Bella moves to Forks and is greeted by Charlie's friend, Billy, and Billy's son and Bella's childhood friend, Jacob Black. Charlie purchases a truck from Billy as a homecoming gift to Bella. She goes to high school and is befriended by many students including Mike, Eric, Jessica, Tyler and Angela. At the cafetaria Bella learns about the strange Cullen family, five teenage adult foster kids adopted by Carlisle, a young doctor, who is 20 years old and is married to his beautiful wife, Esme. Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in Biology but he moves away from her completely disgusted. She tries to comfort Edward but he is absent almost for a week. When he arrives he seems friendly and kind towards her. Much to Bella's surprise, Edward's black eyes are turned golden brown. At the parking lot, Tyler's van goes out of control and is about to crush Bella. Edward, who is far away from Bella in the same parking lot, moves quickly and stops the van with his hand. Bella tries to get Edward to tell her how he did it but doesn't and warns her against befriending him and that he might be a bad guy. Bella and her friends go to the La Push beach and Jacob arrives with 2 of his Native American friends. One of them tells Bella that the Cullens don't come to the La Push. Bella then tricks Jacob into telling her why his friends insulted the Cullens and why they have a bad name in La Push. Jacob tells his great grandfather, Eprahaim Black, met the Cullens and signed a peace treaty with them to stay away from La Push; which means the treaty will be broken and everything will turn violent if the Cullens step foot in La Push. Bella tries to find Edward's dark secret and goes to Port Angeles to shop with her friends, Jessica and Angela, to buy dresses for their high school prom. Bella decides to go to a bookstore and is caught by a gang of thugs who try to rape her, but Edward arrives and saves her. Edward tells Bella that he could read minds but is unable to read her mind. On the way home they witness Carlisle's car at the police station for an emergency and all the lights of the vehicles are flashing. Edward and Bella find out Charlie's friend, Waylon Forge, was killed in his boat by an animal, the second murder which is commited in Forks. Bella uses her book, which she bought from the bookstore, and finds a website about the book. The website is about vampires and the descriptions she read match Edward. Upon realizing his secret Bella dreams about Edward killing and drinking her blood. Bella tells him she knows who he is and Edward tells her he and his family are different from other vampires. They don't want to hurt humans so they hunt only animals for their thirst and call themselves vegetarian vampires. Soon Edward and Bella fall in love and he introduces her to his vampire family: Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper. Soon the pair realize their love for each other is so strong and he hopes to never lose control when he is with her. The Cullens decide to play baseball and invite Bella. Meanwhile James, Laurent, and Victoria, 3 rogue vampires who hunt humans and are responsible for the killings in Forks, arrive. Suddenly a wind blows causing James to love Bella's scent and tries to kill her. The Cullens risk their lives to save her and Carlisle tells James, Laurent, and Victoria to leave. James, who wants to kill Bella, plots a plan to get rid of the Cullens and eat her. Knowing about the plan, the Cullens split up Edward and Bella to save her life. Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie find out James has already known the truth and has escaped. Esme and Rosalie leave to protect Charlie while Edward, Emmett, and Carlisle go to Phoenix where Bella is hiding in a hotel with Alice and Jasper. James calls and lies to Bella that he has her mother and will kill her if Bella doesn't come to a ballet studio only. Alice, who can see the future, gets to know something terrible will happen in a dark ballet studio. When Jasper and Alice are out of the room, Bella takes a taxi and goes to the studio to save her mother. Realizing that James tricked her and her mother was safe, James attacks Bella causing her to hit her head on the wall and get a glass get stabbed through her leg. James injures her further by breaking her leg and biting her wrist. Edward arrives and fights James in which Edward bites James' neck and spits his skin out. Carlisle arrives with Alice, Emmett, and Jasper and rip James apart; killing him. Bella is taken to the hospital and recovers with her mother by her side. In the end, Edward and Bella attend their high school prom and she asks him to turn her into a vampire but he kisses her instead. The film ends with James' lover, Victoria, secretly watching the pair dancing and swears revenge.

Production
Filming in Oregon began in March 2008 and lasted for 44 days, ending on May 2, 2008. Additional footage and some reshoots were made in late August, including the scene where Edward plays piano, the scene where Edward and Bella kiss in the bedroom, and the meadow scene. Hardwicke confessed that she finished working on the film October 31st, 2008. Director Catherine Hardwicke claims that finding the perfect meadow for the emotional climax scene was very difficult. Although the scene was set to be filmed near the end of the schedule, the original site they chose was still covered in snow and inaccessible. They then found a forest with boulders and old growth trees, and with time running out, chose to film some of the scene there. However, the director said that after they wrapped the movie, she told them, "I've got to shoot a meadow. Something that looks like a meadow. Or people are going to stone me in the streets." So they shot part of the scene in the middle of the Griffith Park golf course. In order to make Edward sparkle in the sunlight, they worked with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), George Lucas' special effects company.

DVD & Blu-Ray
The release date for the Twilight DVD and Blu-Ray DVD was March 21, 2009.

DVD Special Features
* Audio commentary by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson * Muse music video: "Super Massive Black Hole" * Paramore music video: "Decode" * Linkin Park music video: "Leave Out All the Rest" * Five extended scenes with director introductions * Five deleted scenes with director introductions * Seven-part documentary: "The Adventure Begins: The Journey from Page to Screen" * Comic-Con "fandom" piece * Comic-Con NY sizzle reel * Three trailers * Penelope trailer Twilight DVD details</ref

Blu-Ray Special Features

 * Audio commentary by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson
 * Muse music video: "Supermassive Black Hole"
 * Paramore music video: "Decode"
 * Linkin Park music video: "Leave Out All the Rest"
 * Five extended scenes with director introductions
 * Five deleted scenes with director introductions
 * Seven-part documentary: "The Adventure Begins: The Journey from Page to Screen"
 * Comic-Con "fandom" piece
 * Comic-Con NY sizzle reel
 * Three trailers
 * Penelope trailer
 * Breaking Dawn Live with New Moon teaser