Even two months after the release of “Twilight” -- the mania-stirring movie about teen-vampire love-- the mere mention of the film’s name on the Paramount lot induces cringing.
“It’s still very much an open wound,” said one Paramount source.
But in one sign that Paramount does not want to make the same mistake twice, Greg Mooradian, who in 2004 brought Meyer’s unpublished manuscript to the attention of David Gale, then head of Paramount’s MTV Films division, was hired last week as a senior vice-president of production under Adam Goodman, who runs production with Weston.
Paramount’s pain, of course, stems from the fact that the studio once had the rights to Stephanie Meyer’s best-selling novel (upon which the movie is based) securely in its vaults – only to turn them over, in a series of fumbles, to Summit Entertainment, the indie studio that released “Twilight” in November, and has been making out like bandits ever since.
“Twilight” cost just $37 million to produce. Yet it has grossed more than $300 million in worldwide ticket sales, making it one of the most profitable movies in recent Hollywood history. A sequel, naturally, is in the works.
As for marketing, that took care of itself. “Entertainment Weekly” devoted three covers to the movie. The Los Angeles Times created a “Twilight” count-down on its website, as did MTV.com. In the weeks leading up to the film’s release, it became a challenge not find yourself face to face with the brooding Robert Pattinson and his co-star Kristen Stewart, who play Edward and Bella, the film’s star-crossed lovers.
It was during this build-up of “Twilight” buzz that Paramount turned itself upside down, and inside out, trying to figure out how it was possible they had allowed such a Midas-touched property to slip away.
According to one well-positioned executive, when the tracking for “Twilight” began going through the roof, Paramount instigated an internal “witch hunt” trying to pinpoint who was responsible for letting the project go. Fingers were cast at everyone from co-president of production Brad Weston to Scott Aversano, the former head of MTV Films, to Gail Berman, who stepped down as president of Paramount Pictures in January of 2007. (It was under Berman’s watch that Paramount was unable to make a co-producing deal with Fox on the movie.)
Executives at Paramount insist that any "Twilight"-induced anxiety is over; that the studio has moved on. After all, most of the executives who were involved with “Twilight” at the studio are no longer there. Furthermore, the “Twilight” script that was developed at Paramount (written by Mark Lord) is radically different from the script, by Melissa Rosenberg (“Step Up”), that made it to the screen. Rosenberg, in fact, never read Lord’s screenplay.
Paramount has not yet responded to requests from TheWrap for comment.
Granted, studios often pass on projects that go on to be hits elsewhere – “Forrest Gump,” “Home Alone,” and, most recently, “Slumdog Millionaire” all originated at studios that did not go on to release them.
