One Part of ‘Twilight’ Branded ‘Too Weird’ by Director Sofia Coppola

Director Sofia Coppola may have a number of big credits to her name, including Lost in Translation, The Bling Ring, and the upcoming Priscilla biographical drama, but there was one high-profile film she was nearly attached to. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Coppola revealed that while she was in the running to direct the final movie in the Twilight franchise, 2012’s Breaking Dawn – Part 2, she ultimately passed on the box office hit due to one element of the plot she deemed “too weird” – Bella and Edward’s vampire/human hybrid child Renesmee and the controversial imprinting storyline involving Jacob.

“We had one meeting, and it never went anywhere,” Coppola said. “I thought the whole imprinting-werewolf thing was weird. The baby. Too weird! But part of the earlier Twilight could be done in an interesting way. I thought it’d be fun to do a teen-vampire romance, but the last one gets really far out.”

In Breaking Dawn, the final installment in author Stephenie Meyer’s book series, Bella gives birth to her and Edward’s daughter Renesmee. In a subplot that has been the topic of much controversy among fans, shapeshifter Jacob imprints on a then newborn Renesmee. In the Twilight universe, imprinting is described as an involuntary mechanism by which Quileute shape-shifters find their soulmates. The final adaptation of Stephanie Meyers’s four-book saga was split into two parts – 2011’s Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and 2012’s Breaking Dawn – Part 2, which documented the aftermath of Renesmee’s birth – both of which were directed by Bill Condon.

It is unclear how the imprinting storyline, which has been dubbed weird and creepy by many fans, will be handled in the upcoming Twilight TV series. First confirmed to be in the works back in April, the upcoming series is reportedly in “early development” at Lionsgate with Wyck Godfrey and Erik Feig attached as executive producers. Sinead Daly is attached to write the script. Details of the series remain unclear, including whether the show will be a direct adaptation of the novels, with sources telling The Hollywood Reporter that “Daly is working with Lionsgate TV to determine what the specific take on Twilight will be and if it will be a remake of Meyer’s books or a different offshoot.” The Twilight series does not yet have a network, with Lionsgate planning to lead the development on the project before shopping the rights to the package.