More than a decade has gone by since the Twilight Saga ran its course on the big screen, with five movies telling the story of the four books in author Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. So, of course, it’s time for a franchise revival! While there are some side stories and reimaginings that could still be brought to the screen in live action (Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined swaps the genders of the lead characters, Midnight Sun tells the story of the first Twilight book from the perspective of a different character, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is a novella featuring one of the vampires from the saga), that’s not the way things are going right now. Earlier this year, we heard that Lionsgate was developing a Twilight animated series, and now that series is set up at the Netflix streaming service! Netflix also revealed that this animated series is an adaptation of the Midnight Sun novel.
When we first heard that Lionsgate would be taking Twilight to TV, it was said that Meyer was expected to be involved with the series, with Wyck Godfrey and Erik Feig serving as executive producers. Feig was the executive at Summit Entertainment (formerly a standalone studio, now a Lionsgate label) who bought the Twilight film rights after Paramount Pictures’ MTV Films had put the project through three years of development hell. Godfrey’s company Temple Hill produced all five of the films, which earned a total of more than $3 billion at the global box office. Netflix confirms that Meyer will serve as an executive producer on Midnight Sun alongside her Fickle Fish Films partner Meghan Hibbett. Godfrey and Marty Bowen are executive producing for Temple Hill Entertainment, while Feig and Samie Kim Falvey do the same for Picturestart. Sinead Daly (Tell Me Lies, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Raised by Wolves, and The Get Down) will executive produce and write the series.
The first of the Twilight movies was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, who recently suggested that Jenna Ortega and Jacob Elordi would be good choices to star in a reboot, stepping in for original stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Twilight had the following synopsis: High-school student Bella Swan, always a bit of a misfit, doesn’t expect life to change much when she moves from sunny Arizona to rainy Washington state. Then she meets Edward Cullen, a handsome but mysterious teen whose eyes seem to peer directly into her soul. Edward is a vampire whose family does not drink blood, and Bella, far from being frightened, enters into a dangerous romance with her immortal soulmate.
As mentioned, Midnight Sun unfolds entirely from the perspective of Edward Cullen, the captivating, and yes, extremely sparkly vampire who catches a young Bella Swan’s attention.
What do you think of the Twilight animated series being an adaptation of Midnight Sun? Are you glad to hear the show has found a home at Netflix? Let us know by leaving a comment below.