Catherine Hardwicke doesn’t regret leaving Twilight.
Before Twilight, Catherine Hardwicke was known for her work on the indie scene with such hits as “Thirteen”, “Lords of Dogtown” and “Den”. But after that, Hardwick received the biggest task of her career when she took up the film adaptation of the first book in Stephanie Mayer’s popular Twilight series of books. And 2009 was marked by the appearance of the sequel “New Moon”, in which there was no blue filter and Hardwick. However, the director of “Miss Ball” does not regret leaving the franchise and explained why.
Although it was initially assumed that Catherine Hardwicke would remain in the series of films for young adults, she eventually left the project. She told Looper that despite the success of the Twilight Saga that the franchise eventually found, she made the right decision to take on only the first film because of her connection to the source material.:
“This is the one I answered the most, so I can’t regret it. I think I did the right thing.”
When the independent director was handed the script for the first Twilight film, she thought it was “terrible.” The original script was very different from the series of books, and in it Bella was supposed to be a track star, and CIA agents on jet skis were tracking vampires. In order for the beloved heroine not to work for the CIA, the director decided to turn to the books themselves to find out what so hooked fans by reading about teenage vampires. Since Catherine Hardwicke understood that fans of the book liked the idea of a hopelessly in love character, she told Summit Entertainment that she would take on the project if it meant she could rewrite the script. Fortunately, the studio agreed, and if they hadn’t, Bella would have fired a shotgun at those vampires in the movie.
Catherine Hardwicke was ultimately the only female director to work on The Twilight Saga, as she was replaced by Chris Weitz, David Slade and Bill Condon. Hardwick went on to tell Looper that the reason Summit hired her was because she wanted to give the film an indie feel, even though the success of the film seemed to cause behind-the-scenes changes that she wouldn’t have liked.:
“When I had to shoot Twilight, I did it like an indie movie because no one had any expectations. Let’s be honest — they would never have hired a female director if they thought it would be a blockbuster. They didn’t control me at all. I managed to pick up actors who were unknown at the time. Everyone at the Summit was very cool and cheered me on. They didn’t sit behind my back and give me a million banknotes. After that, expectations skyrocketed, so there were a lot of notes, committees and everything else. I don’t think I would have worked so well.”
Catherine Hardwicke’s vision of the first part of the franchise reminds me a lot of “Thirteen”. Although they are completely different, both allow viewers to see teenage anxiety in characters like Edward, who was frustrated by the limitations associated with being a vampire. These feelings only intensified after he fell in love with someone he didn’t think he should love.
In addition to creating an aesthetic tone for the series, the director is also responsible for attracting the attention of stars such as Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Anna Kendrick. But if the director of “Little Red Riding Hood” could change something about the fact that “Twilight” should be reshot today, the filmmaker would like to strengthen the finale or even that epic baseball game with vampires. However, she is very proud of being able to capture the amazing chemistry between Pattinson and Stewart.
So obviously the increased pressure and hard turn to make “Twilight” a hit, Summit wanted it to be too much for Catherine Hardwicke. But at least it’s nice to hear that she has no regrets and realized early on that the blockbuster atmosphere is not for her. She can say that the vision started the series on a good note, and for that the fans should be grateful to her. Keep an eye on any future Hardwick productions by checking the release schedule of new CinemaBlend films.
