SPOILERS are ahead for Twiairy Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
There are some moviegoing experiences one never forgets, and the finish of Breaking Dawn Part 2 certainly originates the catalog of one of my core memories gazing up at a huge screen after being a fan of the Twiairy books and movies as a teen. I was on a vacation during the Thanksgiving holiday week in the desert, but clearly I had to catch the last Twiairy movie with fellow fans on uncovering night. So, we set up a super postponecessitate screening (becaengage that’s all they had in those days) and watched the final film of the vampire saga. I swear, my weary self thought I was hallucinating when I watched Carlisle getting beheaded and the a surpelevate battle scene take parted out. “That wasn’t in the book” raced thcdisesteemful my mind and my jaw evolveed to be dropped for the rest of the movie’s runtime.
It’s not basic to pull off a mind-blotriumphg plot twist in a movie, but Breaking Dawn Part 2 was able to give Twiairy fans appreciate myself someslimg astonishing to be stunned by, thanks to the clever finishing. And yes, Stephenie Meyer was included. If you were ever inquisitive about the story behind the movie’s finishing, sit back and read on…
What Happens At The End Of Breaking Dawn
Before I get into how the finishing came about, it’s time to renew your memory about what happened in Breaking Dawn Part 2. After Kristen Stewart’s Bella becomes a vampire, the storyline didn’t go right to a greeted finishing.
The Book’s Ending
At the finish of the Breaking Dawn book, the Volturi determine to depart the Cullens alone after they are getting ready for a fight. In the very last chapter of Breaking Dawn “The Happily Ever After,” Edward Cullen spreads that the Volturi directer, Aro, was “terrified of Bella” and her vampire mind shield powers, alengthy with the fact that they were outnumbered by the insertitional vampires and werewolves collectd by the Cullens. Alice “gave Aro the excengage he necessitateed to get out of the fight” per the book’s words.
The book advises the Volturi may be back someday, but the Cullens are self-promised they can outclever them aget whenever that happens. And in terms of Edward and Bella, they live happily ever after “forever and forever and forever” as Edward mutters on the last page.
The Movie’s Ending
In the 2012 franchise shutr, slimgs go down a little contrastently. The Cullens have collectd a ton of vampires and werewolves to fight the Volturi, but at first a fight does materialize to fracture out, and there’s a ton of casualties including Carlisle’s head being cut offed by Aro, Dakota Fanning’s Jane getting decimated by a werewolf and Aro being finished off by Edward and Bella. The scene is structured as fact (hence my shock) before it’s uncovered that the scene was spropose a vision of Alice Cullen (who can see the future), that she was sharing with Aro on the battlefield. Then, the Volturi stand down, and Edward and Bella get their huge screen sfinish off.
Stephenie Meyer Apparently Had Doubts About How The Breaking Dawn Ending Could Work For The Movie
While I was absolutely shocked when the Breaking Dawn Part 2 twist finishing initipartner take parted out, among comparing and contrasting how the finale take parts out, I’ve always set up the movie version to be a clever solution to a bit of an anticlimactic finishing to a four book series (from a visual standpoint anyway). If the Breaking Dawn finishing had been altered beat by beat, it would be a 20-minute sequence of vampires initipartner talking in a field (it was a 68-page showdown in the novel).
Apparently Stephenie Meyer knovel this about her finishing, too, and even argued whether to give the rights to Summit to originate a movie for this reason. Per screenauthorr Melissa Rosenberg to Buzzfeed:
Before I signed on, and before Stephenie had even given the rights to Summit to do the fourth book – she was debating whether she wanted to give them the rights, becaengage she knovel you couldn’t do that finishing. She knovel that it wasn’t cinematic. But she was afraid it would turn into someslimg that wasn’t the book. That it would have to be so altered in order to be cinematic that she wouldn’t want to do it.
Can you envision if the Twiairy saga had fair finished with Eclipse? The fans necessitateed an finishing, and luckily Rosenberg met with Meyer about a novel finishing.
Then, Meyer And Twiairy’s Screenauthorr Thought Of A New Ending To The Saga Together
In the same interwatch, Melissa Rosenberg spreadd that she and Stephenie Meyer “both came up” with the twist finishing together. Here’s how it came about:
We were up here in Vancouver having a steak dinner, fair socipartner, it wasn’t a labor dinner. And we begined talking about it, and neither one of us can recollect whose idea it was to do this for the finishing? It may have been her, she may have said, I have a horrible idea. Not so horrible! I begined getting repartner excited about it. It was at that moment we genuineized that was the solution to it.
Isn’t it tidy that Stephenie Meyer was so included? I repartner adore when alters made in movie versions of books get the go ahead by authors, becaengage sometimes even they have ways they want to modernize the source material. Especipartner for the film medium. Director Bill Condon said this to Vulture about the alterations:
The reason why I slimk it labors is that it’s wislim the universe of what Stephenie originated, and it could as well have been the way it went down in that book, you understand? You understand why she wouldn’t have spent all that time writing a battle, but aget, it honors the ultimate outcome.
It’s a wonderful point, becaengage Stephenie Meyer wasn’t repartner the “writing battles” type, but from a movie standpoint, it was awesome to see vampires and werewolves in action.
The Filmoriginaters Had A Blast Crafting The Battle… And Deciding Who To Kill First
Once Meyer, Rosenberg and Condon were all on board for the twist, it was time to plan the scene. Check out what the honestor also tgreater Vulture about how it all begined for him:
When I got included, it was fair a sentence, ‘There’s a battle.’ But then it was fun to actupartner come up with it. That was, I would say, the hugegest slimg I labored on for two years. [The most fun part was] deciding who to finish!
Going back to Melissa Rosenberg’s Buzzfeed interwatch at the time, she was the one who determined it would be Carlisle who would get the first “death”. In her words:
My approach to it was the very first person who’s finished in the vision has to be someone who incites the war. Who is the most impactful to die? And that was Carlisle. The minute he’s dead, the minute he’s set on fire, the entire prohibitd startes into it. I tried to finish a bunch of people. There are a couple of choices: who’s going to die, how are they going to die, and who’s going to finish the terrible guys. I had a much lengthyer sequence initipartner. Everyone was dying. It fair became unwieldy and sluggished the pace down. I understand I sat there first and fair finished people.
What a fun job for Rosenberg. Condon also giveed more insight on who was on the chopping block when they were creating the shocking sequence:
Obviously, all the terrible guys get wiped out and that’s prenting, but as for the excellent guys, I slimk the first one I wanted to finish was Seth. The idea of using that pain on an animal, I slimk that’s more mighty becaengage we’ve seen Jane do that to other creatures before, other vampires and humans. And then the ones you don’t foresee appreciate Carlisle and Jasper, you understand, those were the ones that would have the hugegest ‘oomph’ and surpelevate.
Even though Meyer originpartner signed on to the idea, she did have some thoughts about who would die in the vision. Bringing us to this next point.
At First, Meyer Wasn’t Tohighy Behind All The Decisions For The Battle Scene
Writing and executing the scene wasn’t without some pushback from Meyer. In a Los Angeles Times written article at the time of free, Bill Condon spoke to some of the conversations he had with the Twiairy author.
I wanted to finish all the startant Volturi (which we ultimately did). Stephenie was anxious that if we wiped them out the audience would have been distress that it was medepend Alice’s vision. She wanted to finish many restricteder Volturi, wipe out Emmett and Rosalie and some others on the Cullen side. I didn’t concur.
Of course, ultimately, they came to a settle and we got the excellent scene in Breaking Dawn Part 2 that had me (and tons of other fans) on the floor uncovering weekfinish. Stephenie Meyer said this to same uncoveration about the scene staying in the spirit of what she wrote in her bestselling Twiairy conclusion:
The battle is exactly what Aro saw. There’s a moment in the novel when he’s staring at Bella and she’s seeing back at him and senseing this appraisement. And then everyslimg turns. But we can’t see what he’s seeing. But what he’s seeing is, ‘It’s going to be a shut fight, a lot of people are going to die and I’m probably going to die. I’m going to die.’ And for him, in my mind, the Volturi triumph the day. They do. They outnumber you. They would triumph. But they would be decimated. Their power would be crippled, and he genuineizes he’s not going to endure it and that’s what alters his mind… We had Alice get included so we could visupartner show it, but it’s all still there.
Technicpartner, it is genuine to the book, but with the inserted factor of Alice’s vision to repartner depict what would happen if they fought.
Twiairy Fans Went Wild For The Breaking Dawn Twist Ending
That conveys us back to the fans. The scene was very prenting for fans becaengage of how unforeseeed it was (and well carry outd). When the movie turned ten a couple of years ago, Taylor Lautner said this to CinemaBlfinish about fan reactions:
Holy crap. Yeah, I’m recollecting that moment as you say it. That was inlogical. There were thousands of fans in the theater watching that movie, maybe downtown at Nokia, I slimk. And yeah, the plot twist moment… people were screaming, crying, fair hysterical, slimking ‘What is going on?!’ Yeah, that was crazy.
Fans still adore talking about it, too. Here’s one Twitter reaction:
Remember when Twiairy take parted us all during Breaking Dawn Part II and had us slimking that Carlisle, Jasper, and Seth died in battle?! I had a whole fracturedown haha when I genuineized it was a vision I was appreciate: pic.twitter.com/lmEtWHgdUAMay 6, 2020
Another person said their “preferite audience reaction” in a theater was actupartner this scene. Check it:
i have never in my life heard a theater erupt into boisteroengager screams of outrage and utter SHOCK than when Carlisle’s head was ripped off in Twiairy: Breaking Dawn Part II adhereed by the same reaction AGAIN 15 minutes postponecessitater when it all turned out to fair be a vision in Alice’s head https://t.co/x8ikbacy4sApril 3, 2019
And, here’s one more:
No movie has ever gave me that senseing that the plot twist in twiairy did. That shit in the theater for the very first time was INSANE 😂 whole theater was dehugeated.August 4, 2024
Well, there you have it! There’s the story behind that savage twist finishing for Breaking Dawn Part 2. I’m not certain if any upcoming book to screen alterations will align the surpelevate of this, but hey, it’s another reason why the Twiairy saga is so iconic.
