Actress Kristen Stewart recently expressed a fervent desire to helm a new iteration of the beloved Twilight saga, revealing her directorial aspirations for the franchise at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Creative Impact Awards. When asked which past film she would choose to remake from behind the camera, Stewart promptly pointed to Twilight, the very series that catapulted her to global stardom.

Stewart acknowledged and praised the distinct contributions of the original directors—Catherine Hardwicke, Chris Weitz, David Slade, and Bill Condon—stating, “I love what Catherine [Hardwicke] did, I love what Chris [Weitz] did, I love what all of the directors did with the movies. They were so themselves and weird and kind of like, squirrelly, and just so present in that time when they didn’t really know what they were yet, like before they blew up.” Despite her appreciation for their individual visions, Stewart couldn't help but imagine a reimagined version of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance. She envisioned a project free from previous constraints, speculating, “Imagine if we had like, a huge budget and a bunch of love and support. I don’t know… I would love to readapt.” Her commitment was clear as she declared, “Yeah, sure, I’ll do the remake. I’m doing it! I’m committed!”

Her perspective stems from her experience with the original films, where each installment (with the exception of the two-part Breaking Dawn) was helmed by a different director. Stewart has often spoken about the unusual and, at times, restrictive nature of this process. In recent months, she particularly lauded Catherine Hardwicke’s work on the 2008 original, emphasizing its authenticity. “That [first] Twilight movie is hers and reflects her; Catherine accomplished that, hands down,” Stewart remarked, highlighting the immense pressure faced by subsequent filmmakers.

Stewart reflected on the challenges of maintaining a personal vision amidst numerous external influences: “Being able to withstand and organize that many opinions, and still make something that feels like yours, is near impossible to do. With so many voices in the room and with so much expectation, nothing feels personal.” She expressed doubts about whether later directors truly felt ownership over their movies, suggesting they might have felt more like cogs in a larger machine. Observing how those films felt “almost overtly, bizarrely, spastically themselves,” Stewart confessed, “You need to have an incredibly thirsty, hungry, brazen, deplorably narrow drive. You look at that and you get jealous of it as an actor. So then you go, ‘I’d like to form my own version of that.’”

Stewart’s comments arrive at an opportune moment for the franchise. In 2023, Lionsgate confirmed the development of an animated Twilight television adaptation, with original author Stephenie Meyer involved, though further details remain scarce. Stewart’s renewed enthusiasm and clear vision for a live-action directorial take suggest that the saga may still be far from finished evolving. The original Twilight film, released on November 21, 2008, and directed by Catherine Hardwicke, captivated audiences with its fantasy drama romance, featuring Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, and spawned a highly successful series of sequels: The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn - Part 1 & 2.