The Twilight Saga is getting the television treatment as sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that a series version of author Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling book series is in early development via Lionsgate Television.
The Twilight TV series is in its infancy and does not yet have a network/platform or a writer as sources say the studio, which controls the rights to the franchise, plans to lead the development on the project before shopping the rights to the package. There is not yet a timeline for when the Twilight series will be taken out to potential buyers as Lionsgate first plans to find a writer to steer it.
Sources say author Meyer is expected to be involved in the television adaptation. Wyck Godfrey and former Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-president Erik Feig, who during his tenure at Summit Entertainment bought the rights to the Twilight book series after Paramount Pictures passed, are both attached to exec produce the television take. Godfrey’s Temple Hill banner produced all five of the movies that Feig’s Summit distributed. The film franchise, which made stars of Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, collectively grossed more than $3.4 billion worldwide.
Reps for Lionsgate Television declined to comment.
Twilight is a major piece of Lionsgate’s library. In 2017, five years after Breaking Dawn: Part 2 wrapped up Meyer’s film adaptation, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer told Wall Street during an earnings call that “there are a lot more stories to be told, and we’re ready to tell them when our creators are ready to tell those stories,” in reference to both Twilight and The Hunger Games franchises.
Word of a Twilight TV series comes as Lionsgate has been negotiating with multiple bidders to potentially spin off its studio business and premium cable network Starz by the end of September 2023. The Lionsgate studio business, which includes film and TV production divisions, grew revenue 25 percent to nearly $900 million in the third quarter.
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