The Stars of Twilight

The Fred Meyer on Bothell Highway was like a beacon for twilighters Friday night, as the store hosted a 'New Moon' midnight DVD release party with special guest Melissa Rosenberg.

For those of you living outside of the 'Twilight' bubble, Rosenberg is the screenwriter for the popular series. She's so far adapted the three first books into movies, and is already working on the fourth and final installment: 'Breaking Dawn'.

We had a chance to talk to her about her journey:

How do you condense an 800-page book into a two hour movie?

MR: "Very carefully. You start with, and you end with, what is the emotional journey for these characters. That is the most important thing to capture, that is the only thing to capture. Everything else is up for grabs, but you must take these characters on the same emotional journey that they took in the book, and hence take the audience on the same emotional journey that they took in the book and that's the goal, you hope that you achieve that. some people would say I did, some people would say I don't."

Do you get any feedback from the fans when you, for example.. cut certain scenes?

MR: "I have a fan site, and the fans will weigh in and say wow! you've cut too many things out.. or say I've done a fantastic job. They are very kind on my site, there are other sites I know that I don't read, because I can't handle that kind of intensity. You can't make all the fans happy, you try to make as many as possible happy."


How is that going to be a challenge for the last one? ('Breaking Dawn') because as you know, that's the big one.

MR: "It's the big one, it's gonna be a big challenge, and I guarantee you that not all of the fans will be happy, and I guarantee you some of them will be.
You have to give up the ideal of making everybody happy, it's just not gonna happen, but you hope you make the majority happy. Again, for that last book it is about taking that specific character Bella on her journey. It's a big journey, it's a massive change for her, and you hope to realize that."

What did director Chris Weitz bring to 'New Moon' that you think was valuable to the series?
MR: "He was so good. He opened up the franchise. He opened it into this sweeping epic story. Twilight was a very intimate personal movie. it was a small movie, it had almost an independent feel to it. Chris made it into a beautiful spectacle, he really expanded it, expanded the world of it."

Going back to 'Breaking Dawn', how far along are you in the planning, with production coming up pretty soon?

MR: "It's coming up very soon, it's all deep into the discussions and working on the story, and figuring out what it's gonna be... we're deep in the middle of it."

Any word on when it will "officially" be green-lit?

MR: "I don't know, but obviously soon.. vampires aren't supposed to age, so you know."

Can you talk about the fan craze surrounding the main characters Bella and Edward, and how it's carried over to real life for these actors? How do they handle it?

MR: "I don't know how they handle it frankly, it's a lot to have coming at you, I can't even begin to imagine. I have a little bit coming at me and it's almost too much. Can't even fathom what it is like, I hope they get to have a semblance of a real life."

Finally, can you give me one word to describe 'Twilight' fans?

MR: "Passionate.. for sure."

The 'New Moon' DVD is now available at Fred Meyer, and other national retailers. The next chapter in the series 'Eclipse', opens in theaters nationwide, June 30.

Ellen wants to know if you have something you would like to ask the cast of The Twilight Saga.
 Robert Pattinson, Kellan Lutz and even more stars will be dropping by -- and we're giving you a chance to ask them questions, which could be answered by the stars themselves! If you have something you want to ask, send it in.

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