The Twilight Director’s Teen Novel Disaster

After Twilight's success, Catherine Hardwicke, the director, ventured once again into fantasy Teen Movies with Red Riding Hood (2011), starring Amanda Seyfried. Prior to its release, a discreet movie novelisation by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick was published. But in an attempt to prevent spoilers and preserve the ending of the blockbuster movie, bold decisions were made about the book and it's ending. Like *really* bold decisions.

A Pre-Disclaimer Disclaimer: This video is not intended to be hateful to anyone mentioned. I like Catherine Hardwicke's work and other's mentioned in this video. Sometimes creative decisions are made by the none creatives and in my opinion it seems like this is one of those occasions.

While researching for the video, I came across this post, which has some useful links and further reading:

Disclaimer: This video is purely for informational and entertainment purposes. The video is not intended to target or harass any person, nor does it encourage anyone to harass, target or reach out to anyone, based on the information discussed in the video. The use of clips and images in the video fall under fair use for criticism and educational purposes. If there are any issues with the video, please contact me on the email above.

[JoeRegrets]

My 1 million subscriber special video will be me recreating this movie shot by shot, where I play all the characters. I'm almost there 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[beabunny.]

The beginning of the book straight up says “She was different from the other villagers” 💀💀”she wasn’t like other girls”

[Rose-hhmk]

7:27 I love how that's Catherine's ingredients to a good romantic drama
1. Forest landscapes with narration
2. Love triangle with obvious resolution
3. Charlie Swan

[fableSimmer]

My friend straight up guessed it was the father in the theatre like half way through. She was like “yeah, he was wearing a sheep costume at the festival. Wolf in sheep’s clothing”.

[arvil]

I can't believe they made DLC for a book.

[kf]

I do want to give credit to Catherine Hardwicke though, just based on a (sort of) personal experience. My high school had a weirdly good film program, and a few years ago, a student who was really into film got diagnosed with cancer. I’m not sure if it was through the Make A Wish program or something else, but he actually was given the opportunity to work with some big names (a few seriously accomplished actors, really) to have a professional production of a short film he wrote. Hardwicke ended up being the director, and I remember being like “oh, that lady directed Twilight? Huh, cool.” I was never into Twilight and just didn’t know anything about her before that. There was a big premiere for the student’s movie at our school, and I think it meant a lot to everyone that Hardwicke and the other professionals involved made this kid’s dream happen. He did pass away later on (I want to say it was some time after the premiere, but that might just be the most comforting sequence of events to me), but I’d like to think that getting to be on set and all of that was an amazing experience for him that helped him through that time. Because of that, I’ll always appreciate Catherine Hardwicke on a sentimental, personal level

[Catsafari]

Disney did the same thing with the Frozen 2 books — they didn’t want to spoil the ending, so the novelisations and picture books all end with Anna going off to destroy the dam... and that’s it.

[BestOnThursdays]

As a fan fiction writer this is upsetting to learn about. I mean this only works online, I've done this myself, fans are fickle so withholding the ending and reading the comments of the previous chapters and story beats makes it so you can get a feel on if the readers will think this ending is right, not rushed and not a total let down. but when you have the physical book in your hand you can't withhold the ending. That's like handing someone a slice of cheese and telling them to enjoy their grilled cheese sandwich.

[boboblueblue]

“Book adaptations make more money at the box office”
Its not some magic formula, it’s just, because there is already an audience that loves the characters and the story.
People won’t like your story and want to see the movie IF YOU DON’T EVEN FINISH THE STORY

[suncakecobra]

On a separate note, Amanda Seyfried is one of the most beautiful women on this planet.

[nikolnolastname]

They wanted that teen money so they wrote a book that did better than the movie 🤣

[evangelinex]

I "accidentally" bought this book!! I got it at a dollar tree before going on a trip (thought it would be a good a plane read). I had seen the film when it originally came out, but I bought the book a few years after that and didn't realize they were related (dollar stores sell alot of dead/old leftover stock)... I never ended up reading the book though, lol. I forgot it at home and it's just been sitting on a bookshelf in my living room for 5 years now. Every year since, at least once, I remember it's there, consider reading it and then just forget about it.. Thank goodness for this video!! I don't have to feel bad about never reading it now!

[wisterwilson]

hey queen! Girl you have done it again. Constantly raising the bar for us all and doing it flawlessly. i’d say i’m surprised but i know who you are. i’ve seen it up close and personal. girl you make me so proud. And I love you

[bellz]

I feel like Catherine Hardwicke lost her touch when she went mainstream. She showed such promise with Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown.

[DragonHotCoffee]

WAIT so Catherine Hardwicke COMPLETELY orchestrated the novel and its garbage "bonus chapter" just to capitalize on a twilight-esque movie????
Unfortunately, that makes sense....

[monstersrtrees]

I sincerely hope the youtube algorithm does its job for once and floats you. Your content is just *chef's kiss*

[Skeksistential-crisis]

Ohhh i was *OBSESSED* with this movie as a young teen and i can’t for the life of me understand why

[whyccan]

Admittedly a nitpicky pet peeve of mine, but holy hell, the original cover is SO MUCH more interesting than that bland-ass movie poster they slapped on the book after the movie debut

[SunnivaAMV]

Not gonna lie, I love this movie so much 💀 I saw it in the theatre as a kid and became obsessed. It's mostly nostalgic value at this point, similar to Twilight for me as guilty pleasure movies, but it's something abt the aesthetic that's just so up my alley. Dark, mysterious, sexy and Amanda Seyfried is also my fav actress so I'm a bit biased

[edenmckinley]

Honestly, a whodunit monster story sounds appealing. A love triangle doesn't, but I like the idea of a "who is the monster" and it turning out to be someone close to the protagonist. From a plot perspective, the twist does sorta make sense, but it is a really crappy thing to not include the ending. I really wish someone would use the whodunit monster thing again, where the focus isn't on how to we kill/find the monster, but instead on who the monster is.