Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga is more than just a young adult series—it was a cultural phenomenon that remains popular and continues to influence young adult literature, vampire fiction, youth culture, and pop culture. The original Twilight Saga includes four young adult fantasy romance novels that were released annually from 2005 through 2008. This series was followed by two companion novels, most recently Midnight Sun, and a novella. In 2020, Stephenie Meyer revealed that she was working on two additional novels in the Twilight series. Meyer's Twilight books have been translated into 49 languages, selling more than 160 million copies worldwide. All four Twilight books in the original series broke records and dominated The New York Times best seller list.
What inspired The Twilight Saga?
It's hard to believe that a series that has meant so much to so many people started off as a dream—literally. After dreaming about a young girl and a vampire in love, Stephenie Meyer, who had never even attempted to write fiction before drafting Twilight, felt compelled to write their story. As Meyer has stated, each of the four novels in the original series owes a debt to a literary classic: Twilight takes its inspiration from Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen; New Moon is inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; Eclipse draws influence from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë; and Breaking Dawn is inspired by Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Meyer's personal life and outlook also have a major influence on her novels. Stephenie Meyer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so she doesn't drink alcohol or coffee, smoke, or watch R-rated movies. Subsequently, the characters in her novels live by this moral code. You won't find drinking, drugs, bad language, or gratuitous sex in Meyer's work because the author firmly believes that books don't need them to captivate teens. Meyer's characters also struggle with ethical dilemmas. Characters in the Twilight novels are often met with temptation and forced to find self-control to do what is right versus doing what they desire to do. These themes are connected to Meyer's strong religious beliefs as well.
Beyond her faith, Meyer also considers herself a feminist, and the female characters in her novels reflect her beliefs that women are just as strong, intelligent, capable, and independent as men. While some critics have argued that Meyer's novels are anti-feminist because they show women and men in traditional gender roles, Meyer asserts that true feminism is allowing women to choose whatever role they wish. Ultimately, Bella's own choices land her where she is at the end of the final novel.
Aside from the conversations about morality and feminism surrounding Meyer's work, everyone can agree on one thing: the Twilight Saga revived and revolutionized the vampire genre. Vampire fiction has gone in and out of style over the years, but Meyer's novels took vampires into new territory. A far cry from the horrifying creatures of Bram Stoker's imagination, Meyer's vampires are romantic, sympathetic, moral, and, yes, the rumors are true: they sparkle. Twilight made vampires cool again, sparking a whole renaissance of vampire books, films, and television shows that weren't afraid to play with the conventions of vampires and do something new.
Of course, the Twilight novels were also adapted into a highly successful five-film franchise. (The fourth novel, Breaking Dawn, was split into two films.) Released in theaters between 2008 and 2012, the Twilight movies have collectively grossed more than $3.4 billion worldwide. Their trio of stars—Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner—became major celebrities and household names. And with the release of the popular films, the love for the Twilight novels only grew.
Whenever any novel is adapted for the screen, changes are made. Here are some of the key differences between the Twilight books and the Twilight movies.
Twilight Characters: Books vs. Movies
Bella Swan
Yes, Bella Swan is just as awkward and clumsy in the books as she is in the movies. But there are some key differences between the Bella of the movies and Bella in the books. For one, Bella in the novels is much more strong-willed and opinionated than her film counterpart. When Edward proposes marriage, Bella doesn't say yes right away, and she questions getting married so young. In the books, Bella is often described as cooking at home for her and her father, Charlie, while in the movies, Bella and Charlie eat at the diner a lot.
Edward Cullen
The first big difference you'll notice between the Edward Cullen of the films and the Edward of the books is his appearance. Edward in the novels is described as having long golden hair. Robert Pattinson's hair when he played Edward Cullen in the movies remained short. In the movies, we see Edward Cullen wearing his family crest on his wrist. This was a detail added for the screen; the family crest is not mentioned in the books. In the novels, Edward had a dark past—he wasn't always a "vegetarian" vampire, and he actually spent many years feeding on criminals' blood. In the films, all Edward says to Bella is that he has killed people before.
Jacob Black
If you're Team Jacob rather than Team Edward, here are some key differences between the book character and the movie character that you should know. First of all, there's Jacob's appearance. In the books, Jacob gets taller after the first book, but in the movies his height remains the same. In the books, Jacob starts growing his hair longer to be more attractive to Bella, but in the movies, once Jacob's hair is cut short, it stays short—perhaps to match movie rival Edward Cullen's short hair? In both the books and movies, Edward and Jacob are romantic competitors who both love Bella, but the way they react to each other is quite different. In the books, Bella and Jacob fight after Jacob tells her she'd be better off dead than living a life as a vampire. Edward encourages Bella to make up with Jacob and remain friends with him. In the movies, it's the opposite; Edward doesn't like Bella hanging out with Jacob.
Other Key Differences Between The Twilight Saga Books and Movies
The Twilight movie adds the character of Waylon Forge, who never appears in the books. Waylon Forge is Charlie's friend and coworker who James, Laurent, and Victoria end up killing. The townspeople believe Waylon's death was an animal attack, but the Cullens recognize it as a vampire killing.
The Cullen Family Crest is another detail added for the movies. In the films, each member of the Cullen family prominently wears a version of the family crest at all times. This is not mentioned in the books at all.
In the books, Edward writes a song for Bella called "Bella's Lullaby." There is a song on the Twilight movie soundtrack entitled "Bella's Lullaby," but it's never referred to by name in the movie, and Edward doesn't mention writing this song for Bella.
Books often have more room to offer up character backstories, and this is definitely the case for Twilight. In the novel, listeners get Carlisle and Alice's backstories, but they are never mentioned in the movie.
The character of Lauren Mallory is omitted from the movies. In the books, Lauren is one of Bella's main antagonistic relationships at school. Lauren and Jessica Stanley both seem to actively hate Bella. In the movies, Lauren and Jessica are combined into one character, Jessica, who seems to be jealous of Bella but doesn't outright hate her.
In the book, Jacob doesn't really show up until after Edward is out of the picture. In the movie, Jacob is present in the story from the very beginning. He even stops by her school to give Bella a birthday gift—a dreamcatcher.
In the book, Jasper is no longer in high school, because he was posing as a senior the year before. But in the movies, Jasper is in the same grade as Edward and Bella, so he is still attending high school.
The New Moon movie is a little more action-packed than the book. Part of this is because we're not limited to Bella Swan's point of view in the movies, so we get to see what other characters are doing. For instance, when Harry and Charlie are in the woods hunting what they believe to be a bear (spoiler: it's a vampire), we get to see Harry be attacked. We also get to see Jacob step in to fight back firsthand. In the books, because the story is told from Bella's perspective, we only hear about this happening later.
The movie also includes an action-packed Volturi confrontation that wasn't present in the book. In the book, Edward, Bella, and Alice just talk it out. In the movie, it's an all-out physical fight, instigated by Aro.
One of the biggest differences between the Eclipse movie and the book is Edward's controlling behavior when it comes to Bella and her friendship with Jacob. In both the book and the movie, Edward discourages Bella from seeing Jacob, but in the book, he takes it much further. Edward actually encourages his sister Alice to kidnap Bella so that she won't go spend time with Jacob while he is away. Eventually, in the books, Edward decides he's okay with Bella seeing Jacob. In the movies, he never warms up to their friendship.
This is the book where Jacob gets much, much taller. By Eclipse, Jacob is nearly seven feet tall. In the movies, Jacob (played by Taylor Lautner) stays around the same height because, well, the actor remained the same height.
Two supporting characters get a major personality change in the Eclipse movie. In the book, Eric Yorkie is nerdy and smart; in the movie, he's more of a class clown. Meanwhile, Jessica is the academic one in the movie, and she ends up becoming valedictorian. Eric is valedictorian in the book.
The Twilight books are pretty dramatic, but the movies really amp it up. For example, in the Eclipse book, Edward is able to kill the vicious vampire Victoria without too much drama. In the Eclipse movie, Edward is nearly killed in the struggle and Bella has to cut herself to distract Victoria.
Breaking Dawn (Part 1 and Part 2)
Remember how the Twilight movie leaves out the part in the book where Edward reveals the truth behind his vigilante past? Well, we finally get the full story on film in Breaking Dawn-Part 1.
At Edward and Bella's wedding, the movie adds a touching scene where the couple's friends and family offer up speeches. These are funny and sweet, reminding viewers of the joy these characters have in their lives before the conflict really kicks off.
One significant storyline in the novel Breaking Dawn is Jacob's budding friendship and alliance with the Cullens following Bella's marriage to Edward. In the book, Jacob finds an unlikely friendship with Alice, Edward's sister. Alice starts developing headaches because of Renesmee, Edward and Bella's hybrid daughter, and her inability to see the baby's future. But being around Jacob cancels out her headaches. This healing friendship is not shown at all in the movies.
We've saved the biggest change from the Breaking Dawn book to the movies for last—and it's one that Twilight fans will never forget. When Breaking Dawn-Part 2 came out, fans were shocked to see the movie culminate in a giant battle. They watched with mouths agape as their favorite characters—including Jasper and Carlisle—are brutally killed. Why were fans so surprised? Because none of this violence and carnage happens in the book. Thankfully, it turns out that it's all contained in one of Alice's visions, which she shows to Arlo to try to convince him to stop the battle before it starts. It works, and Arlo decides to retreat after seeing his death in the vision. In the books, there is no terrible vision, but Arlo still retreats after realizing he is at a disadvantage.
Will there be more Twilight movies?
Still craving more Twilight? While there are no official plans to adapt any of Meyer's other Twilight companion novels into a film (yet!), there have been whispers that a Midnight Sun movie could be on the horizon. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are both busy with new projects—especially with Pattinson set to play Batman. Besides, they might be a little too old to convincingly play high school students. So, a new Twilight movie just might mean a complete reboot with a new cast. And with a fan resurgence in full swing and two more Twilight novels on the horizon, maybe it's about time—we can only hope!
