- "The next chapter begins."
- ―New Moon tagline
The Twilight Saga: New Moon is the second installment of the Twilight film series, based on Stephenie Meyer's novel of the same name.
The film was released on November 20th, 2009. It was directed by Chris Weitz. Summit Entertainment officially announced that they would move forward with the production of the film on November 22, 2008, following the early success of Twilight. New Moon is rated PG-13 in the US and 12A in the UK.[1] Meyer stated that she was very happy to be able to continue working with Summit Entertainment on the production of the saga, saying, "I don't think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment. I'm thrilled to have the chance to work with them again on New Moon."[1]
On February 2, 2009 it was announced that a teaser trailer for New Moon would be released on the Blu-ray edition of Twilight.[2] Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner presented a trailer from the film on May 31, 2009 at the MTV Movie Awards. Afterwards, a high definition version of the trailer debuted online.[3]
Plot
Bella's dream.
- "These violent delights have violent ends."
"And in their triumph die, like fire and powder."
"Which as they kiss, consume."- ―Bella narrating the opening line from Romeo and Juliet
The movie opens on Bella's 18th birthday. She wakes up from a dream in which she sees herself as an older woman, whom she initially thinks is her grandmother, Marie Higginbotham. Later she realizes the older woman is is prophetic of her future self, which fuels her fear of growing old and eventually losing Edward to old age while he remains seventeen forever. The next day, Bella celebrates her birthday with Edward and the rest of the Cullens. Whilst at the Cullen household where Alice has organized a party, she receives a papercut whilst trying to open a present from Esme and Carlisle. As Jasper hasn't been away from human blood as long as the rest of the Cullens, he can't control his instinct to drink her blood.
Edward is forced to protect her by shoving her out of the way and then doing the same to Jasper. Bella lands into a table full of glass, causing her arm to bleed copiously. The Cullens can't control their instinct to consume human blood and start to lose control, except for Carlisle who treats her arm. On the ride home, Edward is no longer the happy self he was at the beginning of the day. Bella tells him that it is fine and things will go back to normal, to which Edward replies that he isn't a normal boyfriend as he has to fight the urge to kill her. After the event at the party, Edward realizes it's too dangerous for Bella to be around his family of vampires and tells her he doesn't love her anymore and disappears. Bella, who is heartbroken, lies on the ground and does nothing. After months of seeing Bella in a zombie-like state, Charlie scolds her and threatens her that if she continues, he will send her to live with Renée.
Bella starts to lighten up and decides to watch a movie with her friend, Jessica. It is here that Bella approaches a group of strange men she confuses with the thugs Edward saved her from in Twilight and takes a ride on the back of one of their motorbikes.
Bella also starts to see images of Edward trying to stop her from doing so but she refuses to listen. Bella realizes she starts seeing very realistic images of Edward when she's in danger. Bella seeks comfort in her best friend Jacob Black, which eases her pain over losing Edward. Bella starts to realize that Jacob is acting differently, becoming increasingly dark and violent. She comes to the conclusion he is hiding a dark secret.
Bella later goes to the meadow, where she meets Laurent. He informs her that Victoria wishes to kill her, in revenge for Edward killing her mate James. Laurent tries to kill Bella, saying it will be better than it would be if Victoria did, but the shape-shifters arrive in time to chase down Laurent and kill him.
Later on, when Bella arrives at Jacob's house to talk to him about why he's acting differently, she confronts Sam, Embry and Paul and tells them they're the reason for Jacob's behavior since he's scared. To this, Paul starts laughing and Bella punches him in a fit of rage, causing him to phase into his wolf form. In an attempt to protect her, Jacob phases and stands between her and Paul and starts attacking him. She then realizes this is what Jacob has been hiding from her; that he is a shape-shifter.
Jacob later informs Bella that Victoria is hunting her and that they chased her all the way to the Canadian border, where she jumps off a cliff. Later, Bella seeking an adrenaline rush in order to "hear" Edward speaking to her, goes cliff diving. In the water, Bella notices Victoria swimming towards her, and in a fit of panic, knocks herself out for a short while, before Jacob saves her and informs her that Charlie and Billy's friend Harry Clearwater has died of a heart attack. Despite the warmth and closeness they feel towards each other, a quick succession of events later that evening try to tear Bella and Jacob apart. Jacob drives Bella home, only to discover that Alice has inexplicably turned up there; he recoils from her presence and flees to La Push to regroup. However, he soon returns to apologize to Bella; they nearly kiss when the phone interrupts them. When Jacob answers, he tells the caller that Chief Swan was arranging a funeral. Having received cryptic information, Edward assumes the funeral is for Bella, thinking she had committed suicide. Grief-stricken, he departs in order to meet with the Volturi, and Bella and Alice rush to try to stop him.
The Volturi.
They both travel to Volterra to try and save Edward. The Volturi refused to kill Edward due to Aro's interest in his gift, so Edward decides he needs to provoke them by exposing himself as a vampire to the humans. Bella arrives on time to stop him. Felix and Demetri arrive right then, under Aro's orders, to bring Edward back. Seeing Bella, they demand that she comes along. Alice arrives to try and smooth things over before Jane turns up to see what was taking so long. Edward and Alice, knowing Jane's ability, instantly comply and return to the Volturi's headquarters with Bella in tow.
After many conversations with the Volturi, they decide that Bella is too much of a liability and Aro orders Felix to kill her. Edward jumps in to save her and a fight ensues between him and Felix. It's not long before Bella is about to be killed herself, before Alice shows Aro a vision of Bella and Edward, proving the fact that Bella will become a vampire in the future even if Alice has to change Bella herself. Aro allows them to leave to make preparations for the transformation, in which Edward has no plan to follow up. Edward, Bella, and Alice leave to travel back to Forks. Here, the Cullens vote on whether Bella should become a vampire. All except Edward and Rosalie vote in favor of Bella becoming one.
Jacob goes to Forks to visit Edward and Bella, where he reminds them that the Cullens and the Quileute wolves have a treaty, which will be broken if the Cullens ever bite a human.
Jacob launches.
After Bella stops Edward and Jacob from fighting, Jacob tearfully returns to La Push. Edward asks Bella to let him wait five years, but Bella refuses, so he offers three years and still she refuses, telling him it's too long.
In turn, Edward tells her that he will only turn her into a vampire on one condition: she has to marry him first. This movie ends on a cliffhanger with Bella stunned and the question unanswered.
Production
Director Chris Weitz giving Kristen Stewart (Bella) tips for the scene.
Development
It was announced that, due to time constraints, Catherine Hardwicke, who directed Twilight, would not be directing New Moon.[4] Summit has hired Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass, American Pie) as the director for New Moon, and he stated that he was very happy to be working on the film.[5][6]
Filming
Filming began on March 23, 2009, and ran until late May. Principal photography took place in Vancouver, Canada and Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy.[7]
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Chris Weitz said that instead of going with the book's route of having Bella hear Edward's voice, they used a flittering image of Edward.
On September 9, L.A. Times published more than 40 photos taken on the New Moon set. Some of them give a good impression of what the new film will look like.[8]
Cast
The Swans and the Cullens
Quileute tribe
The Uley pack.
Nomads
| Image | Actor | Role |
|---|---|---|
|
Edi Gathegi | Laurent |
|
Rachelle Lefevre | Victoria |
|
Cam Gigandet | James (archive footage) |
|
Curtis Caravaggio | Executed vampire |
The Volturi
The Volturi.
Humans
| Image | Actor | Role |
|---|---|---|
|
Anna Kendrick | Jessica Stanley |
|
Christian Serratos | Angela Weber |
|
Michael Welch | Mike Newton |
|
Justin Chon | Eric Yorkie |
|
Tinsel Korey | Emily Young |
|
Christina Jastrzembska | Marie Higginbotham |
|
Russell Roberts | Mr. Berty |
|
Adrien Dorval | Bob Marks (deleted scene) |
|
Michael Adamthwaite | Chet |
|
Corinna Russo | Italian Child |
|
Mariagrazia Pompei | Italian Mother |
|
Roberto Marchetti | Italian Father |
| Alessandro Federico | Police Officer |
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films | Best Horror Film | Nominated |
| Best Performance by a Younger Actor: Taylor Lautner | Nominated | ||
| Empire Awards | Best Actor: Robert Pattinson | Nominated | |
| Best Newcomer: Anna Kendrick | Nominated | ||
| Kid's Choice Awards | Favorite Movie Actor: Taylor Lautner | Won | |
| Favorite Movie | Nominated | ||
| MTV Movie Awards | Best Female Performance: Kristen Stewart | Won | |
| Best Kiss: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart | Won | ||
| Best Male Performance: Robert Pattinson | Won | ||
| Best Movie | Nominated | ||
| Best Male Performance: Taylor Lautner | Nominated | ||
| Razzie Awards | Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel | Nominated | |
| Worst Screen Couple: Kristen Stewart and either Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner | Nominated | ||
| Worst Screenplay: Melissa Rosenberg | Nominated | ||
| Worst Supporting Actor: Robert Pattinson | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Villain: Rachelle Lefevre | Won | |
| Choice Movie: Chemistry: Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart | Won | ||
| Choice Movie: Liplock: Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson | Won | ||
| Choice Movie: Villain: Rachelle Lefevre | Nominated | ||
| World Soundtrack Awards | Film Composer of the Year: Alexandre Desplat | Won | |
| Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor: Taylor Lautner | Won |
Release
Box office
The Twilight Saga: New Moon was released in theaters on November 20, 2009 in the US, UK and Canada, and on November 19, 2009 in Australia. It was rated PG-13 in USA and 12A in UK for some violence and action.
The film broke the record previously held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for the biggest midnight opening, after it made about $26.3 million in 3,514 theatres.[9]
DVD and Blu-Ray
- Main article: Home media releases
Blue Ray disc (right) and The Unltimate Fan Edition (left)
New Moon was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 20, 2010.[10] Special features included:
- Edward and Jacob "fast forwards"
- 6-part making documentary
- Becoming Jacob
- Shooting in Italy
- Audio commentary with Director Chris Wetiz and editor Peter Lambert
- Music videos
- Introducing the wolf pack
- Team Edward vs. Team Jacob: The Ultimate Love Triangle
Behind the scenes
The song in the background of the third trailer is "Moving Mountains" by Two Steps From Hell.
Music
Soundtrack
- Main article: New Moon soundtrack
New Moon soundtrack cover
The New Moon soundtrack was released on October 16, 2009. The lead single of the soundtrack is "Meet Me on the Equinox" by Death Cab for Cutie.
Score
- Main article: New Moon score
The New Moon score was composed by Alexandre Desplat, following Carter Burwell, the composer of the Twilight score.
Trivia
- Catherine Hardwicke, the director of Twilight, was set to be the director of New Moon as well. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, Hardwicke had to back out.
- Each member of the wolf pack had to have papers proving their Native descent. Chaske Spencer is Lakota (Sioux), Bronson Pelletier is Cree-Metis, Alex Meraz is Purepecha (Tarasco), Kiowa Gordon is Hualapai, and Tyson Houseman, who was discovered at an open casting call, is Cree.
- The film's American premiere was November 16, 2009, which, in the lunar cycle, is a new moon.
- Diego Luna was offered the role of Aro.
- Most of Anna Kendrick's dialogue when Bella and Jessica were leaving the movies was improvised.
- New Moon is Chris Weitz's third movie based on a bestselling book.
- In the parking lot scene it is Bella's eighteenth birthday. Coincidentally, the scene was shot on April 9, Kristen Stewart's nineteenth birthday.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Carroll, Larry (2008-11-22). 'Twilight' Sequel Confirmed: 'New Moon' To Hit The Big Screen. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
- ↑ Blu-ray for Twilight
- ↑ Eric Ditzian (2009-05-28). 'New Moon' Trailer To Premiere On MTV Movie Awards. MTV. Retrieved on 2009-05-29.
- ↑ Horowitz, Josh (2008-12-07). 'Twilight' Director Catherine Hardwicke Will NOT Direct 'New Moon'. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
- ↑ http://www.summit-ent.com/
- ↑ Carroll, Larry (2008-12-13). BREAKING: Chris Weitz Named 'New Moon' Director, While Taylor Lautner Comes Up Short. Retrieved on 2008-12-14.
- ↑ Audition and New Moon Info
- ↑ Photos taken on set (L.A. Times)
- ↑ Nikki Finke (2009-11-20). "Phenomenal!" 'New Moon' Set All-Time Midnights Record, Smashing 'Harry Potter 6' & 'Dark Knight'; Selling 10+ Tickets Per Second Online. Deadline Hollywood. Mail.com Media Corporation. Retrieved on 2009-11-20.
- ↑ Steve Weintraub (2010-01-15). High Resolution DVD/Blu-ray Cover Art from The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Plus What Extras Are Included. Collider.com. Retrieved on 2010-01-23.
External links
- Official New Moon movie website
- Official trailer
- New Moon at the Internet Movie Database
- New Moon on Flixster
