Movies
Stephenie Meyer Talks How ‘Twilight’ Almost Didn’t Happen
The popularity of the Twilight books is a complete mystery to it’s author, Stephenie Meyer. She originally wrote it for herself, a 29-year-old mother of three, but it’s no mystery to the hundreds of thousands of fans. The popularity of the book series is so huge that even we were compelled to cover the film here at Bloody Disgusting. While we know it’s not a straight up horror film, it does have vampires, and some bloodletting. TWILIGHT may be a nice gateway for a younger generation of horror fans, something dark to pique people’s interests. With that, we went to the press junket for the film TWILIGHT, which opens in theaters this Friday, November 21st. Meyer was her usual charming self, re-answering questions that hundreds of fan websites have covered.
A few years back Meyer sold the rights for the movie to a different company, she realized that they we not going to do the book justice, and almost didn’t renew the rights to anyone.
“It was a horrifying experience, I had realized that it could go wrong, and that it could be done badly, that they would do something that had nothing to do with the [original] story, that was shocking to me.”
The book and film are about a high school girl named Bella falls in love with a vampire. The new couple leads a rival vampire clan to pursue them and attempt to force her to decide if she, too, wishes to become one of the undead.
When Summit wanted the rights, Meyer was wary but agreed after getting it in writing that they had to stick to the fundamental elements of the story.
“Tthe vampires have to have the same basic rules as the vampire world I’ve created, which means no fangs, no costumes, they have to sparkle in the sunlight, the characters have to exist by their present names and you can’t kill anyone that doesn’t die in the book.”
When she was finally able to screen the final product she explains, “So many scenes looked the way I had envisioned them, it was partially creepy and partially wonderful. … I think the acting in this movie is something special.”
An interesting note was about how much involvement she had with the screenplay. The filmmakers and the company behind the film at Summit asked for her input on the script, they incorporated about 90% of her notes.
“One thing I insisted on keeping true to the book is “the lion and lamb” line,” Meyer tells us at the junket where she revealed even more. “I actually think that the way Melissa [Rossenburg] wrote it sounded better for the movie, it was just a little more relaxed, but the problem is that that line is actually tattooed on people’s bodies, which I don’t approve of by the way…“She continues, “If you take that line and change it, that’s a potential backlash situation.”
The Fans in this case were certainly helping Meyer in her decision-making, but what is it about vampires that so many people are connecting with? Meyer explains her theory.
“I am not a vampire fan, and never have been. I don’t do horror, I’m an enormous scaredy cat, Hitchcock is about as much as I can handle, and I love it, but anything more then that and you’re not going to see me in the theater. It’s widely out of character for me to write about them [vampires].
“Besides myself, it seems that everybody really loves to be scared, in a controlled environment, horror movies do really well, it’s a big industry, people read a lot of scary books, I’m just missing that gene.“
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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