Cut Twilight Major Plot Twist Involved Bella Firing a Gun at a Vampire
Bella was not supposed to be just a damsel in distress.
Based on Stephenie Meyer's beloved young adult novel series, the first Twilight movie premiered in 2008. It was a huge success and quickly became a phenomenon in its own right.
But were you aware that the film was meant to feature a major plot twist that never made it to the final cut? That's right, Bella Swan was supposed to have an active role in the fight against vampires, which did, in fact, involve firing a gun.
Although it's been many years since the first installment of Twilight came out, the saga is still being talked about to this day. To some extent, this could be attributed to Twilight garnering a new generation of fans, since the films made a comeback on streaming platforms, such as Netflix and Peacock.
In most recent updates, Mark Lord, Twilight's original screenwriter, and Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the first movie, shared some new information on its initial draft and direction during an interview on The Big Hit Show podcast - and it's surprising, to say the least.
Lord was asked to adapt the first book, which hadn't even been published yet, so some liberties were taken with the source material, which existed only as a rough draft.
'[Producers] wanted to take the concept [of Romeo and Juliet with vampires] and build in a structure that was far more like a cinematic structure,' Lord explained, adding that they aimed to include more action in the film to attract male viewers.
'They thought they were going to lose the male audience with too much of a romance,' he added.
As such, the first script had Bella Swan, the female lead character portrayed by actress Kristen Stewart, riding a jet ski, fleeing from the FBI, and ‘blowing away vampires with a shotgun.’
'Do you want her to do nothing? I want that girl to shoot some vampires. I want her to blow some s--- away,' Lord disclosed.
Hardwicke, however, didn't get on board with this idea. In fact, she revealed that she advised them to discard the existing script as she felt it was subpar, insisting that they adhere to the book's narrative.
Despite the change, Twilight went on to become one of the most successful supernatural films of its time. And although fans may never get to see Bella fire a shotgun at a vampire on the big screen (which would've certainly been interesting to witness), it's clear that the final version of the story was compelling and engaging regardless.
Source: The Big Hit Show podcast.