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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

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Wikipedia article




'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2', commonly referred to as 'Breaking Dawn: Part 2', is a 2012 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer and the fifth and final installment in 'The Twilight Saga' film series, constituting the second of a two-part adaptation of the novel and following the first part of 'Breaking Dawn' in 2011. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner reprise their roles, with Mackenzie Foy portraying Renesmee Cullen. Alongside Pattinson, Lautner, Stewart, and Foy, the film also stars an ensemble cast including Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Michael Sheen, and Dakota Fanning.

'Part 2' was released on November 16, 2012. The film, despite mixed critical reception, was a box office success, grossing nearly $830 million worldwide against a production budget of $136 million, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2012 and the highest-grossing film of 'The Twilight Saga' series.

Plot





Bella, who has just given birth, awakens from her human-to-vampire transformation. After Edward helps her satisfy her initial thirst, Bella is introduced to her daughter Renesmee. The rest of the Cullens and Jacob stay nearby, and when Jacob acts possessively towards Renesmee, Bella learns he has imprinted on her, making her furious until he explains he has no ill intentions.

Meanwhile, Bella's father, Charlie, has been trying to contact the Cullens for updates on Bella's health. Carlisle announces that they have to leave Forks, Washington, to protect their identities - especially because of Charlie. Jacob, desperate not to lose Renesmee, visits Charlie and tells him that Bella is alive and well, but that she had to change in order to get better. Jacob also tells him he doesn't live in the world he thinks he does, and then reveals his wolf form to him. Charlie goes to the Cullen house to see Bella and meet Renesmee. He accepts that Bella is now recovered and this is her chosen life, but he does not know what has changed her or where Renesmee came from, but she's 'adopted'.

Several months pass with Carlisle monitoring Renesmee's rapid growth. On an outing in the woods, a bitter Irina sees Renesmee from a distance and assumes she's an immortal child without asking any questions. Immortal children were vampires who were changed in childhood, and because they could not be trained nor restrained, they slaughtered entire villages. The creation of such children is outlawed by the Volturi and anyone caught with one is to be executed.

Irina goes to the Volturi, reporting what she has seen. Alice gets a vision of the Volturi and Irina coming to kill the Cullens and instructs the others to gather as many witnesses as they can to testify that Renesmee is not an immortal child. Alice and Jasper then leave to gather evidence of this. The Cullens begin to summon witnesses, such as the Denali family. One of the Denalis, Eleazar, later discovers that Bella has a special ability: a powerful mental shield that had protected her from Edward's mind-reading even when she was human, which she is taught to extend to protect others from vampire powers.

The Volturi, led by Aro, arrive in Forks prepared for battle. Seeing the large group of 27 vampires (the Cullens and their witnesses) and wolves, they stop their procession. They are able to prove to Aro that Renesmee is not an immortal child, however, the Volturi are eager to add the gifted members of the Cullen coven to the guard, so they execute Irina in an attempt to provoke a battle. Before a fight breaks out Alice and Jasper return and Alice shows Aro her visions of the future.

In this violent vision, she and Jasper are arrested for attacking Aro after Alice finds out he will not change his decision and kicks him in the face. Carlisle tries to save them but is murdered by Aro. Jasper is beheaded by Demetri and Jane. Alice and Sam together avenge Jasper by killing Jane. Caius is partially beheaded by Tanya (a member of the Denalis) as revenge for Irina's execution. Seth is killed by Felix. Leah saves Esme's life but loses hers in the process. Marcus welcomes his death as he is torn to pieces by Vladimir and Stefan. Aro tries to kill Edward but a joint effort from Bella and Edward kills him. The vision ends with Bella burning Aro's detached head as other Volturi members try to grab her from behind.

Aro, despite being afraid of the vision future, still wants to execute Renesmee as she might become savage. Alice and Jasper reveal their final witness, Nahuel (a half-human half-vampire just like Renesmee). He proves that he is not a threat, supporting the notion that Renesmee is not one either. The Volturi unhappily leave, Aro fearfully explaining that there will be no battle today.

Back at the Cullen home, Alice glimpses the future, seeing Edward and Bella greeting Jacob and a fully matured Renesmee, also a couple, on a sun-dappled beach. Edward reads Alice's mind and feels relieved that Renesmee has Jacob to protect her. Alone in the meadow, Bella pushes her mental shield away and finally allows Edward to see into her mind, showing him every moment they have shared together. They kiss after Bella tells him, "nobody has ever loved anybody as much as I love you", and he says "with one exception," affirming they will be together forever.

Cast



*Kristen Stewart as Bella Cullen

*Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen

*Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black

*Mackenzie Foy as Renesmee Cullen

*Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen

*Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale

*Peter Facinelli as Carlisle Cullen

*Elizabeth Reaser as Esme Cullen

*Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen

*Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale

*Billy Burke as Charlie Swan

*Maggie Grace as Irina

*Michael Sheen as Aro

*Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius

*Dakota Fanning as Jane

*Christopher Heyerdahl as Marcus

*Casey LaBow as Kate

*MyAnna Buring as Tanya

*Lee Pace as Garrett

*Christian Camargo as Eleazar

*Ma Maestro as Carmen

*Noel Fisher as Vladimir

*Joe Anderson as Alistair

*Cameron Bright as Alec

*Angela Sarafyan as Tia

*Rami Malek as Benjamin

*Booboo Stewart as Seth Clearwater

*Daniel Cudmore as Felix

*Judith Shekoni as Zafrina

*Charlie Bewley as Demetri

*J. D. Pardo as Nahuel

*Wendell Pierce as J. Jenks

*Julia Jones as Leah Clearwater

*Lateef Crowder as Santiago

*Andrea Powell as Sasha

*Toni Trucks as Mary

*Andrea Gabriel as Kebi

*Chaske Spencer as Sam Uley

*Marisa Quinn as Huilen

*Omar Metwally as Amun

*Valorie Curry as Charlotte

*Tracey Heggins as Senna

*Marlane Barnes as Maggie

*Guri Weinberg as Stefan

*Erik Odom as Peter

*Lisa Howard as Siobhan

*Bill Tangradi as Randall

*Patrick Brennan as Liam

*Amadou Ly as Henri

*Janelle Froehlich as Yvette

*Masami Kosaka as Toshiro

Gil Birmingham, Sarah Clarke, Michael Welch, Anna Kendrick, Christian Serratos, Justin Chon, Cam Gigandet, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, Kiowa Gordon, Tyson Houseman, Alex Meraz, Bronson Pelletier, Graham Greene, Tinsel Korey, Xavier Samuel, Jodelle Ferland, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Carolina Virguez from the previous films make archival cameo appearances during the pre-credits montage accompanied by a duet version of Christina Perris A Thousand Years with Steve Kazee as the second voice.

Production



Development

In May 2010, Billy Burke and Peter Facinelli were the only cast actors who were confirmed for both parts of 'Breaking Dawn', while other cast members such as Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz were still in negotiations for a second part. If the actors holding Summit back from making an official announcement did not reach an agreement with them, the studio would not have minded recasting their roles, as was done in 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' with Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Victoria. However, in June 2010, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaptation of the fourth book would start production and it was made clear that all major actors, including the three lead roles, the Cullen family, and Charlie Swan, would return for both parts.

Pre-production

By August 2009, Rosenberg said that the scripts for 'Part 1' and '2' were 75 to 85 percent completed. She found the greatest challenge in writing the scripts to be the final sequence of 'Part 2': "The final battle sequence is a big challenge because it lasts 25 pages", she said. "It's almost an entire three-act story in and of itself. You have to track [keep it all in one setting] hundreds of characters. It's an enormous challenge to choreograph on the page and for Bill [Condon] to choreograph on the stage." She had written various drafts of the scene but, at that, hadn't revised or discussed them with Condon yet. She said, "That's the next big hurdle to sit down with the stunt coordinator and create the ballet. It's a lot of work. I'm exhausted, but we're intent on making them the best scripts yet." Godfrey called 'Part 2' "an action film in terms of life-and-death stakes" and said that in 'Part 1' "there are the pangs of newlywed tension that occur that are relatable even in a fantasy film. Marriage is not quite the experience that they thought it was." Condon thought of 'Part 1' "as a real companion piece to Catherine Hardwicke's movie". Condon explains, "Like, everything that got set up there gets resolved here. I think you'll find that there are stylistic and other nods to that film."

Godfrey considered releasing the second film in 3D to differentiate between the time before and after Bella becomes a vampire, an idea originally proposed for 'Eclipse', but said that the decision is up to Condon. However, he said that if the second film were to be released in 3D, he would like to shoot it with the proper equipment in "real" 3D as was done with 'Avatar' (2009), not convert it into 3D in post-production as was done with 'Clash of the Titans' (2010). On February 12, 2012 it was confirmed that 'Part 2' would not be filmed in 3D.

Filming

Filming started on November 1, 2010 and wrapped, for most of the cast, on April 15, 2011, ending the franchise's three years of production since March 2008. Filming was shot on location in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana; Vancouver, British Columbia; and New York City, New York. Filming also occurred at Raleigh Studios in Baton Rouge.

On the subject of the final day and her final moment as Bella, Stewart stated, "After that scene, my true final scene, I felt like I could shoot up into the night sky and every pore of my body would shoot light. I felt lighter than I've ever felt in my life."

In April 2012, the crew and cast, including Pattinson and Stewart, returned for reshoots to pick up some additional shots for technical work with some of the cast and stunt actors. These re-shoots did not include any new scenes or dialogue.

Special effects

Tippett Studio first began working on the CGI (computer-generated imagery) wolves in February 2009 for 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', and the look of the creatures has evolved, becoming more photo-real over the course of the saga, with the input of three different directors. "It's a subtle balance of just how anthropomorphic these wolves are," says Eric Leven. "Bill (Condon) wanted to make sure that we had a sense of the human or the shapeshifter in there. Finding that balance of how much of a human performance versus an animal performance was important for Bill."

Leven adds, "Bill has always treated the wolves as characters and never as computer-generated things, and directs them in the same way he'd direct any actor. He would always give us direction like Sam should be angrier. It's the best way to work. His treating these creatures as characters, instead of just computer bits, was really great."

"Because we've been working on this franchise for such a prolonged period of time, we've been able to improve the look from show to show," comments Phil Tippett. "Wolves generally are pretty darn clean and since Bill wanted the wolves rangier, that means a lot more fur matting and clumping, like they've lived out in the woods. We edged towards something a bit more feral."

"However, there is also a balance between look and technology," adds Tippett. "The body count of the wolves escalates and because we're adding a great deal more hair to get the right texture, that fur really ups the rendering time. We've gone from four wolves to eight to twelve, to sixteen in 'Part 2'. So we have to be very careful about that balance because it takes hundreds of hours to render each wolf."

Music



It was revealed in January 2012 that the soundtrack for 'Part 2' had already started production. Confirmed for the soundtrack in advance were "Heart of Stone" by Iko, which plays when Edward and Bella are talking in the cottage after finding Alice's note and "Where I Come From" by Passion Pit, which will play when Bella wakes up from her transformation. The lead single from the soundtrack is "The Forgotten", performed by the American rock band Green Day. "A Thousand Years, Pt. 2" by the American singer Christina Perri is also featured on the soundtrack album.

Carter Burwell, the composer of 'Twilight' and 'Breaking Dawn: Part 1', returned to score the final installment of the series.

Release



Box office

'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2' has earned $292,324,737 in North America and $537,360,640 in other territories for a worldwide total of $829,685,377. The film is the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2012, and the highest-grossing film of the 'Twilight' series. It had a $340.9 million worldwide opening, which was the eighth-largest ever, the largest for the 'Twilight' franchise, and the largest for a film released outside the summer period.[https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Twilight-Saga-Breaking-Dawn-Part-2-The All Time Worldwide Opening Weekend Records at the Box Office]

In North America, the film grossed $30.4 million in Thursday night and midnight showings, achieving the third-highest midnight gross and the highest midnight gross of the franchise. 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' made $71.2 million on its opening day, which is the sixth-highest opening- and single-day gross as well as the third-highest of the franchise. For its opening weekend, the movie earned $141.1 million,[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3570&p=.htm Weekend Report: 'Breaking Dawn' Ends 'Twilight' Franchise on Strong Note] which is the 13th-highest-grossing opening weekend of all time,[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/11/18/box-office-report-twilight-breaking-dawn-part-2-lincoln/ Box office report: 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' just misses 'Twilight' record with $141.3M, 'Lincoln' expands successfully][https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/ HIGHEST OPENING WEEKENDS] Retrieved May 7, 2013 the second-highest-grossing of the franchise,[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?view=openings&id=twilight.htm&p=.htm Twilight Opening Weekends] the third-largest November opening,[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/month/?mo=11&p=.htm TOP OPENING WEEKENDS BY MONTH: November] and the fourth-largest opening of 2012.[https://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3570&p=.htm Weekend Report: 'Breaking Dawn' Ends 'Twilight' Franchise on Strong Note] It retained first place in its second weekend by dropping 69.1% with a gross of $43.6 million over the three-day weekend and made a total of $64.4 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend.[https://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3574&p=.htm Weekend Report: 'Twilight,' Bond Dominate Fruitful Thanksgiving] In its third weekend, 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' held onto the No. 1 spot again by dropping 60.1% and grossing $17.4 million.[https://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3578&p=.htm Weekend Report: Holdovers Hang On, 'Killing' 'Soft' in Seventh] It became the third-highest-grossing film of the franchise behind 'Eclipse' and 'New Moon'.[https://boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=twilight.htm Franchises: Twilight] Box Office Mojo, retrieved January 25, 2013

Outside North America, the film opened on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 in six countries earning $13.8 million. By Thursday, it had opened in 37 territories, earning $38.8 million. In all territories, it opened with similar or higher earnings than its immediate predecessor. Through its first Friday, it earned $91.0 million, after expanding to 61 territories. By the end of its opening weekend (WednesdaySunday), it scored a series-best $199.5 million opening from 61 territories on 12,812 screens. This is the eighth-largest opening outside North America and the largest 2012 opening. IMAX showings generated $3 million from 82 locations. The film's largest openings were recorded in the UK, Ireland, and Malta ($25.2 million), Russia and the CIS ($22.0 million), and France and the Maghreb region ($17.9 million). In Spain, it set a three-day opening-weekend record with $11.9 million. In total earnings, its three highest-grossing markets after North America are the UK, Ireland, and Malta ($57.9 million), Brazil ($54.2 million), and Russia and the CIS ($42.8 million).

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics, but the reviews were much more favorable than those of its predecessor. At Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 49% rating with an average score of 5.20/10, based on 196 reviews with the consensus stating: "It's the most entertaining 'Twilight', but that's not enough to make 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' worth watching for filmgoers who don't already count themselves among the franchise converts." At Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on reviews from 31 critics. Audiences polled on CinemaScore gave it an average rating of "A". The majority of praise from both fans and critics went towards the ending sequence, Michael Sheen's performance as the Volturi leader Aro and Lee Pace's performance as vampire Garrett.

Todd McCarthy of 'The Hollywood Reporter' wrote, "The final installment of the immortal Bella/Edward romance will give its breathlessly awaiting international audience just what it wants". Owen Gleiberman of 'Entertainment Weekly' said, "'Breaking Dawn: Part 2' starts off slow but gathers momentum, and that's because, with Bella and Edward united against the Volturi, the picture has a real threat". Sara Stewart of the 'New York Post' wrote, "Finally, someone took the source material at its terribly written word and stopped treating the whole affair so seriously". Justin Chang of 'Variety' praised the performance of Stewart by saying, "No longer a mopey, lower-lip-biting emo girl, this Bella is twitchy, feral, formidable and fully energized, a goddess even among her exalted bloodsucker brethren". Manohla Dargis of 'The New York Times' said, "Despite the slow start Mr. Condon closes the series in fine, smooth style. He gives fans all the lovely flowers, conditioned hair and lightly erotic, dreamy kisses they deserve".

Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "its audience, which takes these films very seriously indeed, will drink deeply of its blood. The sensational closing sequence cannot be accused of leaving a single loophole, not even some of those we didn't know were there". He concluded by saying, ""Breaking Dawn, Part 2" must be one of the more serious entries in any major movie franchise... it bit the bullet, and I imagine fans will be pleased." Helen O'Hara of 'Empire' gave the film a mixed review and said, "Fans will be left on a high; other viewers will be confused but generally entertained by a saga whose romance is matched only by its weirdness".

Home media

'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 2, 2013. As of June 1, 2014, 'Breaking Dawn: Part 2' has sold 4,810,249 DVDs along with 1,224,869 Blu-ray Discs for $71,418,469 and $24,472,107, respectively, totaling $99,195,325.

Spin-offs



In September 2016, Lionsgate co-chairman Patrick Wachsberger stated that a sequel was "a possibility" but would only go ahead if Stephenie Meyer wanted to do one. On August 8, 2017, 'Variety' reported that Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer has interest in having spinoffs made for 'The Twilight Saga', and wants to create a writers' room to explore the idea.

Accolades





See also



* Vampire films

References




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