Kristen Stewart has explained why she "felt bad for" Twilight sequel directors Chris Weitz and Bill Condon following the success of the first movie. The Twilight Saga movies were released yearly from 2008 through 2012. While the first movie was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the rest of the film series saw Weitz, Condon, and David Slade take over as directors.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about The Chronology of Water, her feature film directorial debut, Stewart explained how she saw the first Twilight movie as one that maintained Hardwicke's vision for the movie. Despite becoming a pop culture cornerstone, the first film's artistic vision stood out to the series' star, especially given its status as a franchise product:
That [first] Twilight movie is hers and reflects her; Catherine accomplished that, hands down. Being able to withstand and organize that many opinions, and still make something that feels like yours, is near impossible to do. With so many voices in the room and with so much expectation, nothing feels personal.
Stewart explained how this made her feel bad for the directors that came after, wondering if they "actually felt like they fully directed those movies." She said that she both "felt bad" for the directors and "proud of them" for trying to bring their own takes to the franchise while also having to work with studio expectations for the movies:
[The Twilight sequels] had personality, in spite of a really stifled process. They feel almost overtly, bizarrely, spastically themselves.
You need to have an incredibly thirsty, hungry, brazen, deplorably narrow drive. You look at that and you get jealous of it as an actor. So then you go, 'I'd like to form my own version of that.'
The Twilight movies had different directors for each adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's novel series. New Moon saw Weitz step in, Eclipse was directed by Slade, and both parts of Breaking Dawn had Condon in the director's seat. Even so, all five movies were written by Melissa Rosenberg. Based on Stewart's statement, though, every director tried bringing their vision to the projects.
However, given the expected yearly turnaround for the franchise, coupled by the movies becoming more uniform in presentation as they went on, studio expectations would always be something to consider. Although they're considered classic entries in Stewart's film career, her praise goes towards the creatives for trying to make each entry more personal to them.
It appears to be a freedom she's replicating in The Chronology of Water, which holds a 95% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes based on 37 reviews. Her approach didn't have the same level of executive oversight a franchise like Twilight would. However, her praise for all the directors' visions shows how many lessons she still learned working with them.
With her statements emphasizing the importance of directorial vision, Stewart clearly learned a lot from the Twilight sequel directors, even if they were hindered in some capacities. Her praise for their work and the influence it had on her is reflected in the critical success of her own film, something that collectively makes all of their storytelling efforts worthwhile.
The Chronology of Water arrives in theaters on December 5, 2025.
50 7.5/10 6/10 Twilight 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed PG-13 Romance Fantasy Drama Release Date November 21, 2008 Runtime 121 minutes Director Catherine Hardwicke Writers Melissa Rosenberg Sequel(s) The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 Cast See All Robert Pattinson Ashley Greene
Franchise(s) The Twilight Saga Genres Romance, Fantasy, Drama Powered by Expand Collapse