Lionsgate Television is reportedly working on a new Twilight series with the author, Stephenie Meyer, expected to be involved in its development.
Perhaps inspired by Warner Bros brewing a series version for its own blockbuster wizarding franchise, Lionsgate is now working on the vampire romance fantasy drama. Meyer’s Twilight movies, despite the social media memes, is no laughing series for the theatre.
All its five movies combined sum up to $3.3B at the worldwide box office. Its final movie, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, alone in 2012, almost hit $1B with its $829M worldwide box office record. But its first movie in 2008, Twilight, that launched the entire saga from a humble $37M budget to a $402M box office performance. That is more than ten times over.
In fact, three of the five movies under the Twilight Saga raked in more than ten times its budget. Thus, the property is actually promising to be a very lucrative acquisition for Lionsgate back in 2012.
New Twilight Series In Development At Lionsgate Television
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The Hollywood Reporter breaks the news that the popular vampire novels from Meyer will be getting a new adaptation, this time into a television series. As many still have the images of Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner fresh in their minds, it could be the reason why even though it’s been more than a decade, a reboot for movies isn’t appealing as of yet.
However, the production hasn’t specified whether the series from the Twilight property will be a full reboot or a spin-off or some other form. The production is reported to have Sinead Daly as the series scriptwriter. Daly was the pen behind two episodes of the television series Tell Me Lies and The Walking Dead: World Beyond. The writer was also credited for an episode of Raised by Wolves and Dirty John.
The Twilight series is still in the very early stages of development, and reports indicate that Lionsgate Television means to lead the development before opening it to other companies. Possibly for associate production and/or distribution.
Already on board as executive producers are Wyck Godfrey and Erik Feig. Both were key players in the production of the five blockbuster vampire movies of the Twilight Saga through companies Temple Hill and Summit Entertainment at the time, respectively.
Referring to the Twilight and The Hunger Games franchises that Lionsgate acquired, CEO Jon Feltheimer spoke to Wall Street back in 2017, saying:
there are a lot more stories to be told, and we’re ready to tell them when our creators are ready to tell those stories
In its movie department, Lionsgate has just recently secured a hefty sum from its John Wick 4, starring Keanu Reeves. Tracking a good record in preparation for its upcoming franchise instalment, the movie spin-off in the world of John Wick which is Ballerina starring Ana De Armas.
Lionsgate Television is closely behind hitting the iron while it is hot, as its project for the much-awaited prequel television series The Continental: From the World of John Wick is now deep in post-production. The Continental will star Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Peter Greene, and Nhung Kate.
New Twilight Series In Development Expects Author Stephenie Meyer On Board
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Currently running top series from Lionsgate Television include Ghosts, The 1619 Project, Power Book, Mythic Quest, Blindspotting and Minx. Its newest series starring Elizabeth Olsen, Olivia Grace Applegate and Jesse Plemons, entitled Love & Death, premieres this April 27th in Max, previously known as HBO Max.
Online responses to the news about the developing series of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga are pretty much split. While some are welcoming a new iteration to the books, others are asking why to make a new one in the first place. Is the time really ripe for the picking?
However, there is still the unknown factor of whether Lionsgate is developing a reboot or spin-off of the Twilight Saga. What do you make of Lionsgate adapting the Twilight series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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