2013 Movie Preview: The Twilight Saga Effect
- Details
- Category: Coming Soon
- Published: Wednesday, 05 December 2012 12:55
- Written by Lupe Haas
Stephenie Meyers isn’t quite done with movies as her most recent novel The Host comes to movie screens March 29, 2013. Another novel adaptation from a series of books takes a page from the Twilight Saga with Beautiful Creatures, a supernatural Romeo and Juliet romance between a witch aka Castor and a mortal boy. Next, another teen girl discovers she’s a demon slayer in the adaptation of another young adult series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.
All three novel adaptations have women writers in common with a female lead, but all three films are directed by men (what’s wrong with that picture). First up in 2013, the best-selling series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures arrives in theaters February 13 with new faces (Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert) surrounded by a cast of Oscar winners and nominees like Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, and Emma Thompson. Emma Rossum from TV’s Shameless also stars as a bad girl or in this case – bad witch. In this forbidden love affair directed by Richard LaGravenese, a mortal teen falls for Lena, a mysterious girl who belongs to a family of astors (witches & wizards). At 16, Lena’s fate will be determined as she is either chosen for the good or dark side of her craft. How’s that for a sweet 16? Watch trailer
Stephenie Meyers is hoping to corner the tween and mom market again in March of 2013 with The Host starring Saoirse Ronan, Diane Krueger, and William Hurt. This time the love story revolves around an alien and human.
In a sort of Body Snatchers premise, aliens invade human bodies and convert them into walking stiffs with no feelings (no, not zombies). Melanie Stryder becomes infected with the alien parasite, but her strong will and memories resist the host which sets her off to find her lost love. Watch Trailer
An accomplished actress, the 18-year-old Saoirse Ronan already has Academy Award-nominee in her pedigree for a supporting role in Atonement (Keira Knightley), so we’re hoping for quality acting in this Stephenie Meyer adaptation.
Then another teen leads the fight against demons in the first movie of a five-part series of books by author Cassandra Clare. Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror), Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey, and Twilight’s Jamie Campbell Bower star in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
In The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, opening August 2013, Clary Fray (Collins) discovers a world of demons after her mom is kidnapped, and learns of strange powers that run in her bloodlines. Directed by Harald Zwart (The Karate Kid, 2010), Lily Collins may look like a teen, but the 23-year-old brings some action experience, having kicked butt in Priest and Mirror, Mirror. Watch trailer
If all three films are a success, expect even more in the series a la Twilight Saga with four other Mortal Instruments books to choose from, and three additional Beautiful Creatures novels. Watch all three previews below.