The Big Picture

• Lionsgate's decision to animate the Twilight series allows for more flexibility and creativity in storytelling.
• Transitioning from live-action to animation presents new opportunities and challenges for the production team and voice actors.
• The animated Twilight series offers a chance for nostalgia and reinvention, appealing to the original fan base while exploring new possibilities.

If you’ve been wondering where the hell Twilight series news has been (Loca), an update finally landed surrounding the Lionsgate Television production. During a Q&A at the Morgan Stanley media conference, the studio’s Vice Chairman Michael Burns dropped a titillating piece of fresh information surrounding the project that was first announced almost a full year ago. While we’ve known that the books-turned-films would be receiving a small-screen makeover, it’s now been revealed that the show will deliver the characters in a vibrant new animated telling. That’s right - from the Cullen family to the Volturi and all the werewolves in between, the offshoot will present a fresh opportunity for the creative team to dig into the romantic fantasy novels first penned by Stephanie Meyer.

If you feel blindsided by the colorful spin on the sparkly classic, you aren’t alone as it seems like a left-field move from the production company. However, Lionsgate says they’ve always been planning for the latest adaptation to step away from live-action and into animation. This may leave even more questions than answers, as the next big ask is who will be providing the voices for the series? Although the project could try to do what Netflix achieved late last year when they reunited the cast of the beloved live-action Scott Pilgrim vs. the World for the animated spin-off, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, leading Twilight stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner have each felt mixed emotions about their time in the original films.

Just last month, Collider’s Samantha Coley spoke with Lautner about the TV reboot and, if the actor knew that it would be moving towards animation he certainly kept it tight-lipped. When asked about what advice he’d have for the actor stepping into the paw prints of his character, Jacob Black, Lautner said,

“I would say just soak up every moment. I mean, it obviously will have a lot of traction behind it. The fan base is still certainly here and thriving, so it’s gonna be a whirlwind for whoever is involved in that. I would just say enjoy everything, the highs, the lows, because you blink, and I’m like, ‘Wow, our last movie was 12 years ago.’ It’s crazy. I always wish I could go back in time and experience some of that stuff again and just live in the moment, so my advice would be to live in the moment.”

Why An Animated ‘Twilight’ Series Makes Sense

For starters, it would be challenging to find replacement actors for the main trio at the heart of the Twilight films. As the Harry Potter TV project moves forward at HBO, it will likely be facing some pushback from audiences who have attached the faces of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint to the franchise. Molding the Twilight characters into animated beings makes the casting process a bit easier for Lionsgate and gives the studio more wiggle room. Plus - spider monkeys aside - it opens up doors for what can be physically achieved by live-action vs. animation. With an already built-in following, fans have less to worry about and more to look forward to as the production studio plays the animation card.

As of right now, no release window for the Twilight series has been set, but stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, you can stream the original set of films on Hulu.

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