Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn, is an upcoming 2011/2012 two-part romantic-fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The two parts form the fourth and final installment in the popular The Twilight Saga series. Wyck Godfrey and Karen Rosenfelt will serve as executive producers for the film, along with the author of the series, Stephenie Meyer; the screenplay will be written by Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter of the first three entries. All three main cast members, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, will reprise their roles.

Part 1 will be released on November 18, 2011, and Part 2 on November 16, 2012.

Plot

On November 4, 2010, Summit Entertainment released the official synopsis of the film:

“ In the highly anticipated next chapter of the blockbuster The Twilight Saga, the new found married bliss of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world.

After their wedding, Bella and Edward travel to Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, where they finally give in to their passions. Bella soon discovers she is pregnant, and during a nearly fatal childbirth, Edward finally fulfills her wish to become immortal.

But the arrival of their remarkable daughter, Renesmee, sets in motion a perilous chain of events that pits the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, the fearsome council of vampire leaders, setting the stage for an all-out battle.

The suspenseful and deeply romantic Breaking Dawn continues the epic tale of supernatural fantasy and passionate love that has made The Twilight Saga a worldwide phenomenon.

”

Production,Development

Talks for a Breaking Dawn film started after Summit Entertainment greenlit the second and third adaptations of the franchise, and scheduled the two films to be released six months apart. Wyck Godfrey, producer of the previous films in the series, stated in mid-2009 that they had every intention to make the film version of Breaking Dawn, but Stephenie Meyer, author of the series, explained on her website's Breaking Dawn FAQ that if an adaptation were to be created, it would have to be split into two movies because "The book is just so long!", saying that she would have made the book shorter if it were possible. She also believed it to be impossible to make a film due to Renesmee, writing that an actress could not play her because she is a baby that has complete awareness, "The one thing that I've never seen is a CGI human being who truly looks real"; however, she did acknowledge the film might be possible due to the quickly-advancing technologies.Moreover, because of the mature and explicit nature of the Breaking Dawn book, fans and critics questioned if the studio would be able to keep a PG-13 rating, noting that the movie should not be rated R for the ever-growing fan base. In March 2010, Variety reported that Summit Entertainment was considering splitting the 754-page book into two films, along the same lines as Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Since under contract for only four films, the status of Kristen Stewart's, Robert Pattinson's, and Taylor Lautner contracts were in question, making the possibility of a split unlikely. Producer Wyck Godfrey stated that all three main cast members were signed onto one Breaking Dawn film.

“ I got very nervous. There were, like, 15 people. I had never really auditioned or gone into a job interview in that way since maybe 1988 or '87. I guess I was unprepared for it.  In this case, they wanted me to talk about their project, which really needed to follow very closely the book. I was talking about the book, and really all I was saying was, 'OK, this is great, let's go to it.' That was the pitch. I think they're used to something else. They're used to, for those of you who might audition for film jobs, a 40-minute dissertation with perhaps visual aids and a pep talk about how fantastic this project is going to be. I just didn't know how to do that.

Gus Van Sant

In March 2010, it was announced that Summit was searching for Academy-Award nominated directors to helm the project, with names like Sofia Coppola, Gus Van Sant and Bill Condon rumored to have been approached to direct. On April 28, 2010, Summit announced that Bill Condon, who directed Dreamgirls, would direct Breaking Dawn; producing the film will be Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt, and author Stephenie Meyer. "I'm very excited to get the chance to bring the climax of this saga to life on-screen. As fans of the series know, this is a one-of-a-kind book - and we're hoping to create an equally unique cinematic experience," said Bill Condon. Gus Van Sant later explained that Robert Pattinson mentioning him as the ideal director for Breaking Dawn was what made him audition for the job and described the audition as "very nerve-wracking". However, after Condon was hired, Sant suggested that the reason behind not getting hired was his style and way of auditioning being different from what the executive producers were used to.

In June 2010, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaptation of the fourth book would start filming in November. A November 18, 2011, release date has been set for the first part, and the second part's release date is set for November 16, 2012. Wyck Godrey was also considering releasing the second film in 3D to differentiate between the time before and after Bella becomes a vampire.

In June 2010, Melissa Rosenberg stated in an interview that the decision on where to split the film had not been decided, as she was still in the drafting stage of the scripts.

Filming

In order to keep the budget on both parts of Breaking Dawn reasonable, even though it is substantially greater than the previous installments in the series, much of the film was shot in Louisiana. Shooting in Louisiana provided larger tax credits, which a small studio like Summit Entertainment would find favorable. Summit announced in a press release on July 9, 2010, that filming was to take place in Baton Rouge and Vancouver. Both parts will be shot back-to-back as one project. The film will attempt to keep its PG-13 rating, and it will not feature any of the gruesome scenes from the novel with Kristen Stewart confirming that the birth scene wasn't as grotesque as described in the book and that she didn't "puke up blood", though director Bill Condon said that they shot everything as "powerful and potent as they could".

Filming officially began on November 1, 2010 in Brazil, with locations in Rio de Janeiro and Paraty.The first scenes were shot in the Lapa District in Rio de Janeiro for one night. A long city block was rented for shooting, and Summit Entertainment paid residents $50 to $500 reais ($30 to $300 in American dollars) to not allow paparazzi or fans to overlook filming from their windows. Moreover, owners of bars and restaurants were paid $10,000 and $20,000 reais ($6,000 to $12,000 in American dollars) to stay closed for the evening to eliminate noise and provide a clear street.

Shooting then moved to Paraty where the honeymoon scenes were shot. According to Paraty's Tourism Office, filming took place in the Taquari area, near an unidentified waterfall and in Saco do Mamanguá beach where a mansion is located. In late November, shooting moved to Baton Rouge, Louisania and, reportedly, a few scenes were shot in Aresnal Park using green screens. It took about four to five weeks to shoot the ending sequence of Part 2 which would consume about twenty-seven minutes of the film. The sequence was shot using a green screen and fake snow with 75 actors on set.

In late February and early March, shooting began in Vancouver, Canada. However, the cast and crew were evacuated from the set due to the tsunami advisories resulting from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. Toni Atterbury, a spokeswoman for the film, said that "the crew was moved to higher ground" as a safety precaution and "the shoot was delayed for a few hours, but the day’s work was accomplished". Therefore, filming relocated in Squamish, British Columbia, but a few scenes were shot in the Orpheum theater in Vancouver with the Vancouver police covering all the entrances of the theater.Summit Entertainment announced the designer of Kristen Stewart‘s character Bella’s wedding dress to be Carolina Herrera.The wedding scene in Part 1 was also shot under tight security. Off-duty police officers surrounded the set, and sheets and umbrellas were used to protect the set in order to avoid aerial shots being taken.

Music

On January 6, 2011 it was announced that Carter Burwell, composer of the first film in the series, will be returning to score both parts of the final installment.

Marketing,Promotion

The teaser poster of Breaking Dawn was released on May 24. After giving fans a sneak peek on June 2, MTV released the first official teaser trailer on June 5, the night of the MTV Movie Awards. It was released online shortly before the awards show began and then made its television debut during the broadcast. The trailer was previewed on select showtimes of Super 8.

On July 21, Summit held a sold-out Comic-Con panel in Hall H, which held 6,500 fans, promoting Part 1. Condon, Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner attended the panel and answered the fans' questions along with showing them exclusive clips from the film. Cast members arrived early in the morning and signed autographs and posters for the midnight-camping fans and Summit booths offered them Breaking Dawn: Part 1 character trading cards.

Leaks

When the filming started on November 7, 2010 in the Lapa District and Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, leaked set photos and footage videos surfaced online. Summit Entertainment responded to the leaks by removing the photos and videos from YouTube, fansites and gossip websites. On January 13, 2011, scans of a still of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in one of their honeymoon scenes in an Entertainment Weekly article ran online, prior to the magazine's official release of the still. On March 31 and April 1, 2011, a mass leak of a 14-second video and numerous low-quality stills hit the Internet resulting to enthusiastic fan reaction and speculations that the film wouldn't be able to maintain a PG-13 rating. Summit Entertainment released an official statement in response to the leaks saying:

As some of you may know, pictures and screen grabs of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn as a work in progress have leaked on the internet. We are extremely proud of this film and also extremely heartbroken to see it out there at this stage. The film and these images are not yet ready or in their proper context. They were illegally obtained and their early dissemination is deeply upsetting to the actors, the filmmakers and Summit who are working so hard to bring these movies to fruition to you in November 2011 and November 2012. Please, for those who are posting, stop. And please, though the temptation is high, don’t view or pass on these images. Wait for the film in its beautiful, finished entirety to thrill you. Sincerely, Stephenie Meyer, Bill Condon, Wyck Godfrey and Summit Entertainment.

Additionally, the first teaser trailer leaked online hours before its debut at the MTV Movie Awards.

Cast

Actor Role Part 1 Part 2

Kristen Stewart Bella Swan

Robert Pattinson Edward Cullen

Taylor Lautner Jacob Black

Billy Burke Charlie Swan

Peter Facinelli Carlisle Cullen

Elizabeth Reaser Esme Cullen

Ashley Greene Alice Cullen

Kellan Lutz Emmett Cullen

Nikki Reed Rosalie Hale

Jackson Rathbone Jasper Hale

Mackenzie Foy Renesmee Cullen

Dakota Fanning Jane

After confirming one film, Summit had been keeping their eye on a fifth instalment. In May 2010, Billy Burke and Peter Facinelli were the only cast actors who were confirmed for both parts of Breaking Dawn, while other cast members such as Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz were still in negotiations for a second part. If the actors holding Summit back from making an official announcement did not reach an agreement with them, the studio would not have minded recasting their roles, as was done in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse with Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Victoria. However, in June 2010, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaptation of the fourth book would start production and was made clear that all major actors, including the three lead roles, the Cullen family, and Charlie Swan, would return for both parts. The role of Renesmee, Edward and Bella's daughter has been confirmed to be played by Mackenzie Foy. Maggie Grace joined the cast of Breaking Dawn as the vampire Irina.

Various other cast members have been officially announced.