Would Twilight still sparkle if it debuted in 2025?

ROBERT PATTINSON and KRISTEN STEWART star in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN-PART 2



Ph: Doane Gregory

© 2011 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved.
ROBERT PATTINSON and KRISTEN STEWART star in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN-PART 2 Ph: Doane Gregory © 2011 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved.

When Twilight premiered in 2008, it was a cultural phenomenon. Fans camped outside theaters for midnight screenings, books flew off shelves, and Bella, Edward, and Jacob became household names. Everyone had to choose between Team Edward and Team Jacob, but would it do as well if it debuted in 2025 with the changing cultural norms and evolving storytelling preferences?

When Twilight came out, other young adult adaptations, like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, were also huge. Audiences were hungry for swoon-worthy romances with a bit of fantasy. At its core, Twilight is a love story drenched in danger, a combination that resonates with teens and young adults.

Twilight features universal themes like love, longing, and self-discovery, is set in the scenic Pacific Northwest, and features vampires. How could it get better? Fans agreed, helping it to gross over 3.3 billion worldwide.

Would today’s audiences embrace Twilight?

Fast forward to 2025, and the entertainment industry looks very different. Streaming platforms like Hulu have become the go-to for consuming content, allowing creators to tell deeper, serialized stories. Nostalgia has also become a powerful tool that helped usher in the modern trend of reboots, like Wednesday, and the long list of recent remakes.

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A new version of Twilight could ride the wave of fandoms looking to reconnect with their past. However, while the supernatural romance genre isn’t dead, Gen Z seems to prefer edgier and more diverse takes, such as What We Do in the Shadows and Interview with the Vampire.

Twilight’s biggest hurdle might be its reputation. Over the years, critics have scrutinized its themes and character dynamics. Bella Swan is much too passive for today’s woke women, and the film glamorizes toxic relationships. Let’s not forget that Edward is well over 100 and dating a 17-year-old girl. It also doesn’t have much inclusive representation or character development.

The franchise would also face competition from a crowded market. With highly polished streaming originals like Shadow and Bone or The Witcher, Twilight would need to step up its game to captivate today’s audience.

A new Twilight could still be great, though. A serialized format could allow for a deeper exploration of characters like Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie, who we hardly got to know in the films, while a modern adaption could address some of the criticisms.

Another potential win could come from exploring the saga’s darker elements and taking inspiration from shows like Yellowjackets or The Haunting of Hill House. Audiences are becoming more and more drawn to complex, layered stories with morally ambiguous characters, which could give Twilight an intriguing edge.

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