Filming for New Moon starts in a couple of weeks and the details have been few and far between. We know that the actors like the script. We know they think it’s funny (which is weird, but we’ll get to that later). We know Taylor Lautner is back. We know Chris Weitz is directing. We know Dakota Fanning and Bronson Pelletier (I know, who?) are officially cast. The principal actors will all be back. Essentially, we don’t know much.
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So, how do you make New Moon as successful as Twilight? I read in a “you know you’re addicted to Twilight” list once, “Even though you love Edward, you still read New Moon over and over again because you can’t stand to miss anything.” For those of you that don’t already know what happens in New Moon, I suggest you stop reading here unless you want to be spoiled:
It’s a commonly known fact that New Moon is the least favorite of the Twilight series for anyone on Team Edward, mainly due to the fact that Edward isn’t in most of the book. Edward leaves Bella at the beginning in order to protect her. An unhappy mishap with Jasper and a paper cut makes Edward believe that Bella will never be safe as long as she is with him. His departure from her life sends Bella into a deep spiraling depression. The plot then becomes Bella seeking the comfort of Jacob Black to make herself feel better but she’s still depressed most of the time. Although it was okay for two-thirds (maybe more) of the book to be based around this depression, it will not work in the movie. We don’t want to see Revolutionary Road; we want to see Twilight.
So how do you fix this? They cannot change the story around completely because that would definitely make the fans really angry. So how do you take New Moon and turn it into a movie?
I’ve outlined the things I think are most important to making New Moon a great movie:
#10 Victoria’s plan must loom ominously.
Obviously, we shouldn’t know exactly what she’s planning or what she’s up to, but we should know that she is actively pursuing a way to get to Bella. This could be done in a lame way like Laurent telling Bella that Victoria’s after her or this could be done in a cool way like actually showing Victoria in her vengeful rage. Catherine Hardwicke set up Victoria as the ultimate villain at the end of Twilight so we need to see her presence continue to be a threat to Bella’s safety.
#9 Charlie. Charlie. Charlie.
The funniest interactions in Twilight came from Bella and Charlie. He tries so hard to be a good father to her and he clearly has no idea what he’s doing. It comes across as funny, endearing, and at times, painful. Charlie will be hurting when he sees Bella so depressed so the viewers need to see him try to make things better in his special Charlie-way.
#8 More Bella and Alice interactions.
The relationship between Alice and Bella should not be understated. Although Edward has left her, she has a very real connection with Alice, who she is starting to consider almost like a sister. The relationship is touching and is the sort of friendship we all hope to have in our lives. The tender romantic moments will be few and far between so they need to be replaced by some tender friendship moments.
#7 Be careful with Jacob’s heart.
At times, Bella’s interactions with Jacob can seem cruel. The girl is already really depressed and if the viewers are to sympathize with her, they can’t see her as insensitive when it comes to Jacob. The Team Jacob kids will come out in droves so the balance must be made between cute, sweet scenes with Bella and Jacob and the scenes where she’s clearly still thinking about Edward. Our hearts can break a little for Jacob, but we’ll already be hurting a lot for Edward and Bella, so they must go easy on us.
#6 Edward and Bella in love.
Although New Moon is told from Bella’s point of view, it’s pretty obvious that we’ll need to see a lot more Edward Cullen than the amount of time he is in the book. Besides that fact that girls go ga-ga over Robert Pattinson, the love between Edward and Bella is and will always be the main focus of the series. Seeing Edward as depressed as Bella will likely happen but we should remember how happy and in love they were as well. Edward and Bella flashbacks will probably play to the audience better than dream sequences. The viewers, especially viewers that haven’t read the books, need to see Edward and Bella as the soul mates hard-core fans know they are, otherwise, why would viewers want to see these two miserable people reunite? Being told that they are the essence of happiness isn’t as good as actually seeing it.
#5 Lighten up the script.
It sounds like Melissa Rosenberg took the heavy weight of the story into consideration and lightened it up significantly if the actors are telling the truth. Having light humor involved will help split up the times where the viewer must dive into Bella’s depression with her. Viewers need thought gaps and I imagine Rosenberg will use people’s efforts to cheer Bella up as a way to create humor and hysterical situations in New Moon.
#4 The proposal.
This is the one moment that can make this movie the New Moon of our dreams. Although Edward is just telling Bella he will only turn her into a vampire if she marries him first, the sentiments are very real. He’s just caused her an immense amount of pain by leaving her and his redemption must be more than sweet. The vampire/marriage discussion is paramount to the way viewers will feel about Edward and Bella by the end of the movie.
#3 Werewolf action.
The werewolves are coming out in full force and they need to “bring it.” The more we learn about how awesome they are, the better the build-up will be for Eclipse. Plus, the scene where the werewolves save Bella from Laurent will be the only piece of pure action in New Moon. The more it can be played up for excitement purposes, the better.
#2 The Volturi are straight from a horror film.
The scene with the Volturi needs to be terrifying. There’s a whole lot of talking and scheming but the truth is that the Volturi are extremely dangerous and Bella, Alice, and Edward come very close to being killed. The need to look creepy and be the types of images that might give us nightmares. We need to see the power behind them and feel the threat they impose.
#1 Robert Pattinson
This one is kind of obvious but really important. I’m sure the script has been written in one way or another to give Robert Pattinson plenty of screen time. However, this needs to be done in a way that stays true to the story that Stephenie Meyer told in New Moon. We know that Edward struggles with his existence without Bella and we know he struggles with his decision. Seeing that will be nice but like Bella, it can’t go over the top. Seeing Edward/ Robert Pattinson in happier moments is a must. Plus, more Robert Pattinson would make any movie a little bit better.
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
