While the company behind the Twilight movies, Summit, went to a rather illustrious groups of directors when they were first looking for someone to helm the two-part adapatation of Breaking Dawn – including Gus Van Sant and Sofia Coppola – a couple of weeks ago it was reported that Dreamgirls director Bill Condon was the one they wanted.
Now it’s official, with Summit releasing a statement saying that Condon will indeed be behind the camera for Breaking Dawn. “Bringing Stephanie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn to the screen requires a graceful and intelligent hand and we believe Bill Condon is exactly the right steward, having shown equal and abundant talents of immense creativity and subtle sensitivity,” said Erik Feig, President of Production and Acquisitions, for Summit Entertainment.
Condon, who also made Kinsey and Gods & Monsters, has a fairly tough job, as not only are they likely to split the fourth book in two, but it’s not quite like the others. The novel is split into sections, some dealing with Edward and Bella having a half-vampire child and the other seeing what Jabob is up to. Melissa Rosenberg is currently coming up with the script. Apparently an absolutely final decision hasn’t yet been made as to whether to split the final book in two, as it rests on renegotiating the contracts of all the main stars, but it’s likely that it will be. Either way, Condon has a difficult job, so it’ll be interesting to see how he handles it.