The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (or simply New Moon) is a 2009 American romantic fantasy film directed by Chris Weitz from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2006 novel New Moon by Stephenie Meyer.[2] The sequel to Twilight (2008), it is the second 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.[3]
This article is about the film. For the novel on which it is based, see New Moon (novel).
The Twilight Saga:
New Moon
Peter Lambert
- Temple Hill Entertainment
- Maverick Films
- Sunswept Entertainment
- November 16, 2009 (Los Angeles premiere)
- November 20, 2009 (United States)
130 minutes[1]
United States
English
$50 million[1]
$711 million[1]
Summit Entertainment announced it had greenlit the film on November 22, 2008, following the early success of Twilight.[4] Principal photography began on March 23, 2009, in Vancouver, Canada,[5][6][7] and ended in Montepulciano, Italy on May 29.[8][9]
The Twilight Saga: New Moon premiered in Los Angeles on November 16, 2009, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 20, by Summit Entertainment. The film received negative reviews from critics, who criticized its story, Weitz' direction, its darker tone, and Lautner's performance, but praised its visual effects, Pattinson and Stewart's performances, pacing and Desplat's musical score.[10][11] The film grossed $711 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2009. It set domestic box office records as the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada, grossing $26.3 million, which was superseded by its sequel, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. This led to the highest single-day domestic gross on an opening day, with $72.7 million,[12] until it was beaten by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011).[13] The film also became the widest independent release, playing in 4,024 theaters, until it was surpassed by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.[14] New Moon was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 20, 2010.[15] As of July 2012, the film has grossed $184.9 million in North American DVD sales, selling more than 8.8 million units,[16] four million of which were sold within its first weekend, beating Twilight's 3.8 million units sold in its first two days.[17]
The film received three sequels, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.
Plot[edit]
In Forks, Washington, on Bella Swan's eighteenth birthday, she awakens from a dream where she is an old woman and Edward Cullen, her immortal vampire boyfriend, is forever young. Despite her qualms, Edward's family hosts a birthday reception for her at their home. After she receives a paper cut and is almost attacked by a bloodthirsty Cullen relative, Edward realizes he has put her life in danger among the society of vampires, he ends their relationship, and the Cullens leave town.
Bella is left severely depressed and isolates herself for months. She accepts a ride from a rough-looking biker and the dangerous encounter reminds her of a near-assault where Edward rescued her. She realizes that dangerous activities cause her to hallucinate his image. Her Quileute friend Jacob Black helps support her depression, and he says that many of his friends follow and obey Sam, another Quileute. While attending a movie with Bella, Jacob abruptly shows signs of pain and leaves. He soon cuts his long hair and now has the same Quileute tattoo on his upper right arm as Sam and other tribe members. He inexplicably tells Bella to stay away.
When Bella hikes to the meadow that she and Edward often visited, she is confronted by a vampire seeking to avenge Edward's past killing of an enemy vampire. As Bella is about to die, a wolf pack intervenes and saves her. Bella discovers that Jacob and the other tribe members are werewolves, with Jacob only recently gaining this shapeshifting ability. Their age-old enemies are vampires, though a treaty exists between the Cullens and the tribe.
Through a series of miscommunications, Edward believes that Bella has killed herself after his sister Alice, who has clairvoyant abilities, experiences a vision of Bella jumping off a seaside cliff. Distraught, Edward travels to Italy to ask the vampire leadership, the Volturi, to end his life. When they refuse his request, he plans to force their hand by exposing himself as a vampire to humans during a large festival.
Alice and Bella travel to Italy to save Edward, arriving in time to prevent him from revealing himself as a vampire. Overjoyed that Bella is alive, he confesses that he left Forks to protect her but promises never to leave her again. Edward defends Bella from the Volturi, who do not allow humans to know about their vampire society. The Volturi easily overpower Edward but, as they are about to kill him, Bella asks that they kill her instead. Impressed by a human's willingness to sacrifice her life for a vampire, the Volturi allow Bella the choice to be transformed into a vampire instead of dying, convinced when Alice shares a future vision of Bella as a vampire.
After returning to Forks, Bella asks the Cullens to vote on her becoming a vampire. Despite Edward's protestations, almost everyone votes yes. Jacob reminds Edward that the years-old treaty with Quileute will be broken if any Cullen bites a human, but Bella tells Jacob it is her choice, not the Cullens'. At the meadows, Edward agrees to let Bella transform into a vampire only if she will marry him. Initially, Bella refuses but contemplates doing so afterward (serving as the plot for the next movie).
Distribution[edit]
Marketing[edit]
In February 2009 it was announced that the franchise would take the name The Twilight Saga with the book's title separated by a colon, though the title that appears on-screen is simply New Moon.[70] The first promotional poster was released on May 19, 2009.[71] On May 31, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner revealed the film's first trailer at the MTV Movie Awards.[72] Following the release of the trailer, two scenes from the film were presented at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con.[73] A 14-second preview of the second trailer was released online on August 12, 2009, and the full-length trailer was featured before theater showings of the film Bandslam.[74] The film's third trailer was shown at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009.[75] Spike TV also aired a new trailer at the 2009 Scream Awards on October 27, 2009.[76]
American Idol finalist Allison Iraheta hosted an 8-minute block prior to the showing of the film in over 1,200 theaters across the United States, where she talked about her upcoming album and played some tracks, including "Friday I'll Be Over U", "Pieces", and "Trouble Is".[77] In addition, prior to the film's release, author Stephenie Meyer made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote the film.[78]
Release[edit]
Many theater showings sold out as early as two months prior to New Moon's release date.[79] The film set records for advance ticket sales, causing some theaters to add additional showings.[80] The film is also the biggest advance ticket seller on Fandango, surpassing Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.[81] New Moon accounted for 86 percent of Fandango's online ticket sales the weekend before the film was released,[80] and its total morning ticket sales on November 20, 2009 are estimated to total $13.9 million.[80]
Home media[edit]
Various midnight release parties were held to help promote the film's DVD and Blu-ray Disc release on March 20, 2010, in the United States and on March 22, 2010, in the United Kingdom.[15][82] Special features include an audio commentary by director Chris Weitz and editor Peter Lambert, a behind-the-scenes documentary, and music videos.[15] Unlike the DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions, the Ultimate Fan Edition DVD includes a 7-minute first look at the sequel, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.[83] Within its first weekend of release in the U.S., the film sold over 4 million units, beating Twilight's 3.8 million units sold in its first two days.[84] In North American DVD sales, the film has currently grossed $185,166,822 and has sold more than 8,864,541 units.[16]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
New Moon set records as the biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada) box office history, grossing an estimated $26.3 million in 3,514 theaters.[85] The record was previously held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which grossed $22.2 million domestically during its midnight premiere.[85] In 2010, the following sequel, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, broke New Moon's record with $30 million in over 4,000 theaters[86] but surpassed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, which made $43.5 million in 2011.[87] The film grossed $72.7 million on its opening day domestically, becoming the biggest single-day opening in domestic history, beating The Dark Knight's $67.2 million.[12] This opening strongly contributed to another record—the first time that the Top 10 films at the domestic box office had a combined gross of over $100 million in a single day.[88] The record was later broken in 2011 by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, which made $91.1 million.[13]
New Moon's opening weekend is the ninth-highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137[89] and also is the tenth-highest worldwide opening weekend with $274.9 million total.[90] At the time of its release, the film achieved the highest weekend debut in November, breaking Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire's record[91] ($102.7 million) until The Hunger Games: Catching Fire surpassed it with $158.1 million.[92] With an estimated budget of just under $50 million, it is the least expensive movie to ever open to more than $200 million worldwide.[93] On Thanksgiving weekend, the film grossed $42.5 million, and including Wednesday and Thursday ticket sales, grossed $66 million. It has earned $230.7 million in total since opening last week, 22% more than the previous film grossed in its entire theatrical run. Internationally, the film grossed roughly $85 million over the weekend, adding up to a total worldwide gross of $473.7 million in 10 days.[94] In its third weekend New Moon grossed $15.7 million in the domestic market[95] and another $40.7 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $570.1 million. In its fourth weekend, the film dropped down to #4 with an estimated $10 million, bringing its domestic total to $296,623,634.[96]
Critical response[edit]
New Moon received generally negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 28% of 229 critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 4.7/10. The site's general consensus is that "The Twilight Saga's second installment may satisfy hardcore fans of the series, but outsiders are likely to be turned off by its slow pace, relentlessly downcast tone and excessive length."[97] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 44 based on 32 reviews.[10] Audiences polled by Cinemascore gave the film an "A−" grade.[98]
Robert Ignizio of the Cleveland Scene described the film as an "entertaining fantasy", and noted that it "has a stronger visual look [than Twilight] and does a better job with its action scenes while still keeping the focus on the central love triangle."[99] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, praised Kristen Stewart's performance in the film and wrote, "Despite melodrama that, at times, is enough to induce diabetes, there's enough wolf whistle in this sexy, scary romp to please anyone."[100] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave the film a "B" grading and said, "the movie looks tremendous, the dialogue works, there are numerous well placed jokes, the acting is on point."[101]
Time Out New York gave the film 4 stars out of 5, calling it "acceptable escapism for those old enough to see it yet still young enough to shriek at undead dreamboats."[102] Jordan Mintzer from Variety stated, "Stewart is the heart and soul of the film", and added that she "gives both weight and depth to dialogue…that would sound like typical chick-lit blather in the mouth of a less engaging actress, and she makes Bella's psychological wounds seem like the real deal."[103]
British film critic Mark Kermode gave the film a positive review, saying, "After an initial 20-minute dip, when I thought, 'This is actually going to be two hours of mopey-mopey,' I thought it found its feet." He also excused the film's characterization of Taylor Lautner's character, saying, "The sight of the buff, young guys running through the forest with their tops off was slightly smirk-inducing. But it's fine. They know what their target-audience is."[104]
Mick Lasalle from the San Francisco Chronicle responded with a more mixed review, stating, "[E]xpect this film to satisfy its fans. Everybody else, get ready for a bizarre soap opera/pageant, consisting of a succession of static scenes with characters loping into the frame to announce exactly what they're thinking."[105] Digital Spy gave the film 2 stars out of 5, praising Kristen Stewart for "carrying the film on her shoulders and, once again, bringing plenty of soul to a character who might otherwise come across as self-indulgent", but was critical of its lack of action, ultimately calling it "a draining experience".[106] Roger Ebert gave the film 1 star out of 4 and said that it "takes the tepid achievement of Twilight, guts it, and leaves it for undead."[107] Richard Roeper graded New Moon with a C− and called it a "plodding, achingly slow, 130-minute chapter in the saga".[108]
Accolades[edit]
Since its release, New Moon has received several nominations and awards. In March 2010, the film received the ShoWest Fandango Fan Choice Award for 2009's Best Movie.[109] At the 2010 Empire Awards, Pattinson was nominated for Best Actor and Anna Kendrick was nominated for Best Newcomer,[110] the film won the award for Best Fantasy Film, while Pattinson won an award for Best Performance.[111] At the 2010 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, the film was nominated for Best Movie, but lost to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Lautner won an award for Favorite Movie Actor, and Jacob and Bella, who were also nominated alongside Edward and Bella, won an award for Best Couple.[112][113] At the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, Pattinson, who was nominated alongside Stewart and Lautner, won the award for Global Superstar; the Best Male Performance award was also given to Pattinson, who was, again, nominated against Lautner. Stewart and Pattinson won the award for Best Kiss, while New Moon won the award for Best Movie.[114] For the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, held on August 8, the film and its actors were given a combined total of ten nominations, eight of which the film won, and three separate awards going to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.[115][116][117] In addition, the film was nominated for Best Horror Film and Taylor Lautner was nominated for Best Performance by a Younger Actor at the 36th Saturn Awards, but lost to Drag Me to Hell and Saoirse Ronan, respectively.[118] Lautner was also nominated for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Actor at the 2010 Young Artist Awards.[119] However, it was nominated for four Razzies: Worst Supporting Actor (Robert Pattinson), Worst Screen Couple (Kristen Stewart and either Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson), Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, and Worst Screenplay.[120]