The filmmaker thinks “the last part really goes too far.”
The “Twilight” saga first made teenagers melt in 2008. So much so that the question of “Team Jacob or Team Edward” seemed completely legitimate and self-explanatory. However, Sofia Coppola stayed away from the – admittedly sometimes strange – vampire film series and politely declined to direct the last part, “Breaking Dawn – Until the End of the Night”.
The director thought the concept of the film was “too weird”, she now admits to the US “Rolling Stone”. Although Coppola met with the producers to talk about joining the project, “nothing ever came of it.” “I found the whole werewolf imprinting thing strange. The baby. Too strange! But some of the earlier Twilight could be implemented in an interesting way. “I thought it would be fun to do a teenage vampire romance, but the last part really goes too far,” the screenwriter explains in an interview. Instead, Bill Condon took over the direction of author Stephanie Meyer’s last book from 2011 to 2012, which was divided into two films.
This is what “Breaking Dawn – Until the End of the Night – Part 1” ultimately looked like:
However, “Twilight” wasn’t the only fantasy piece that Sofia Coppola rejected. The filmmaker, who directed Lost In Translation and The Virgin Suicides, was offered the chance to produce a live-action version of The Little Mermaid, although not the 2023 Disney version. But when she met with the studio managers and a developer asked what would “appeal to the 35-year-old man in the audience” if the director didn’t know what to say. “I was just out of my element. “I feel like I was naive and then I felt similar to the character in the story trying to do something that’s out of their element and that to me was a fun parallel of the story,” explained the screenwriter why she ultimately rejected this film.
Sofia Coppola’s production “Priscilla” opens in US cinemas on October 27th, while it will be shown in Germany from January 4th, 2024. The film tells the story of Elvis Presley’s wife and is based on the 1985 autobiography “Elvis and Me,” which Priscilla Presley co-wrote with Sandra Harmon. The now 78-year-old is played by newcomer Cailee Spaeny, while “Euphoria” star Jacob Elordi takes on the role of Elvis.