The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Forbidden to remember. Terrified to forget.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Production
Budget
$50 000 000
Revenue
$709 827 462
Director
Scenario
Stephenie Meyer
Author
Composer
Producer
Karen Rosenfelt
Actors
Kristen Stewart
Bella Swan
Robert Pattinson
Edward Cullen
Taylor Lautner
Jacob Black
Dakota Fanning
Jane
Ashley Greene
Alice Cullen
Rachelle Lefevre
Victoria
Billy Burke
Charlie Swan
Short description
The Twilight Saga: New Moon continues the story of Bella Swan, a teenager living in Forks, Washington, whose relationship with the vampire Edward Cullen ends when he leaves town with his family, believing his presence puts her in danger. Left devastated, Bella gradually finds comfort in her friendship with Jacob Black, an old friend who has his own secret ties to the supernatural world. As she grows closer to Jacob, she is drawn into an old conflict between vampires and werewolves, and her attempts to cope with Edward's absence push her toward increasingly reckless behaviour. The film adapts the second novel in Stephenie Meyer's series and follows the 2008 adaptation of the first book.
Chris Weitz directed the film from a screenplay he wrote with Melissa Rosenberg, placing it fourth in his directing career, after The Golden Compass and before A Better Life. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner lead a cast of 47 credited performers, with Dakota Fanning, Michael Sheen and Ashley Greene among the supporting roles.
Made for about 50 million dollars, the film took roughly 710 million dollars worldwide, far exceeding its budget. On IMDb it holds a rating of 4.8 from around 321,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6 out of 10 from about 9,900 votes. A critics' rating of 4.9 from 225 reviews is close to the IMDb figure and above the TMDB average.
What's left behind the scenes
- In Montepulciano, the creators of "New Moon" found two Porsche models that met their needs. However, the cars weren't entirely identical: one had yellow brake calipers, while the other had red. They had to spend 5800 euros to paint these small details red.
- The Cullen's wardrobe was refined. Chris Weitz decided that in 'Twilight' they stood out too much in terms of color scheme against the rest of the people in town. Therefore, the palette was made richer, keeping cool colors dominant, removing pastels, but adding steel gray and blue. The makeup was also changed, becoming more translucent, and not as starkly white as in the first film. The wigs were also changed, but there wasn't much room for maneuver here, as 'Twilight' had set the tone, and it was necessary not to deviate from the hairstyles already shown. In the first film, Nikki Reed (Rosalie) had bleached hair, while in 'New Moon' she wears a wig. Laurent's wig was also changed, from synthetic to one made from natural human hair.
- Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff wanted to star in "New Moon," but there simply weren't any characters for them in the plot.
- When Bella walks through the meadow where she and Edward were together, she carries a golden compass attached to her backpack. The compass belongs to the film's director, Chris Weitz.
- In 1800, the Volturi were dressed in light-colored clothing, while in the present day they are all in black, which shows their current position and power.
- The Cullen house in "New Moon" is different; to avoid noticeable discrepancies, the action takes place in different parts of the house, not in those already used in the first film.
- Images of a wolf are hidden throughout the film. For example, on the dreamcatcher, on Jacob's t-shirt (when he meets Bella in the parking lot), and even in the scene with Carlisle and the medical equipment.
- Jacob's wolf served as the base model, and all the others were created based on it. But each werewolf has a distinctive feature specific to the actor who played him. For example, Sam is large and black, Paul is the most muscular and aggressive, and Embry is lean and short. Animators studied the behavior of real wolf packs to better understand how to create the wolves for the film.
- When writing the screenplay for “New Moon,” Melissa Rosenberg made some changes to the book's plot. For example, she added an episode where Bella decides to ride a motorcycle in Port Angeles so that “the moment would be truly meaningful,” and also because motorcycles would later become an important part of her relationship with Jacob. Another deviation from the original is that instead of running to the truck and going home immediately after seeing the werewolves in the clearing, Bella runs out of the forest and immediately tells Charlie about it; the changes were meant to make the scene more dramatic. Also, in the battle scene with the Volturi, Edward falls onto the marble floor, his invulnerable skin is wounded, but the wounds heal instantly. Chris Weitz discussed this with Stephanie Meyer and received her approval: all ideas and questions were always discussed with the author.
- For a long time, there were rumors that Taylor Lautner, who played Jacob Black, would be replaced by an older actor. Both Michael Copon and Steven Strait were rumored to take over the role of Jacob. Ultimately, Chris Weitz decided to change nothing.
- More than 1300 residents of Montepulciano were recruited for the crowd scene in the square.
- In the scene where Edward drives Bella home after her birthday, it shows Edward moving impossibly fast and opening the door for Bella. Robert Pattinson was positioned next to the camera, and a double was in the driver's seat. When Edward gets out, it’s actually Robert’s stunt double, and then the actor himself takes steps in front of the camera, making it look as if he arrives there almost instantaneously.
- Initially, a three-hour version of the film was created. Therefore, the editors had to cut the film's duration to 130 minutes, but no scenes were removed; they were merely shortened.
- All the actors playing the Quileute werewolves are Native Americans. During casting, each of them showed Chris Weitz special documents confirming their Native American ancestry. Bronson Pelletier is descended from the Cree-Métis tribe, Chaske Spencer is Lakota, Alex Meraz is Purépecha, Kiowa Gordon is Hualapai, and Tyson Houseman is Cree.
- Initially, Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the first installment, was supposed to direct "New Moon" as well. However, due to disagreements with "Summit Entertainment," she was forced to leave the project.
- The film's soundtrack was composed by Alexandre Desplat, who had previously worked with Chris Weitz, composing music for his previous film 'The Golden Compass.'
- Robert Pattinson, the lead actor, also caused problems for the creators. Three months before the start of filming for "New Moon," he had his fairly long hair cut very short, and a fashionable hairstyle was one of the components of Edward's image. Despite the fact that his hair had grown back by March, Pattinson made the heads of "Summit Entertainment" worry.
- In scenes where Bella and Alice drive in the yellow Porsche, Ashley Greene was occasionally replaced by a male stunt double. For this, he had to wear a wig identical to Greene's, as well as a bandana and gloves.
- Before kissing Bella, Jacob says: “Kwop kilawtley.” In the Quileute language, this means “Stay with me forever.”
- Bella’s birthday scene was filmed on Kristen Stewart’s birthday.
- Chris Weitz spent a long time persuading Michael Sheen to participate in the film (Sheen was initially reluctant to star in 'New Moon'). Weitz justified his persistence by saying: 'Michael appears kind and friendly, but he actually harbors a threat within him.'
- The Volturi in the film speak Italian. In the Volturi throne room, Aro speaks in Italian – “La Tua Cantante” (Your singer). This is a reference to the book “New Moon,” where Edward explains to Bella and Alice that Bella is his singer, “whose blood is most pleasant to him of all.” Later, when Bella tells Aro that he knows nothing about Edward’s soul, he replies: 'Fore ... Nе il Vostro L'Altro' — 'Perhaps… and yours too'.
- Life-size models of the wolves were used for filming. Each weighed 20-30 pounds and had a hole on the side to make them easier to carry.
- Initially, it was planned that a stunt double for Kristen Stewart would run through the square and fountain in Italy, except for scenes requiring close-ups, but the actress expressed a desire to do it herself.
- At the beginning of the film, when Bella wakes up from a bad dream, "Romeo and Juliet" is lying on the bed. On the book cover, you can notice the Volterra tower and the red cloak of a passerby from the San Marco festival.
- Oliver James was considered for the role of one of the werewolves.
- The tattoos worn by the werewolves were taken from stories designer David Brisbin heard while visiting the Quileute reservation. Six tattoo options were made, both in black and red. Ultimately, they settled on the black one we see on the wolves' shoulders.
- Rene Haynes, who worked as a casting director on well-known films about Native American life such as 'Dances with Wolves' (1990) and 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' (2007), oversaw the auditioning of actors for the Quileute roles.
- The music playing in the elevator when Alice, Edward, and Bella travel to see the head of the Volturi is Die Fledermaus (The Bat) by Strauss.
- The role of Heidi was long held by AnnaLynne McCord, who had auditioned for the role of Rosalie in "Twilight" a year earlier.
- Development of 'New Moon' began in December 2008. Filming started in Vancouver in late March and then moved to Montepulciano (Italy).
- The film is based on Stephanie Meyer’s novel “New Moon” (2006) from the Twilight series.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
