Twilight is set to return in a new format as Netflix has given a series order to an eight-episode animated series. The Twilight series was first announced in April 2023 from Lionsgate Television, with news of it being an animated series was confirmed earlier in 2024. Now it appears that Netflix has acquired the series based on the Twilight novels and has announced it, including the twist that the series won’t be based on the original novel but instead on the spin-off book Midnight Sun.
Variety reports that Netflix has given Midnight Sun a straight-to-series order, and Sinead Daly has signed on as writer and executive producer. Daly has previously worked on Tell Me Lies, Raised by Wolves, The Get Down, and The Walking Dead: World Beyond. Series author Stephenie Meyer started work on Midnight Sun in 2008, but took a brief hiatus when the manuscript leaked online. The finished book, published in 2020, retells the story of Twilight from the perspective of Edward Cullen. This new point of view seems to be the main hook for retelling Twilight and might also influence the rest of the series, exploring the events through different characters’ perspectives.
The Twilight Saga Returns
Written by Stephenie Meyer, the first Twilight book was published in 2005 and launched an incredibly successful series of books. 2008 was a big year for the franchise as it marked the release of the final book, Breaking Dawn, alongside the feature film adaptation of Twilight, which featured Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen. As it became known, The Twilight Saga was a pop culture phenomenon in the 2000s and early 2010s, with every entry in the film franchise being a box office smash hit. The five films in The Twilight Saga franchise grossed $3.3 billion combined and have remained popular despite not having a new entry since 2012.
The Cullen family have played a significant part in the Twilight Saga. How well do you know them?
Netflix moving forward with a Twilight animated series makes a great deal of sense. When the Twilight movies hit Netflix in 2021, they shot to the top of the streaming charts. Netflix is also heavily invested in animation, particularly based on movie properties, as they just released the anime Terminator Zero and have a new Ghostbusters animated series in the works. Reviving popular young adult fiction looking to cash in on audience nostalgia has also blown up in recent years with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes release and the Disney+ revival of Percy Jackson of the Olympians. Warner Bros. is hard at work on a Harry Potter series for HBO, so Netflix’s decision to acquire Midnight Sun and continue the Twilight franchise is just a smart business decision.
