The Twilight Saga: New Moon is a 2009 American romantic fantasy film directed by Chris Weitz from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2006 novel New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. It is the sequel to Twilight (2008) and the second installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively. In the film, Bella gets closer with Jacob, who is a werewolf, after Edward leaves her, but when the vampire decides to take a drastic move, she must make a decision between the two.
Summit Entertainment announced it had greenlit the film on November 22, 2008, following the early success of Twilight. Principal photography began on March 23, 2009, in Vancouver, Canada, and ended in Montepulciano, Italy on May 29.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon premiered at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, California on November 16, 2009, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 20, by Summit Entertainment. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, and grossed $712 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2009. It set domestic box office records as the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada, grossing $26.3 million, which was superseded by its sequel, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. This led to the highest single-day domestic gross on an opening day, with $72.7 million, until it was beaten by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). The film also became the widest independent release, playing in 4,024 theaters, until it was surpassed by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. New Moon was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 20, 2010. As of July 2012, the film has grossed $184.9 million in North American DVD sales, selling more than 8.8 million units, four million of which were sold within its first weekend, beating Twilights 3.8 million units sold in its first two days.
The film was followed by three more sequels, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.
Plot
In Forks, Washington, on Bella Swan's eighteenth birthday, she awakens from a dream in which she is an old woman and Edward Cullen, her immortal vampire boyfriend, is forever young.
Edward's family hosts a birthday reception for Bella at their home. After she sustains a paper cut and is almost attacked by a bloodthirsty Jasper Cullen, Edward realizes he has put her life in danger by putting her amidst vampires. After rumors start spreading of Carlisle's age and appearance, Edward ends his relationship with Bella and the Cullens leave town.
Bella is left severely depressed and isolates herself for months, during which she has night terrors, enough to push her father, Charlie, to his breaking point where he considers relocating Bella to her mother's place. She accepts a ride from a biker and the dangerous encounter reminds her of a near-assault from which Edward rescued her. She realizes that dangerous activities cause her to hallucinate his image. Her Quileute friend Jacob Black supports her during her slump.
While attending a movie with Bella, Jacob abruptly shows signs of pain and leaves. He cuts his long hair and now exhibits the same Quileute tattoo as leader Sam and the other tribe members. He reveals that he knows the Cullens are vampires and inexplicably tells Bella to stay away.
When Bella hikes to the meadow that she and Edward often visit, she is confronted by Laurent seeking to avenge the Cullens' past killing of James. A wolf pack saves her, killing Laurent, and Bella discovers that Jacob and the other tribe members are werewolves, with Jacob only recently gaining this shapeshifting ability. Their age-old enemies are vampires, though a treaty exists between the Cullens and the tribe.
Edward believes that Bella has killed herself after his clairvoyant adoptive sister Alice has a vision of her jumping off a seaside cliff and when he phones her house, Jacob answers saying her father is out preparing a funeral. Distraught, Edward travels to Italy to ask the vampire council, the Volturi, to end his life. When they refuse, he plans to force their hand by exposing himself as a vampire to humans during a large festival.
Alice and Bella arrive in time to prevent Edward from doing so. Overjoyed that Bella is alive, he confesses that he left Forks to protect her but promises never to leave her again. Edward defends Bella from the Volturi, who do not allow humans to know about their vampire society.
As the Volturi are about to kill Edward, Bella asks that they kill her instead. Impressed by a human's willingness to sacrifice her life for a vampire's, they allow her the choice to be transformed into a vampire instead of dying, convinced when Alice shares a future vision of Bella as a vampire.
After returning to Forks, Bella asks the Cullens to vote on her becoming a vampire. Despite Edward's protestations, everyone except Rosalie votes yes. Charlie is upset with her but allows Edward to be with her and grounds her for leaving with no explanation.
Bella tells Edward she wants him to be the one to turn her into a vampire. Jacob confronts the pair, reminding Edward that the years-old treaty with Quileute will be broken if any Cullen bites a human, but Bella tells him it is her choice, not the Cullens'. Edward agrees to turn Bella into a vampire only if she will marry him.
Cast
Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, a teenage girl who falls into a deep depression after her true love, Edward Cullen, leaves her. Her friendship with Jacob Black is expanded as she realizes that he can mend the hole left open by Edward. Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, Bella's vampire boyfriend who abruptly leaves town to protect her. Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black, a cheerful companion who eases Bella's pain over losing Edward. He reveals to Bella that he is part of a pack of werewolves whose main goal is to protect her from the vampires Laurent and Victoria. Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen, a member of the Cullen family who can see "subjective" visions of the future and who develops a deep friendship with Bella Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria Sutherland, a ruthless vampire who wants to avenge her lover, James This would be her final appearance as the character before being replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard in the next installment a year later. Billy Burke as Charlie Swan, Bella's father and Forks' Chief of Police Michael Sheen as Aro, the leader of an ancient Italian vampire coven known as the Volturi Dakota Fanning as Jane, a guard of the Volturi who has the ability to torture people with illusions of pain Peter Facinelli as Carlisle Cullen, leader and father figure of the Cullen family Elizabeth Reaser as Esme Cullen, Carlisle's wife and the mother figure of the Cullen family Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale, a member of the Cullen family who thirsts for Bella's blood after she receives a paper cut. He has the ability to manipulate emotions. Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen, a member of the Cullen family who is physically the strongest vampire of the family. Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale, a member of the Cullen family Edi Gathegi as Laurent Da Revin, a vampire who wants to kill Bella, because he thirsts for her blood Graham Greene as Harry Clearwater, a Quileute elder and Charlie's friend Gil Birmingham as Billy Black, a Quileute elder and Jacob's physically disabled father Anna Kendrick as Jessica Stanley, Bella's self-involved friend Michael Welch as Mike Newton, Bella's friend who has a crush on her. He joins her on a date with Jacob. Justin Chon as Eric Yorkie, Bella's friend and Angela's boyfriend Christian Serratos as Angela Weber, Bella's shy but caring friend Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius, a Volturi elder who is very strict about vampire laws
Christopher Heyerdahl as Marcus, a Volturi elder who has the gift of seeing the relationship connections between people Daniel Cudmore as Felix, a Volturi guard who has supreme strength Charlie Bewley as Demetri, a Volturi guard who is a gifted tracker Chaske Spencer as Sam Uley, Alpha of the Wolf Pack Tyson Houseman as Quil Ateara Kiowa Gordon as Embry Call Alex Meraz as Paul Lahote Bronson Pelletier as Jared Cameron Tinsel Korey as Emily Young, Sam's imprinted fiancée whom he once hurt unintentionally Justine Wachsberger as Gianna, Volturi's human secretary Cameron Bright as Alec, Jane's brother who has the ability to cut off senses Noot Seear as Heidi, who leads the tourists into the Volturi's chamber and urges them to stay together while Demetri leads Bella, Alice and Edward in the opposite direction. Heidi's special ability is to make herself attractive to other people, regardless of species or gender.
Production
Development
In early November 2008, Summit Entertainment obtained the film adaptation rights to the remaining novels in the Twilight book series, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. On November 22, 2008, one day after the theatrical release of Twilight, Summit confirmed that they would begin working on New Moon. Author Stephenie Meyer said, "I don't think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment." In early December 2008, it was announced that Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke would not be returning to direct the sequel. Hardwicke cited time restrictions as the reason behind her leaving the project. On December 13, 2008, it was announced that Chris Weitz had been hired to direct New Moon. Weitz released a statement shortly after the announcement, assuring fans that he would "protect on their behalf the characters, [the] themes and story they love." He continued by saying, "This is not a task to be taken lightly, and I will put every effort into realizing a beautiful film to stand alongside a beautiful book."
Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg had been working on adapting the novel prior to Twilights release and handed in the draft for New Moon during Twilights opening weekend in November 2008, adding, "I would sit down at ten o'clock in the morning and work on [the script]... until six o'clock in the evening." Rosenberg spent the months of June through October 2008 alternating between writing for the Showtime television series Dexter and writing New Moon on weekends. She and Meyer kept in touch during this five-month period.
Casting Due to major physical changes that occur in the character of Jacob Black between Twilight and New Moon, Weitz considered replacing Taylor Lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black". In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds. In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in the sequel. In an interview, fellow cast member Kristen Stewart talked about Lautner's transformation saying, "He's an entirely different person physically." Singer Taylor Swift, a fan of Twilight, requested a cameo appearance in the film, but Wetiz declined as he felt it would be too distracting.
In late March 2009, Summit Entertainment released a list of the actors who would be portraying the "wolf pack" alongside Lautner. The casting for the rest of the Quileute tribe was headed by casting director Rene Haynes, who has worked on films with large Native American casts, such as Dances with Wolves and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. A casting call was also held in Vancouver in February 2009, specifically asking for "any first nations/aboriginal actors and actresses between the ages of 15 and 25".
Filming