On November 4, 2010, Summit Entertainment released the official synopsis of the film in its entirety:
“ In the highly anticipated next chapter of the blockbuster The Twilight Saga, the new found married bliss of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world.
After their wedding, Bella and Edward travel to Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, where they finally give in to their passions. Bella soon discovers she is pregnant, and during a nearly fatal childbirth, Edward finally fulfills her wish to become immortal.
But the arrival of their remarkable daughter, Renesmee, sets in motion a perilous chain of events that pits the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, the fearsome council of vampire leaders, setting the stage for an all-out battle.
The suspenseful and deeply romantic Breaking Dawn continues the epic tale of supernatural fantasy and passionate love that has made The Twilight Saga a world wide phenomenon.”
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn, is an upcoming two-part romantic-fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The two parts form the fourth and final installment in the popular Twilight Saga series. Wyck Godfrey and Karen Rosenfelt will serve as executive producers for the film, along with the author of the series, Stephenie Meyer; the screenplay will be written by Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter of the first three entries.
All three main cast members, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, will reprise their roles.
Part 1 will be released on November 18, 2011,
and Part 2 on November 16, 2012.Both parts will be released by Summit Entertainment.
Talks for a Breaking Dawn film started after Summit Entertainment greenlit the second and third adaptations of the franchise, and scheduled the two films to be released six months apart. Wyck Godfrey, producer of the previous films in the series, stated in mid-2009 that they had every intention to make the film version of Breaking Dawn, but Stephenie Meyer, author of the series, explained on her website's Breaking Dawn FAQ that if an adaptation were to be created, it would have to be split into two movies because "The book is just so long!", saying that she would have made the book shorter if it were possible. She also believed it to be impossible to make a film due to Renesmee, writing that an actress could not play her because she is a baby that has complete awareness, "The one thing that I've never seen is a CGI human being who truly looks real"; however, she did acknowledge the film might be possible due to the quickly-advancing technologies. Moreover, because of the mature and explicit nature of the Breaking Dawn book, fans and critics questioned if the studio would be able to keep a PG-13 rating, noting that the movie should not be rated R for the ever-growing fan base. In March 2010, Variety reported that Summit Entertainment was considering splitting the 754-page book into two films, along the same lines as Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Since under contract for only four films, the status of Kristen Stewart's, Robert Pattinson's, and Taylor Lautner contracts were in question, making the possibility of a split unlikely. Producer Wyck Godfrey stated that all three main cast members were signed onto one Breaking Dawn film.
On April 28, 2010, Summit announced that Bill Condon, who directed Dreamgirls, would direct Breaking Dawn; producing the film will be Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt, and author Stephenie Meyer. "I'm very excited to get the chance to bring the climax of this saga to life on-screen. As fans of the series know, this is a one-of-a-kind book - and we're hoping to create an equally unique cinematic experience," said Bill Condon. In June 2010, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaptation of the fourth book would start filming in November. A November 18, 2011, release date has been set for the first part, while the second part's release date, despite rumors of it being the following summer, is being negotiated. Wyck Godrey is also considering releasing the second film in 3D to differentiate between the time before and after Bella becomes a vampire.
In June 2010, Melissa Rosenberg stated in an interview that the decision on where to split the film has not been decided, as she was still in the drafting stage of the scripts. "I think it comes down to Bella as human and Bella as vampire," she said, hinting at a potential splitting point. She stated that Bill Condon would probably disagree with the statement, explaining that the decision is ultimately up to him. The Twilight Saga also helped motivate Rosenberg into launching a female-centric production company, Tall Girls Productions: "The charter of it, if there is one, would be to create some strong roles for women... the female Batman, the female Tony Soprano." She explained that, despite the fact of the many hours of hard work ahead of her, it is what she wants to do.
In order to keep the budget on both parts of Breaking Dawn reasonable, which would be substantially greater than the previous installments in the series, filming in Louisiana was being negotiated in early 2010. Shooting in Louisiana would provide larger tax credits, which a studio as low-profile as Summit Entertainment would benefit from. Summit announced in a press release on July 9, 2010, that filming will take place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Vancouver over the next year starting this fall. Both parts will be shot back-to-back as one project. The film will attempt to keep its PG-13 rating as it won't be featuring any of the extremely gruesome scenes from the novel.
Filming officially began on November 1, 2010. The first scenes were produced in Brazil, with locations in Rio de Janeiro and Paraty.
