Every so often a Young Adult book to screen adaptation comes out and takes the world by storm. The Twilight movies were definitely in that category, making household names out of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. The latter actress recently got behind the camera for her directorial debutThe Chronology of Water, and spoke about why she “felt bad” for the filmmakers who came in to helm the Twilight sequels.
The Twilight movies were a sensation when they were in theaters, starting with the 2008 original film. The first movie was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and was a pretty faithful adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s novel. In an interview with THR about her movie, K Stew spoke about the freedom Hardwicke had compared to future directors for the franchise, saying:
That [first] Twilight movie is hers and reflects her; Catherine accomplished that, hands down. Being able to withstand and organize that many opinions, and still make something that feels like yours, is near impossible to do. With so many voices in the room and with so much expectation, nothing feels personal.
That does make sense. There are lots of voices involved in any given movie project, but bringing the Twilight books to life on the big screen came with an added degree of pressure. While Catherine Hardwicke was seemingly able to block out the noise and make the movie she wanted to, it seemingly wasn’t easy for the filmmakers who followed her to do the same with the sequels.
In the same interview, Stewart spoke about working with directors Chris Weitz and Bill Condon on the later Twilight films, and admitted she “felt bad for them and proud of them.” She wondered if those filmmakers even felt like they really directed the movies, offering:
[The Twilight sequels] had personality, in spite of a really stifled process. They feel almost overtly, bizarrely, spastically themselves. You need to have an incredibly thirsty, hungry, brazen, deplorably narrow drive. You look at that and you get jealous of it as an actor. So then you go, ‘I’d like to form my own version of that.’
It sounds like her time leading an IP like The Twilight Saga has influenced Kristen Stewart‘s choice to get behind the camera for The Chronology of Water. She’s had a wildly successful career as as an actress, and I assume that she learned a ton from observing the various directors she’s worked with throughout the years. And yes, that includes her time as Bella Swan.
The Twilight movies continue to be re-watched to this day, despite how many voices were seemingly involved in the sequels. As for The Chronology of Water, that psychological drama is in theaters now as part of the 2025 movie release list. And I can’t wait to see what comes next for Stewart both in front of and behind the camera.