Twilight is a 2008 American romantic fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.

The film stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, a teenage girl, and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, a vampire.

[12] The film was followed by four sequels: New Moon (2009), Eclipse (2010), Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011), and Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012) Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan leaves Phoenix, Arizona and moves to Forks, a small town located on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, to live with her father, Charlie, the town's police chief.

Bella becomes re-acquainted with Jacob Black, a Native American teen who lives with his father, Billy, on the Quileute Indian Reservation near Forks.

He eventually confirms this, explaining that he found her scent irresistible back in biology class and that the Cullens only consume animal blood.

The Cullens protect Bella, but James tracks her to Phoenix, where she is hiding with Jasper and Alice, and lures her into a trap at her old ballet studio.

The Cullens arrive and kill James, decapitating and burning him, as Edward removes the venom from Bella's wrist, preventing her from becoming a vampire.

According to Lord, he originally pitched his adaptation as a vampiric take on the play Romeo and Juliet, but MTV Films "wanted to just put in some more action to advance it more and give something more for the male audience.

In October 2006, Rosenfelt met with Erik Feig, then president of production of Summit Entertainment, and mentioned to him that of all the projects she wished she could make, she thought Twilight had the biggest potential.

After their meeting, Feig obtained a copy of the novel, read it, and passed it on to colleagues at Summit, who perceived it as an opportunity to launch a franchise.

[27] Following Summit's acquisition of the rights, Hardwicke was set to direct the film and Melissa Rosenberg was hired to write the script in mid-2007.

"[37] Hardwicke suggested the use of voice over to convey Bella's internal dialogue[35] – since the novel is told from her point of view – and she sketched some of the storyboards during pre-production.

Producer Greg Mooradian said, "It's very important to distinguish that we're making a separate piece of art that obviously is going to remain very, very faithful to the book.

'"[40] Meyer was even invited to create a written list of things that could not be changed for the film, such as giving the vampires fangs or killing characters who do not die in the book, that the studio agreed to follow in the contract.

[45] A biology field trip scene is added to the film to condense the moments of Bella's frustration at trying to explain how Edward saved her from being crushed by a van.

Our greatest critic, Stephenie Meyer, loves the screenplay, and that tells me that we made all the right choices in terms of what to keep and what to lose.

[55] Peter Facinelli was chosen to play Carlisle Cullen, though he was not the first choice by Summit, revealing, "Hardwicke liked me, but there was another actor that the studio was pushing for.

[59] Kellan Lutz was in Africa shooting the HBO miniseries Generation Kill when the auditions for the character of Emmett Cullen were conducted.

The role had already been cast by the time that pre-production ended in December 2007, but the actor who had been selected "fell through"; Lutz subsequently auditioned and was flown to Oregon, where Hardwicke personally chose him.

[7] Similar to her directorial debut Thirteen, Hardwicke opted for an extensive use of hand-held cinematography to make the film "feel real".

[70] The fight sequence between Gigandet and Pattinson's characters in a ballet studio, which was filmed during the first week of production, involved a substantial amount of wire work because the vampires in the story have superhuman strength and speed.

[68] Gigandet incorporated mixed martial arts fighting moves in this sequence, which involved chicken and honey as substitutes for flesh.

[71] Bella, the protagonist, is unconscious during these events, and since the novel is told from her point of view, such action sequences are illustrative and unique to the film.

[80] The score for Twilight was composed by Carter Burwell,[81][82] with the rest of the soundtrack chosen by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas.

[87] The film is fifth overall on Fandango's list of top advance ticket sales, outranked only by its sequel the following year, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).

The website's critical consensus reads: "Having lost much of its bite transitioning to the big screen, Twilight will please its devoted fans, but do little for the uninitiated.

[93] New York Press critic Armond White called the film "a genuine pop classic",[94] and praised Hardwicke for turning "Meyer's book series into a Brontë-esque vision.

[98] Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" rating and Owen Gleiberman praised Hardwicke's direction: "She has reconjured Meyer's novel as a cloudburst mood piece filled with stormy skies, rippling hormones, and understated visual effects".

[13] The studio had optioned New Moon, the second book in the series, by October 2008,[121] and confirmed their plans to make a film based on it November 22, 2008.

[122][123] Because Catherine Hardwicke had wanted more preparation time than Summit's schedule for the production and release of the sequel would provide,[124][125] Chris Weitz was selected to direct it in December 2008.