The Twilight Franchise is Back
The Twilight franchise is being reborn, if you can believe it. Lionsgate announced that the company will revive the series with the help of five female directors. Each of the chosen directors is being tapped to create a short film based on the characters in the franchise. The catch is that each of the films will be released to Facebook in 2015, not to television or the big screen.
“The Storytellers – New Creative Voices of ‘The Twilight Saga’” is the name of the project. There is no news yet as to who the five directors might be, but Lionsgate did reveal that the directors will be mentored from the women in the series, including Kristen Stewart, who played main character Bella Swan in the series, as well as the author of the books herself, Stephenie Meyer.
“The female voice is something that has become more and more important to me as I’ve worked in the film industry. I’m honored to be working with Women in Film, Lionsgate and Facebook on a project dedicated to giving more women a chance to be heard creatively,” says Meyer about her role in the project. As for Lionsgate, their concept behind the project is a bit different. While they’re happy to be working with the women who will be chosen for the project, they’re more interested in what it will do to their business franchise.
“We’re delighted to expand our longstanding relationship with Stephenie and confident that her participation in the Twilight short films campaign will add an exciting new dimension to the incredible world she has created as an author and producer. Our partnership with Facebook and Women in Film underscores the opportunities for growing our franchises in exciting new directions, and we’re pleased to introduce fresh creative talent to the Twilight universe as part of our commitment to female empowerment in front of and behind the camera,” say Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate CEO, and Michael Burns, Lionsgate Vice Chairman, in a joint statement.
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