Netflix’s animated “Midnight Sun,” based on Stephenie Meyer’s retelling of “Twilight” from Edward Cullen’s point of view, has a two-season commitment. The news came from Lionsgate’s quarterly earnings call.
Kevin Beggs, chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group, told investors Nov. 5, “That’s a 2-season adult animation order at Netflix.”
Netflix first announced the series on X on Sept. 4, 2024, more than a year after Lionsgate Television began developing an animated “Twilight” show. Fans have heard very little since. Sinead Daly, whose credits include “Tell Me Lies,” is the showrunner and writer, and Meyer is an executive producer. No voice cast or premiere date has been announced.
The words “adult animation” say a lot about who Lionsgate thinks will watch. The novel came out in 2020 under a young readers imprint and was marketed for ages 12 to 18. But people who read “Twilight” as teenagers when it came out in 2005 are now in their 30s, and they’re the obvious audience for a slow, moody retelling of a story they already know by heart. Beggs didn’t say whether the label means a mature rating or just an older target audience.
“Midnight Sun” is much longer than “Twilight” and spends most of its pages inside Edward’s head, hearing what nearly everyone in Forks is thinking.
Few Netflix properties have a backstory so tied to the internet. Meyer shelved “Midnight Sun” in 2008 after an unfinished draft of its early chapters leaked online. When she finally published it 12 years later, it sold 1 million copies in its first week, according to her publisher.
Beggs described the project as a “continuation and expansion of our universe,” a telling phrase for a film franchise that has earned more than $3 billion worldwide.
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Production listings reported by What’s on Netflix put production in Los Angeles from August 2026 through May 2027, which makes a release before late 2027 unlikely.
