The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (or simply Breaking Dawn – Part 1) is a 2011 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2008 novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer.[5] The sequel to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), it is the fourth installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively.
The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn – Part 1
- Wyck Godfrey
- Karen Rosenfelt
- Stephenie Meyer
Virginia Katz
- Temple Hill Entertainment[1]
- Sunswept Entertainment[1]
- October 30, 2011Rome Film Festival) (
- November 18, 2011 (United States)
117 minutes[2]
United States
English
$712.2 million[3]
Summit Entertainment announced that Breaking Dawn would be adapted into a two-part film on June 10, 2010. Principal photography for both parts began on November 1, 2010, and wrapped on April 22, 2011. The first part was shot in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Vancouver, Canada.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 premiered at Rome Film Festival on October 30, 2011, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 18, by Summit Entertainment.[6] Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, the film grossed $712.2 million worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2011.[7]
A sequel, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, was released in 2012.
Plot[edit]
Several months after the events of the previous film, human Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen are getting married. During the reception, werewolf Jacob Black, who had left town upon receiving an invitation to the wedding, returns, much to Bella's delight. They share a dance in the woods, where Bella says that she and Edward plan to consummate their marriage on their honeymoon while she is still human. Jacob becomes furious, knowing that such an act could kill her.
After the wedding, Bella and Edward travel to an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, and they have sex for the first time. Two weeks later, Bella vomits after waking and notices that her period is late. She informs Carlisle Cullen, a medical doctor and Edward's adoptive father, that she believes she is pregnant. Edward is distraught, as it is highly unlikely a human will survive giving birth to a vampire's baby. He encourages Bella to receive an abortion from Carlisle; she refuses and convinces Edward's sister Rosalie to be her bodyguard. They fly back home to Forks, Washington, where Jacob rushes to the Cullens' house to find a pale, underweight, and visibly pregnant Bella. He implores her to terminate the pregnancy immediately, but Bella opts to continue it. Jacob storms out of the Cullens' residence and meets in the woods with his packmates, including their leader Sam, who soon feels they should kill Bella to ensure her half-vampire child does not harm anyone. Jacob refuses, and he and several other werewolves separate from the pack.
As Bella's pregnancy progresses, her health declines rapidly. She soon realizes the fetus is craving blood, and begins drinking human blood obtained by Carlisle from the hospital, improving her health. As a half-vampire, the fetus's development is far more accelerated than that of a human fetus, and thus Bella's pregnancy progresses at an alarming rate. Edward's resentment for the baby dissolves when he discovers he can read its thoughts. When Bella suddenly goes into labor, Edward, Jacob, and Rosalie begin performing an emergency C-section while Carlisle is out obtaining blood. The procedure is excruciatingly painful, and Bella falls unconscious, though she wakes to find she has delivered a healthy daughter, whom she names Renesmee (a combination of her mother's name and Edward's mother's name).
Bella's heart suddenly stops, and Jacob desperately attempts CPR. Edward injects Bella's heart with his venom in an attempt to transform her into a vampire, but his action appears to be futile as Bella remains lifeless. A distraught Jacob decides to kill Renesmee for apparently causing Bella's death; however, when he looks into the baby's eyes, he "imprints" on her: a werewolf phenomenon in which one realizes one's soul-mate. This prevents his pack from killing her as their most absolute law is not to harm anyone who has been imprinted on. Over the course of two days, though still unconscious, Bella's injuries heal and her figure returns to normal. Finally, her eyes open and are blood-red, signifying that she has become a vampire.
In a post-credits scene, the Volturi, the keepers of vampire law, receive a letter from Carlisle which summarizes Bella and Edward's wedding and Bella's transformation into a vampire. The Volturi bicker about how Carlisle is growing his coven and that the Volturis' dispute with the Cullens is over. However, the Volturi leader mentions that the Cullens still have something he wants.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
In early November 2008, Summit Entertainment obtained the film adaptation rights to the remaining novels in the Twilight book series, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.[8] Talks for a Breaking Dawn film started after Summit approved The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the second and third installments, respectively, in The Twilight Saga film series.[9] Wyck Godfrey, producer of the previous films in the series, stated in mid-2009 that they had every intention to make the film version of Breaking Dawn,[10] but Stephenie Meyer, author of the series, explained on her website's Breaking Dawn FAQ that if an adaptation were to be created, it would have to be split into two films because "[t]he book is just so long!", saying that she would have made the book shorter if it were possible.[11] She also believed it to be impossible to make a film due to Renesmee, writing that an actress could not play her because she is a baby that has complete awareness; however, she did acknowledge the film might be possible due to the quickly-advancing technologies.[11] Moreover, because of the mature and explicit nature of the Breaking Dawn novel, fans and critics questioned if the studio would be able to keep a PG-13 rating, noting that the movie should not be rated R for the ever-growing fan base.[12]
Home media[edit]
The DVD and Blu-ray Disc for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 was made available to purchase on February 11, 2012. Both editions include bonus features such as Bella and Edward's wedding video, fast-forwarding to favorite scenes, audio commentary with director Bill Condon, and a 6-part "Making Of" documentary.[78] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Universal Studios.[79] In North American DVD sales, Part 1 has currently grossed $94,845,346 and has sold more than 5,234,876 units.[80]
An "extended version" was released on March 2, 2013; this version features an additional seven minutes of footage, making the film 124 minutes, including eight additional scenes, two missing scenes, and three alternate scenes.[81]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 grossed $281,287,133 in North America and $430,884,723 in other countries, bringing its worldwide total to $712,171,856.[3] It earned a The Twilight Saga film series-best $291.0 million on its worldwide opening weekend, marking the tenth-largest worldwide opening of all time.[82][83] It reached $500 million worldwide in 12 days, a record time for the film series.[84] It ranks as the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2011 and the second-highest-grossing film of the film series.[85][86]