Melissa Rosenberg Says Eclipse Script Hardest to Write
July 22, 2009 by Sara
Filed under Interviews, News
There’s a new interview with Eclipse screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg from the set of New Moon in Vancouver and she admits that the script for Eclipse was the most difficult one to write–
Q: Even though there’s been a 4th book, does that make writing the 3rd one easier since so many things get resolved from the 2nd?
You know ['Eclipse'] was hard. The 3rd one was actually one of the hardest of the three for me to write. You read the book it’s got a good deal of action and stuff and you think ‘Oh this is going to be the easy one’ and it turns out it’s not the easy one. It’s actually the hardest of all, and I was really tired, you know? So, I had to just gear up again.
Read the interview HERE
This script was a huge disappointment. The dialogue and scenes from the book were altered in a way that contradicted some of the defining traits of the characters, reshaping them into unrecognizable strangers. (Spoiler alert).
Bella’s aversion to marriage is much deeper than just a fear of being thought “knocked up.” She would NEVER abandon Edward in the school parking lot to take off with Jacob. Nor would she have gotten so angry at Edward, as at the tent scene or when she learns about Victoria’s visit. Her fear at hearing Victoria came back makes Edward’s choice to not tell her a reasonable one. She never yells at him or snaps at him with the anger portrayed in the movie. Bella always blames herself for the pain she causes both Edward and Jacob; not Edward.
Edward seems like a whiny, petulant child in the movie, overshadowing his epic love for Bella and the depth of his character. Edward understands why Bella loves Jacob and is endlessly forgiving and patient with her. Their love for one another is always greater than anything else. It felt like the romance was taken out of the love story. Everyone was too angry. Their depth, their heartache, even the joy Bella sometimes felt with Jacob and almost always felt with Edward, were all lost in translation during the writing of this screenplay.
The lines that were worked into the script are inferior to the touching and witty dialogue that was abandoned from the book. Meyer has created alluring, enchanting characters with whom we fell in love during “Twilight” and “New Moon,” but who have unfortunately lost some of their magic in “Eclipse.” The writer and director seem to have plucked out all the extreme negativity from the book to contrive drama, orchestrated it into no recognizable order, and counted on our fanatical devotion to make it a success. Unlike “Twilight” and “New Moon,” the music was lame, the hair and make-up was sub-par (what WERE they thinking when they changed Jasper’s and Esme’s hair style and/or color???) and the detours from the established story all but inexscusable.
I understand, of course, that not everything from the book can be in the movie. Any book, and any movie. But the parts shown, compared with the parts that were ignored, did not capture the essence of the characters or the spirit of the book; something which Stephenie Meyer managed to do four times, successfully. Granted, I am sure the movie will be a financial success. You can thank your loyal and forgiving fans. But as a rendition, as a representation of the story that captivated the hearts and minds of more than one generation, “Eclipse” has failed. Yet I say this not with judgement, though I have judged, but with sorrow.