Back in 2018, the Twilight Saga celebrated its 10th anniversary with a very typical division that once again separated fans from its skeptics. People who rolled their eyes 10 years ago are rolling them again. But it takes one glimpse at the Netflix top 10 chart, and you realize what a controversial (master)piece the vampire saga really is.
After its initial release on Friday, the five Twilight films immediately made their way to Netflix’s top 10 most-watched list. As it currently stands, Twilight (2008) is in third, New Moon (2009) is in sixth, Eclipse (2010) is seventh, Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (2011) is eighth, and Breaking Dawn: Part 2 (2012) is 10th.
But contrary to what we see today, the beginning wasn’t an easy one for this fantasy saga. When Twilight first premiered, no one could know if Stephenie Meyer’s hugely successful teen novels would transfer to the screen. After all, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were almost unknown to a wide audience. Plus, director Catherine Hardwicke had a sprint of 44 days to shoot with a tight $37M budget. Have in mind the usual rate at the time was more like $200M for similar CGI-fantasy-action movies.
On Twilight’s opening weekend in the United States, it turned out that the emo crush was bordering on mass hysteria. The film made a jaw-dropping $69M by Sunday on Twilight’s opening weekend in the US. Mass hysteria started and critics couldn’t believe the success of the story that was aimed primarily at girls.
Melissa Silverstein of Women and Hollywood commented on this phenomenon to The Guardian: “The part that shocked Hollywood was that the film’s stunning success was fuelled by ‘girl power.’ The general consensus in Hollywood is that films and books made for men and boys are seen as ‘universal,’ and things that are made for women and girls are somehow seen as ‘other.’ Women are seen as a ‘niche’ audience. This ‘nichification’ of women has been one of the most enduring problems facing the much-maligned chick flick.”
