“Twilight” Sofia Coppola version, that almost was the case: find out why the Oscar-winning director abandoned the project…
While promoting her latest film, Priscilla, Sofia Coppola spoke with Rolling Stone and discussed two high-profile projects that she abandoned: a live-action Little Mermaid in 2014, and the latest Twilight, Revelation, which was divided into two films released in 2011 and 2012 – two films ultimately signed by Bill Condon which grossed $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office!
Indeed, although she was very interested in the idea of making her own version of Twilight, the director found the last opus “too weird”!
We had a meeting and it went nowhere. I thought the whole werewolf imprint thing was weird. The baby. Too weird! But some of the Twilight prequels could be done in an interesting way. I thought it would be fun to do a teen-vampire romance, but the last one [film] really goes far.
As a reminder, the baby she is referring to is Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy), the vampire/human hybrid child of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) who has the ability to show people her thoughts by touching them . The little girl, mostly presented in CGI, had also caused a lot of talk about her at the time.
“I think it would be fun to do science fiction and I think it would be fun to do but not gory. However I like gothic horror.”, added the filmmaker.
So, just like Jennifer Lawrence who almost played Bella, Sofia Coppola ultimately did not make a contribution Twilight – unlike these stars, who had cameos in the saga that we don’t remember!
WHY DID SHE ABANDON THE LITTLE MERMAID?
As for his live-action project The little Mermaid, Sofia Coppola clarified that she had intended to bypass the famous Disney animated film and return the story to its darkest roots: those of Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale.
She ultimately left the project after clashing with the studios over the budget needed to bring the underwater world to life and also after a studio executive said the film should appeal to older men…
“Yes, there was [un point de rupture]. I was in a conference room and a development guy said, ‘What’s going to attract the 35-year-old in the audience?’ And I just didn’t know what to say.”
Without being able to see the versions Sofia Coppola of Twilight and of The little Mermaidyou will soon be able to discover Priscillahis latest project with Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, which tells the story of the meeting of Priscilla, then a schoolgirl, and Elvis, who at 24 was already a world star.
Priscilla will be released in theaters on January 3, 2024.