Twilight is a 2008 American romantic-fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. The protagonists of the film are Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, who are played by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, respectively. The premise focuses on a teenage girl and a vampire who fall in love. The project was in development for approximately three years at

Paramount Pictures before it was put into pre-production by Summit Entertainment. The novel was adapted for the screen by Melissa Rosenberg in late 2007, shortly before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The film was primarily shot in Washington and Oregon in early 2008. Twilight was released in theaters on November 21, 2008, and grossed US$35.7 million on its opening day. As of May 30, 2009, the film has grossed US$382,133,300 in worldwide box office and $148,771,132 in North American DVD sales. The soundtrack was released on November 4, 2008. On November 22, 2008, Summit Entertainment confirmed a sequel to Twilight based on the second book in the series, New Moon. On December 7, 2008, it was announced that Hardwicke would not direct the sequel. Chris Weitz was confirmed as the director on December 13, 2008. Rosenberg had been working on adapting the novel prior to Twilight's release. Filming and post-production Principal photography took 44 days, after more than a week of rehearsals,] and completed on May 2, 2008. Similar to her directorial debut thirteen, Hardwicke opted for an extensive use of hand-held cinematography to make the film "feel real". Meyer visited the production set three times, and was consulted on different aspects of the story; she also has a brief cameo in the film. Cast members who portrayed vampires avoided sunlight to make their skin pale, though makeup was also applied for that effect, and wore contact lenses: "We did the golden color because the Cullens have those golden eyes. And then, when we're hungry, we have to pop the black ones in," Facinelli explained. They also participated in rehearsals with a dance choreographer and observed the physicality of different panthera to make their bodily movements more graceful. Scenes were filmed primarily in Portland, Oregon. Stunt work was done mainly by the cast The fight sequence between Gigandet and Pattinson's characters in a ballet studio, which was filmed during the first week of production, involved a substantial amount of wire work due to the fact that the vampires in the story have superhuman strength and speed. Gigandet incorporated some mixed martial arts fighting moves in this sequence, which also involved chicken and honey as substitutes for flesh.Bella, the protagonist, is unconscious during these events, and since the novel is told from her point of view, such action sequences are illustrative and unique to the film. Pattinson noted that maintaining one's center of gravity is difficult when doing wire work "because you have to really fight against it as well as letting it do what it needs to do." Lefèvre found the experience disorienting since forward motion is out of one's control in such work. Instead of shooting at Forks High School itself, scenes taking place at the school were filmed at Kalama High School and Madison High School. Other scenes were also filmed in St. Helens, Oregon, and Hardwicke conducted some reshooting in Pasadena, California, in August. The studio intended to create a series of at least three films based on Meyer's books, and Summit had optioned New Moon by October 2008. Twilight was originally scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on December 12, 2008, but its release date was changed to November 21 after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was rescheduled for an opening in July 2009. Two teaser trailers, as well as some additional scenes, were released for the film, as well as a final trailer which was released on October 9.15-minute excerpt of Twilight was presented during the International Rome Film Festival in Italy. The film received a rating of PG-13 from the Motion Picture Association of America for "some violence and a scene of sensuality". It is rated 12A in the United Kingdom and Ireland. [edit] Music Main article: Twilight (soundtrack) The score for Twilight was composed by Carter Burwell, with the rest of the soundtrack chosen by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas. Meyer was consulted on the soundtrack, which includes music by Muse and Linkin Park, bands she listened to while writing the novels. The original soundtrack was released on November 4 by Chop Shop Records in conjunction with Atlantic Records. The soundtrack debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 for the chart week of November 22.