A Twilight TV Show? The Fans’ Opinion

There has been much talk since the Summit/Lionsgate merger about turning the Twilight Saga into a TV franchise due to some comments made by Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.  For her Movies.com article, Laura ran a poll here at the Lex asking if fans wanted to see a Twilight TV show.  The response was quite interesting, and Laura sums up her findings in the article found here.

The most basic of questions is, “Would the fans want a TV show?” Only 27% of the fansbase responded to that question with a flat-out “no”. The remainder were split between instant approval and maybe. The most important thing to the fans in these last two categories was the involvement of Stephenie Meyer. It’s no shock to anyone that Twilight fans are highly protective of their franchise. They don’t like deviation from what is in the books.  Author Stephenie Meyer is for many fans the final word when it comes to change. If Stephenie Myer approves it, then they’ll accept adjustments. One fan named Jackie summed it up by stating, “I think a TV show or series would be a great idea. It would have to have Stephenie involved to have the same continuity as the books. Her story and the way she tell it is what sells the books and the movies, it would not work if it went in any other direction.”

Read more in the article about exploring back stories and focusing on minor characters.  And let us know if this has changed your opinion or made you think of the possibility of a TV show in a new light.

Would You Want a Twilight TV Show

For her column on Movies.com next week, Laura is going to explore the idea of the Twilight TV show. There’s been lots of reporting on this issue here and around the Internet. In all the frenzy, it seems like one very important aspect has been missed which is fan opinion!

Would the fans want a TV show? If they do want a TV show, what should be the focus? Most sites aren’t asking any in depth questions. So now is your chance to be heard.

So, please vote in the polls below and chime in in the comments to let Laura know if she missed any important aspect on this issue and to explain why you voted the way you did. You may just find yourself quoted in the Movies.com article!

I Hope Doesn’t Mean It’s Going To Happen: Twilight TV Show Our Opinion

We are seeing a lot online regarding this LA Times article that quotes the head of Lionsgate talking about Twilight’s future (highlighting ours):

I’m anticipating ‘Breaking Dawn Part 2’ being $700 million-plus in worldwide box office,” said Jon Feltheimer, predicting the next film would slightly outdo the $697 million global take of “Breaking Dawn Part 1.”

Asked whether the franchise would continue in some form for Lions Gate, he added, “It’s hard for me to imagine a movie that does $700 million-plus doesn’t have ongoing value. It’s an amazing franchise that they have done a great job of maintaining with absolutely no deterioration. So the simple answer is ‘Boy I hope so.‘”

One person close to the acquisition deal but not authorized to speak publicly suggested that because Lions Gate, unlike Summit, has a television production unit, it could adapt “Twilight” for the small screen.

Asked whether there was a possibility of bringing “Twilight” to television, Feltheimer answered, “I would certainly hope so.”

We’d just like to point out a few things. In fairness of full disclosure we have no insider info here just background of experience with the Saga from February 2006, longer than any other currently running site.

—Summit doesn’t hold rights to Twilight other than the films that they have already done. To our knowledge they have not been granted the rights to do anything further with the series: TV, radio, plays, cartoon, etc.

—Even with a merger, Lionsgate doesn’t get extras, only what Summit currently has the rights to. So they can’t just up and decide “we are doing a TV show” They can certainly pitch the idea, but it doesn’t mean they have the rights unless Stephenie Meyer says yes.

—Stephenie Meyer is next working on The Host movie (not with Summit/Lionsgate) which is slated to start filming shortly and is slated to be a trilogy (according to the director).

—Stephenie Meyer’s production company, Fickle Fish Films, filmed Austenland last summer and will likely start to promote that project to buyers this spring.

—Given that Stephenie Meyer is going to be pretty busy with The Host and Austenland and she likes to be hands on with her items, it would seem unlikely that she’d give carte blanche to develop a TV series that she didn’t have time to give ongoing input on.

—There was some talk about Potter and Rowling extending their series too with the cry of “She’d be stupid not to”, with conventional industry wisdom saying “how can you walk away from this money” Twilight has sold 10’s of millions of books does anyone really think Stephenie Meyer is going to do something just for the money any more than Rowling did?

—Does TV really need another vampire and werewolf show? Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Teenage Werewolf, Grimm. At a certain point you hit saturation.

Now all the above being said, do we think there is a possibility for a Twilight TV series? For a Bella and Edward centric item, no, not really. As Stephenie said, that storyline has been wrapped up. Are there other areas?

To play Devil’s Advocate:
Where could a TV series go? Certainly, Jake, Renesmee, Leah have potential, but it would seem odd to us that Stephenie might let someone else develop what she might want to write herself.

So where is there room that wouldn’t mess with a future universe, and a certain element of drama that makes for good TV? Maybe with the Volturi and the Denali. There’s 1,000’s of years of back-story there that someone could have a lot of fun with and not per se affect sequel books.

So to wrap it up(again no insider info here) but our gut says Lionsgate may want a TV show, but it’s about as likely in the near future as it is for Aro and Edward to have a group hug while Jasper sings Love Is All You Need.