They felt there was a limit to how many women and girls would actually go see a movie.
[Laughs]That was not true.
Cut to us making $69 [million].
Then theyre like, Well thats all, everyone who wanted to see it saw it opening weekend.
Cut to us making $100 mil.
All told, the movie took in $192.7 million domestically on a $37 million budget.
You need that when youre going to pitch your movie.
It felt very female-driven, the whole momentum of it.
That was cool to be part of.
It wasnt yet, though, in 2008.
I think its really important for us nowadays to tell those stories.
But its also nice to remember Catherine Hardwicke and Stephenie Meyer started this 10 years ago.
ButTwilightisnt just about the girl.
She is, of course, in love with a…
Vampire!
Ive never really been into vampire stories, Gathegi admits.
Im going along for the ride because of the emotional core, the teenage angst, the love story.
I just felt like this book kind of tapped into [a] boy-meets-girl kind of story or girl-meets-boy.
The kind of story where it was forbidden love.
And that feels like a throwback toRomeo and Juliet.
While Hardwicke always loved old vampire movies, she was taken with Meyers sparkling reimagining of the monsters.
The concept she came up with was very different, the director says.
Wed never really seen it.
The old vampire stories are in dark alleys in London, dark alleys in Paris.
Here its like what?
Theyre going to be beautiful vampires in the woods?
WhenTwilighttook off, it inspired a new wave of beautiful vampires in the woods.
I think it might have spawned, like,The Vampire Diaries, Facinelli says.
But not every was entirely thrilled with the new take.
I was into vampire movies when I was a kid, Rathbone says.
It was really cool once I got to play it.
The only bummer about it was we didnt get the teeth.
Lutz had a similar complaint: I remember watchingTrue Bloodand going, Man, they have fangs!
I kinda wish I was part ofTrue Bloodso I had fangs, he remembers.
How many vampires does an actor get to play in their career?
But here I am signing up for something where I glitter and have no fangs.
A global online fandom
Remember that $192 million box office tally?
A movie that travels that far is a pretty big phenomenon.
But still, he was an early adopter.
They were like, Im not doing that, theres no way Im doing that, he remembers.
But a year later, who was laughing?
Like, what is it?
The evolution ofTwilight
The only thing that grew faster than Twitter wasTwilightitself.
The firstTwilightmovie was an indie film, Rathbone insists.
While we were filming in Portland there was this bar named Kellys near the hotel we stayed at.
Robert Pattinson and I played open mics there!
Nobody knew who we were.
That first film was just like summer camp, Facinelli says.
And then by the fifth one it was hard to even see each other.
I didnt win, and I was really bummed, because Carlisles supposed to know, like, everything.
I was the go-to on the books.
Ashley Greene won, and I accused her of using her psychic powers.
The fans camped out for something like four days before the panel.
We felt like Beatles on that stage, Gathegi recalls.
Thankfully they liked it, and we were able to make more.
Everything was so new, Lutz says.
Even the premieres were new, and they got bigger and bigger.
Rob and Kristen have that indie spirit at heart.
The whole indie landscape has been enriched by their interesting taste.
Twilightwas a great adventure.
Additional reporting byChristian Holub.
