'Twilight': 10 reasons 'Breaking Dawn' should not be made into a movie

While “Twilight” fans begin to debate the issues facing the filming of “New Moon" -- the next installment in Stephenie Meyer’s teen vampire series involving werewolves and a growth spurt that will require actor Taylor Lautner to appear 6'5" and 25 years old on screen -- an even more urgent problem nags:

The problem with “Breaking Dawn.”

With "Twilight" having banked $70.55 million in its first weekend of release, Summit Entertainment has already snatched up rights to the next two books in Meyer’s saga, “New Moon” and “Eclipse,” and is negotiating for the series-ending “Breaking Dawn.” Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward, has said he's only signed up to star in the next two films, and the fourth book has had little mention in the media when it comes to reports concerning "Twilight" as a movie franchise.

Perhaps the powers that be are figuring out a way to end the movie series as a trilogy.

Why? Because whether you loved or hated it, “Breaking Dawn” poses more than a few problems for the big screen. Even barring the very divided reaction from Meyer’s fan base over the final book, “Breaking Dawn” contains several head-scratching scenes and themes. (Full disclosure: As a “Twilight” fan, I thought Meyer could have done better.) The following are 10 reasons the book would be a tough-to-film movie.

(This list is one big spoiler, so please don’t read further if you haven’t read the book.)

Bella and Edward get married by Page 49.
There goes your love triangle. You can retire those Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts now. Also remember, Edward is forever 17 and Bella’s 18. A teenage wedding!

After three books’ worth of buildup, Bella and Edward finally have sex — but we get a fade to black?
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated Meyer’s post-coital details: the ripped-apart pillowcases and feathers in Bella’s hair, her black-and-blue bruises, the broken headboard. If the movie just has to be rated PG-13, then I guess it’s the only way.

But after more than 1,500 pages of chaste kisses, we’re rewarded with a fade-out after fade-out on their honeymoon? Instead we get morning-after fried egg breakfasts and Edward’s nonstop agonizing over having finally bedded his bride. Hardly satisfying.

Then Bella gets pregnant.
By Page 118 (in a 754-page book) Bella is with child. At this point, the film would already be worse than a Lifetime movie of the week.

What follows are chapters and chapters of the half-vampire, half-human baby making life violently uncomfortable for Bella, which required Meyer to let Jacob narrate the entire middle chunk of the book. So in the final movie, we’d shift our focus from Bella to Jacob?

Edward goes from being the man of every girl’s dreams to a man in need…
…of some guts, some personality, something that doesn’t read pathetic. Throughout “Breaking Dawn” he's guilt-ridden over his love for Bella, even more so than in the other books. That’s admittedly difficult to believe, but true.

While Bella is bedridden, trying to keep alive the half-human, half-vampire baby eating its way through her belly, we get this choice scene in which a desperate Edward begs Jacob to offer Bella the latter’s baby-making services. (I guess half-werewolf, half-human babies are safer?) If you’d blocked that moment, here it is:

“I don’t care about anything but keeping her alive,” he said, suddenly focused now. “If it’s a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants.” He paused for one beat. “She can have puppies if that’s what it takes.”

That's right. He said "puppies."

When she gives birth, Edward rips open Bella’s stomach with his teeth to get the baby out.
It's a bloody and gruesome birth. And what does the little bugger do once she’s out? Sinks her half-vampire teeth into mom’s chest, that’s what. What follows is an equally bloody and gruesome transformation of our teenage heroine into a vampire. How any of the birth scene gets magically transformed into a PG-13 moment is anyone’s guess.

Bella names her baby Renesmee.
A blend of Renee (the name of Bella’s mom) and Esme (the name of Edward’s). Renesmee.

How will Kristen Stewart, she who fights against dumb dialogue, deal with such a name? Will she rename the kid? How will audiences not blindly obsessed with Stephenie Meyer’s prose react to hearing it? It just can’t happen. But the name’s the least of it after…

Jacob falls in love with her. 
Yes, Jacob imprints on newborn Renesmee. Meyer introduced the concept of imprinting, in which werewolves become tied to their true loves through some sort of love-at-first-sight kismet, in her earlier books. But it’s even creepier when Jacob goes from his mad obsession with Bella to one over her daughter. Her half-vampire daughter.

Meanwhile, Bella’s transformation into a vampire requires no effort on her part at all.
Other humans that get turned? It’s tough. They want bona fide human blood and lots of it. Bella? She’s cool to snack on deer. She doesn’t have the urge to accidentally chomp down on her human dad. And she’s quicker, faster and stronger than all the Cullen men. There’s no struggle to get what she wants.

When it looks like things are heating up between the Cullens and the big bad ruling vamps, the Volturi, over the existence of Renesmee -- the Volturi want her dead -- the Cullens gather friends, they strategize, they train for war. And it all ends…
…not when Bella, and her special protective power, save the day –- she doesn’t! -- but when little Alice reappears with a tale of another half-human, half-vampire named Nahuel living happily abroad. Nahuel’s not harmful at all, she explains, so there’s no need to fight.

Wait, what…

Did I say war? I meant peaceful gathering in the forest.
After hearing the explanation, the Volturi make a peaceful exit. Head bad vamp Aro even bids the Cullen clan a fond farewell: “I’m so glad this could be resolved without violence,” he said sweetly. “My friend, Carlisle –- how please I am to call you friend again! … Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me.”

And there begins the final chapter (titled “Happily Ever After,” natch.)

Here’s where you’re free to agree or tell me off in the comments below. I am especially curious to know what fans of “Breaking Dawn” think? How would you fix or get around some of these issues while remaining true to the text?

-- Denise Martin

Related:
Complete 'Twilight' coverage

Photo credit: Summit Entertainment

Comments

[Bill B]

Thank you for the spoilers! Now I don't have to read the novel to find out what is going on, because there is nothing going on!

[Beena]

I am in complete agreement!!! They should not touch Breaking Dawn!

[Laura]

You said....

"And she’s quicker, faster and stronger than all the Cullen men. There’s no struggle to get what she wants."

Bella, for one, is NOT faster than Edward. She beats him in a couple races because, for the moment, she is STRONGER than him. (Her strides are three times his strides in length.)

and of course she is STRONGER than the Cullen boys....for now....she is a NEWBORN vampire. All newborns are freakishly strong when they are created! That is what makes them so dangerous! Disregarding your obvious distaste for Breaking Dawn, any Twilight fan can acknowledge that Bella's added strength is becuse she is a newborn vampire.

[Bulldogscm]

I got to the Jacob part of the book and I had to close it and take a break for a few days. The beginning was fine but I think Meyer just ran out of steam. I'm willing to finish it but this is what I think Summit should do:

At the end of the film adaption of Eclipse, I would reccomend that they tie it all together with the wedding and they end with the dance before they speed off to Brazil.

Frankly, I think that they will just have to ignore that the last book even happened...or, create a new script.

I really want to try to like this book but when it got to the Jacob part and how she got all pregnant, I started to frown a lot.

Those are my ideas.

[XCASSY]

It should be made as a movie the last book is awesome it will b a shame not too. xx

[dot hachey]

the movie would have to be made into 2 movies.
the first would hopefully linger on the wedding and honeymoon, preferably the honeymoon.
and end when she realizes she is pregnant.

i must say that i did not appreciate meyers pro-life crusade in this book. the baby is killing her and she wont have an abortion? come on. she could barely stand getting married.
i don't think bella would have acted as such.

so right there with you with your review of this book.

[Tiffani]

i have to disagree
i love the series very much, and i loved breaking dawn.
1.) what's wrong with bella and edward getting married? bella is very mature for her age. she is not like other teenager girls who are not ready at all. and thier wedding was beautifl besides jacob almost hurting very badly.

2.) just like stephanie meyer i see them as real people. Edward & Bella's sex life is there personal bussiness no one elses(that also includes emmett. always making fun of bella and trying to get in there bussiness). what happend between them should be kept between them, and we know that sex can be a beautiful when you are with the right one and i mean your soul mate.

3). i was really scared for bella.. was she going to live or not?

4). edward worries about his wife. this is soul mate and he would do anything for her. He want's her to be healthy and happy. he is truly scared for her, in the past he always wanted bella to have a normal human life as possiable. to have children and grow with someone. he knew that he would never be able to give them a family of thier own. that is one of the reasons being with bella he wish could do, be human.

5). to me this part of the book get intense not disgusting. you should be more focused on bella. is she is going to live through this. i was scared for her and edward, the pain he must have felt. scared for her.

6.) i love their daughter's name. i first i did pronounce it wrong but i eventually got it right thanks to stephanie meyer. it's beautiful and these days unique names are coming, my sister's name is shaki(it's another form of shakira and kia together). when people get a unique name they are intrigued to know the meaning or story behind the name. all of us twilighters love esme and renee(even she can be out there) and i love her middle name as well.

7.) jacob can be a pain in the ass sometimes, and can also hover over here. it always knows how to get into edward and bella's bussiness and he needs to but out. i was so pissed off when he imprinted to renesmee. i wanted bella to rip him apart(well not literally, but to back off. i wanted her to scare him a bit and show who's boss.). jacob always acted like he knew what was best for bella & edward's daughter, when he didn't. there were times when edward would have to get in his face about that, edward is the father, the protector... renesmee is his daughter, he knows what's best for her, so does bella.

8.) Bella was more prepared. she knew what she was getting herself into and she had a while to prepare(even though she didn't... well she did mentally, even is she didn't realize it). there was always a reason why he couldn't read her thoughts, she was always unique. she knew once she became a vampire she would never want to hurt anyone, even though the cullens told her that it's hard to resist. she kind of mentally had herself prepared there as well.

9.) i was terrified for all the cullens and family friends. i thought that they would all die. and it made me at first that jacob would have to take care of her, but there is a twist.... alice and jasper come back with evidence that everything would be odkay and that they wouldn't need to kill renesmee. she is such a beautiful child and you see edward and his daughter become more closer and closer as the book progresses. at first he didn't want anything to do with the baby if it was going to hurt the person he loves. and when bella is about to prepare her to leave with jacob, you can image the look on edward's face. the pain of saying goodbye to his daughter, the seceret that bella kept from him. bella & edward have been through so much they deserved a happy ending, that include thier family and friends. they were also blessed with a miracle.

10.) yes!!! there is no war and renesmee gets to be with her parents.... as for the Volturi there will always be tenison. especailly for edward and all the cullen men. the volturi was about to kill a new addition to thier family(they protect each other) let alone thier soul mates. they will never forget that and will always be on the look out.

finally we see bella show edward how much she has always loved andcared for him. he always said that he loved her more, more than she could know. but she showss him what she has seen and felt. he was worng..... and he is finally able to read mind for a few mintues... something that he has never been able to do. that is beautiful moment for them.

denise let's be real...
they can't put everything from the book in the movie. they will have to condense it of course. and i'm sure it will be good. and stephanie will be there every step of the way. if she isn't happy with it... then summit won't put it out.

[Laurie Isaacs]

I was shocked when I heard about the Breaking Dawn controversy.I loved the book Breaking Dawn just as much as I love the other three books. I was waiting very impatiently through the other three books for Bella to finally become a vampire. I just don't understand why anyone wouldn't love it. I think the Team Edward/Team Jacob thing is stupid. She loves Edward from Book 1 unconditionally and irrevocably. Anyways I am a fanpire through and through!

[Amy]

I couldn't agree more with this article. I was a huge fan of the Twilight series, until I read "Breaking Dawn." I couldn't believe it was written by the same author. It was HORRIBLE! It read like REALLY bad fan fiction.

I wasn't sure I was even going to see the movie because the final book had so turned me off. But I did, and I was reminded why I fell in love with the series in the first place. The films have a real opportunity to right the wrongs of book 4. I pray they can pull it off.

[me]

I think it REALLY needs to be a movie. IT WAS A AWESOME BOOK!!!

[Cindy W]

I do think that making Taylor Lautner look older will be very difficult, but if they get a different actor to play the role of Jacob Black then I think A LOT of people will be very upset and the movies won't be as popular.

The whole "teen weeding" isn't a big deal. Well I don't think so, but that's what I think. Breaking Dawn is one of my favorites of the saga, and I hope they try their best to make the movie.

I'm asking you, PLEASE! Use the same cast in all 3 movies, I beg you please.
<3

[Shellie]

Oh, and...

"There goes your love triangle. You can retire those Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts now...."

Breaking Dawn is the last book - it would be the last movie - did you expect the "triangle" (that I don't even consider a real triangle) to NOT be solved? What, you'll have to remove your Team shirt forty five minutes earlier than you expected, so the movie shouldn't be made? You make NO SENSE.

And the triangle was a ploy to extend the series, to make SMeyer more millions; it's NOT what the series is about.

You're showing your true colors here. You're on Team Jacob, (aka Team Mouthrapist) and Breaking Dawn made you realize that you lose, so therefore it shouldn't be made. I get it.

[samantha]

i dis agree i think the fans would rather have a sucky breaking dawn than non at all i mean look at twilight i loved the movie true but it sucked compared to the book i think they should make breaking dawn and i hope they do

[Jane]

No, Denise, you are so right. I am a Twilight fan who has been obsessed since the books first made their appearance on the shelves and even thought I want to admit it, Breaking Dawn would never work as a movie. All the points you mentioned were dead on. I think that it would be possible for Hollywood to pull it off, but I don't think (judging from how bad Twilight turned out and it was relatively simple) it would come out all that great. Most of all, I don't think I could handle Edward's pathetic weepiness and Bella's irrational stubbornness for 3 hours. Ugh... horrible thought.

[Melissa]

I'm not sure this book could ever be made in to a movie. As an avid Twilight fan and as a 30 year old woman, this was my least favorite of all 4 books. I thought some parts were very cheesy and I have no idea how that would not come across on the big screen. I also did not like Edward's character in this book. I agree he had no personality or guts in this book....something was very apparent in the 3 preceeding books. This movie would cost a fortune and would need to be 3 hours long. I'm happy with just three movies. I can live with that...especially if Robert Pattinson continues to play Edward. YUM!

[Elaine]

Interesting synopsis. I see what you mean about some of the more exciting parts of Breaking Dawn, but it is possible to put together a PG13 film with "some" of the story in it. The crowd understands that there is only so much budget to do the last film, but it seems rather hard to finish off the saga films without the ending book showing the main parts, marriage, honeymoon (just show enough romance to allow the fans to "feel" it - not see it), the suffering of the baby, vampire transition, jacob's love for renesmee and the war and peace. Yes that was everything that was mentioned, but those are great EMO scenes in the book that just have to be in the movie. Even if it was portrayed fast, as long as the emotion is there, it does the job and provides further understanding of the characters. I am personally not too fond of the last book, but felt that it filled some of the holes that the three books were missing.
I hope they decide to do the last book regardless, keeping it as real as possible. Sometimes the graphics tend to make it less believable.

I would think that if they were having so many issues with coming up with doing the last book, why not ask the fans? There is so much creativity out there and remains untouched. Why not involve the fans for ideas.

[CGHP]

I must say I was not a fan of the book. I not only have problems with the content, but even the general way it was written- it lost every ounce of heart that Stephenie was able to salvage in first three. I think there is no way to make this movie Hollywoodized. The content and themes are quite disturbing for most of the book. They should cut it at three....just make sure to end with at least the wedding!!!

[Mary]

OK, I'm not seeing where all of this is a problem. It's make-believe people!

[Katie]

From the moment I read "Breaking Dawn" I was disappointed, and this article states all the reasons why. Meyer did a great job with the first three, but lost it with this one. The one thing you didn't mention was how Bella getting pregnant really messes with the whole vampire mythos Meyer has created. Vampires can't get pregnant, so I guess we can assume that vampire males have fertile sperm while vampire females don't have fertile eggs? And how are those sperm still fertile when Edward hasn't even had a heartbeat for over 100 years?
I really think Meyer just fell too in love with her characters and so she had to have a perfect happily ever after for every single one of them, and while I'm all for happy endings, this one was at the cost of a great book.

[Lanna]

I'm really confused what is the problem with making Breaking Dawn into a film....it's alot of damara and danger so you don't lose that, I would love to see the wedding and the love triangle is kind of still going on before Bella gives birth to Renemsee, although she's married she still feels connected to him. And why??? can't we end on a happy note at the end with Bella and Edward, i really didn't want anyone to die in the frist place. It would interesting to see what they do, because although it's a teenage wedding, it dosen't feel that way, because Bella and Edward grow and a lot more in this book becoming husband and wife, mother and father. So I'm a little confused of your point on this, and they can turn the book into PG-13 movie and she gives you the sex sence when Bella becomes a vamp.

[ali]

you do not have to be a teen to enjoy these books.... I like the series, and love how meyer ended it. Although it is a happy ever after story - there is a lot of action and the story keeps you guessing - they should definitely make the movie! There is sex, pregnancy and teen marriage on almost every teen television show today - like one tree hill, dagrassi, the secret life of the american teen, etc - so what if the movie shows some unconventional scenes, kids today are used to it... if parents don't like it they should monitor their kid's movie choices

[Rory]

Breaking Dawn was such a horrible book, honestly it was such a let down. Of course, I never expected anything great from Smeyer. The whole Twilight series is just a bunch of very cliched, badly written books. But I do admit that I read them. They are like crack. Really bad but highly addictive. I would not like to think about Breaking Dawn as a movie but if it does get made then I'll watch it seeing as I'll watch the other movies & I've already read all of the books. Also, if they DO make this into a movie I really hope that it does not turn into two movies like Smeyer wanted. Honestly, it may work for Harry Potter but I doubt many people (I'm not saying all, just many) would want to sit in the theater and subject themselves to such torture.

On the subject of Smeyer, I thoroughly enjoyed The Host and I thought that she did a pretty good job in it. Hopefully, someone will make that into a movie because I would gladly watch it.

[Susan]

I hope they do Breaking Dawn but only if it is rated R and true to form. There has to be sex, Bella spitting a fountain of blood, sounds of her body being broken, Edward biting baby out and then biting Bella all over her body, lots of gore because it is gory, etc. They shouldn't do it, if they don't do it right though.

[anne a.]

Breaking Dawn is one of my favorite books of the series. It's one of the best books to be made into a movie because it's very visual when you read it. I can't wait to see the scenes come alive in the big screen. Of course, it can't be PG13, and they have to do more than just fade to black on the honeymoon...I'm not saying full blown bedroom sex scene, but a decent, romantic one (I know a lot of movies who have achieved that). I can't wait to see Bella as a vampire and Renesmee is my favorite character ever...she going to be pretty hard, if not impossible to cast, but I still want to see her come alive. So, in summary, they have to make Breaking Dawn a movie....they can even make it into two movies....I wish the series never ends.

[Jordyn]

I am a huge fan of the Twilight Saga and a fan of Breaking Dawn. But I fail to see how it is possible to make B.D. into a movie, especially one worth the time and money it would take to make it. I would love to see Breaking Dawn become a movie, and I hope they figure out some way to make that possible and still stay true to the book!