The studio NEVER gave director Catherine Hardwicke any credit for what she did with Twilight. Hardwicke was the one who cast Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, she was the one who set the tone for the franchise and believed in the project. She had the vision to know what the film and franchise could be. And after the first Twilight movie exceeded all expectations and became one of the biggest films of 2008, Hardwicke was given a mini-cupcake and shown the door.
“Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke said in an interview with The Guardian that the studio gifted her a “mini cupcake” as a congratulations when the vampire romance opened to an unexpectedly huge $69 million in November 2008. It was a blunt realization that no matter how successful her directing career could be, she would not be valued in the same way as a male director.
“No, people aren’t going to hire more women directors,” she told interviewer Hanna Flint. “They’re not going to give you the next job and let you do something great. It was an earth-shattering reality right away.”
Whereas a successful male director with a franchise-launching huge opening weekend might be gifted “a car, or a three-picture deal, or [the chance] to do basically whatever you want,” Hardwicke continued, she was given more or less a pat on the back.
“I walked into a room with all these gifts, and everybody was congratulating the studio, and they gave me a box,” she remembered. “I opened it up, and it was a mini cupcake.”
The director previously revealed on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in 2023 that the studio always underestimated how big “Twilight” could become. She was told by executives right before opening weekend that debuting to $30 million would be a relief. “Twilight” earned $7 million from midnight ticket sales alone on its way to a $35 million opening day. The film generated $69 million over its opening weekend and would go on to earn $192 million domestically and $408 million worldwide.
Of all of the women directors who got screwed over by men and Hollywood’s misogyny, Hardwicke really stands out as an especially egregious case. She was working with such a small budget, and no one really believed that Pattinson especially was going to pull off his role. And the studio immediately jettisoned Hardwicke as soon as Twilight became a phenomenon and handed the franchise to male directors. It’s awful. A damn mini-cupcake! Good lord.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
-
- BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – JANUARY 19: Catherine Hardwicke arrives at the 21st Annual Living Legends Of Aviation Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 19, 2024 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 838905387, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Catherine Hardwicke, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
-
- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – OCTOBER 21: Catherine Hardwicke arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere of Netflix’s ‘Emilia Perez’ held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on October 21, 2024 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 924753011, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Catherine Hardwicke, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
You can see it after first movie , its goes downhill. When I was reading the book those moody sky and she was able to recreate those scene on screen is amazing and the soundtrack for first movie is also so good.
It wasn’t just sexism that got her booted. Stephenie Meyer is extremely racist and fought Catherine every step of the way as she tried to minimally diversify the cast. Meyer hated her for “ruining” her vision.
That happened to a few women as far as we know. They achieve success and the studio gives the show to a man. That creepy Sam Levinson stole Petra Collins’s visuals for Euphoria when she was first chosen as the director and gave her zero credits when people were praising the show’s aesthetic and visuals.
This was not the feminine rage I wanted to start my day with. A mini cupcake? That’s a cruel joke.
I’m somehow not even surprised any more.
Yes, the cruelty had to have been intentional.
The first one was the only decent movie in the series. Dear lort. A whole mini cupcake for a runaway success, then sacked and your work handed to lesser talents…. F#ck the patriarchy.
What’s hilarious is everyone says the second and third movie were freaking awful.
In fairness, I think Chris Weitz made a beautiful movie out of New Moon. He made you feel Bella’s despair and desolation, and her confusion over her relationship with Jake, He gave us the refinement of the Volturi. And he really showcased Taylor Lautner and made him a star. I think Weitz had the hardest job of all the series directors, because there was hardly any Edward in the story.
As for Hardwick, she should have gotten a better agent and manager after Twilight. There’s sexism of course in any industry. But in that industry, you need the right representation.
There were 5 movies. New Moon is quite good. Eclipse terrible. Breaking Dawns 1 and 2 were ok but obviously split in 2 to just cash in more.
Twilight sets the tone but imo New Moon is best.
You know those Hollywood execs were like “A single cupcake? Nah, she’s probably on a diet. *Mini* cupcake it is!” and then patted themselves on the back for being so thoughtful.
I made a NY resolution to seek out female led / female driven shows and movies. I don’t want to watch male violence anymore. I’ve seen some fantastic stuff. Funnily enough I hear great things about, for example murderbot, but haven’t watched it yet. So I’m open to suggestions if you have any
Murderbot is written and directed by Chris Weitz, same guy I posted about above for directing New Moon.
The podcast “What Went Wrong” did a great episode about Twilight explaining how the movie was made and they address how Hardwicke was treated especially after developing the aesthetics and tone for the franchise.
That sucks for her, the first Twilight movie was the only watcheable one imo. After that they got extremely weird. The soundtrack for the first one was also banging. I hope she’s doing something interesting now that she’s happy with, I hate hearing about injustices towards women in the arts.
And yet white men fail upward again and again and again.
The espy’s hired noted bigot shane gillis as their host.
After he was fired before airing as SNL cast member for being a bigot, and then they have had him on to host twice since.
Apparently he bombed at the espys- which probably means they’re about to award him his own late night talk show.
Mediocre white men never run out of chances.
I didn’t get into Twilight when it first came out, I think because I had just graduated college and had too much new adult stuff going on. During COVID I decided to watch the films and read the books and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them. Now they are my comfort movies and I watch them all once or twice a year.
The first movie is still my favorite. The blue filter, the beautiful scenery, the way it perfectly captured what it feels like to be a teenager in love for the first time, the soundtrack, even the slightly campy acting. I think it gives me nostalgia for growing up in that era in a simpler time. The movies that came after are still entertaining but Catherine Hardwicke really did lay the base for what the franchise became and she never got her due credit for it.