(Scan) Melissa Rosenberg in the Montreal newspaper -NM Pic

source: twifansquebec

#Twilight Melissa Rosenberg Becomes Highest-Grossing Female Screenwriter

The scribe has generated more than $2.5 billion in worldwide revenue.

Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg got an extra gift this holiday season. With The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 continuing its blockbuster run in theaters around the world -- $647.3 million in grosses and counting -- Rosenberg has become the highest-grossing female screenwriter in Hollywood, with more than $2.56 billion in worldwide revenue.
In the last two weeks, the total grosses for movies Rosenberg has written surpassed those of Linda Woolverton, whose 20-year career had its biggest hit in 2010 with the Tim Burton-directed Alice in Wonderland adaptation. That Disney release cleared the billion-dollar mark ($1.024 billion) and stands as the ninth-highest-grossing movie of all time. The Lion King, which Woolverton also co-wrote, is now 14th on that list thanks to a recent 3D re-release, with $945.6 million in worldwide revenue. Combined with her other produced work, those movies contribute the lion’s share of Woolverton’s $2.39 billion total.
 (On the male side, Harry Potter serieswriter Steve Kloves is the leader with approximately $6.8 billion in worldwide grosses; The Amazing Spider-Man, which he co-wrote, opens in July. James Cameron also has generated more than $6 billion in worldwide grosses as a writer.)
As with most measurements of this type, there are a few asterisks. A longtime Disney collaborator, Woolverton contributed material to the studio’s animated Mulan, as well, which grossed $304.3 million in 1998. She did not receive screenplay credit, however, so that figure is not included in her total. There is also the issue of factoring in inflation, which would have a great effect on some of Woolverton’s earlier films -- Lion King (1994) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) -- to the tune of some $800 million more in adjusted grosses.

Plus, on the heels of Lion King’s tremendous 3D re-release success this fall, Disney has scheduled a 3D version of Beast for release Jan. 13. If that re-release does as well as Lion King‘s did at theaters -- about $160 million -- she could come close to regaining the title from Rosenberg even without an adjustment for inflation. And Beast did better than King with its 2002 Imax re-release, so that outcome is entirely possible.
Still, Breaking Part 1 isn’t finished its theatrical run yet. And Rosenberg, who’s repped by UTA and 3 Arts Entertainment, has another huge card up her sleeve: Breaking Dawn Part 2, which comes out in November 2012. If it plays as well as the previous installments in the franchise, it will add another $700 million-plus to Rosenberg’s total, giving her a substantial lead in the screenwriter sweepstakes.
STORY: THR's Women in Entertainment 2011: Power 100
But even then nothing is settled. Woolverton has two big projects in development: an Alice sequel and the Sleeping Beauty/wicked witch project Maleficent, with Angelina Jolie attached, both at Disney. On paper, either film has the potential to do huge business at the global box office. And Rosenberg is currently working on an adaptation of the young-adult sci-fi novel Earthseed for Paramount.
Here’s the breakdown:
Melissa Rosenberg
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) - $647.3m worldwide (and counting)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) - $698.5m worldwide
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) - $709.8m worldwide
Twilight (2008) - $392.6m worldwide
Step Up (2006) - $114.2m worldwide
Linda Woolverton
Alice in Wonderland (2010) - $1.024 billion worldwide
Arctic Tale (2007) - $1.9m worldwide
The Lion King (1994) - $945.6m worldwide
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) - $41.8m worldwide
Beauty and the Beast (1991) - $377.4m worldwide


hollywoodreporter

Dear Ted: Nikki and Kristen And Bad Reviews

Dear Ted:
I just watched the Twi-hard Ellen special, and all I can think is awkward! Is Kristen Stewart over public niceties with Nikki Reed or what? She hugged Ashley Greene, but basically ignored Nikki. And then, during the last segment when they were standing in a semi-circle? Kellan Lutz rushed away from her side, and the whole cast was on the side of Robsten while Nikki stood by herself in the corner. Am I reading too much into this?
—Jen

Dear Reeding Between the Lines:
You're not overreacting, doll. Certain cast dynamics have been rocky since, like, forever (or at least New Moon), but the series is wrapping up and everyone is apparently over faking it for the cameras. I've been saying it all along, but the cast is finally ready to 'fess up that things aren't quite so peachy behind the scenes.

Dear Ted:
I just read the Entertainment Weekly review for Breaking Dawn and I agreed strongly with one point: Don't the Twi fans deserve a decent movie? Don't the actors? What do they think of the reviews, or do they not care? I know the die-hards will defend whatever is put up on the screen, but by the fourth movie, you would think they would have learned something. And sorry, I think Kristen could have put an end to all that blinking, stuttering, lip biting, etc, by now.
—Jen

Dear Buyer Beware:
Sure, B.D. might have gotten a lot of crappy reviews, but this flick was actually watchable, which some of the other Twi movies have so not been. As for the actors, they try their best with what they're given, but they're not expecting an Oscar for the work. And twitchy K.Stew is gone for good—at least that's what writer Melissa Rosenberg told me at the premiere, 'cause part two is all about vampy Bella.

Source E!

Bill Condon (Reveals Current Runtime of Part 2) & Melissa Rosenberg Interviews On BD Sex Scenes And More #Robsten

'Breaking Dawn - Part 2' Has A 'Global Feeling'

Director Bill Condon calls final 'Twilight' film 'epic,' while screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg promises it will be 'kick butt.'

From Mtv:

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

In "Part 2," Condon said the action will focus on the larger world of vampires, which comes into the conflict with the birth of Bella and Edward's daughter, Renesmee. "The second one: It is truly the meeting of the vampires from around the world, so it has a really kind of global feeling," he said.

Rosenberg promised one thing: action. "The journey of the second film is survival, and it is kick butt. There's going to be some action going on there," she said.

Both Condon and Rosenberg were hesitant to comment on how the second film will end. Condon said he knows how it ends, but wouldn't offer much else, saying only, "It's an ending."

Rosenberg, on the other hand, was more giving, and said the answer lies in what Stephenie Meyer originally wrote. "It's in the book, and it felt right," she said.

From Collider:

"Condon revealed that his first cut of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 was 2 hours 14 minutes and now it’s about 1 hour 52 minutes without credits."

Bill Condon Time Index

Condon took home Michael Sheen’s head (or at least the prop version of it) from the set. His partner is a collector, so there is no room in their house to bring too much home.

1:00 – Condon suggests he was approached about the previous Twilight movies, but the timing wasn’t right before Breaking Dawn. He met with the producers and author Stephenie Meyer to pitch his take on the book.

2:00 – Condon discusses his perspective on meetings in Hollywood.

3:00 – The film was test-screened with a “tiny audience.” Condon calls it the “least tested movie” he’s ever worked on. But he showed it to friends to get reactions.

4:10 – There won’t be a different cut of the movie on the initial home release in the spring, but maybe down the line.

4:30 – There are just a few minutes of deleted scenes, but nothing that was really hard to cut.

“Just a few minutes [of deleted scenes] on this. This movie represents the movie as my preferred version of the movie. There’s nothing that I lifted that I regret lifting, or that I’m desperate for people to see. I mean, there were good things— for example, we used to bookend the movie with the Volturi. And now they’re just a taste of what’s to come at the end of the movie as opposed to the start of the movie. And I think that was right, you know. Right to not have them.”

5:00 – There is an easter egg in the credits. Condon explains that he put it in the middle because the end credits are so long.

5:50 – Condon talks about putting together the first cut for Part 2 and his vision for Bella’s transformation.

“Part of what I was turned on by with this whole thing was being Kristen Stewart’s collaborator as she now steps through the looking glass and becomes a vampire. You’ve watched these vampires from a distance. It’s only been her point of view. Now she is one. She— we are vampires. It’s seeing the world through the eyes of vampires as imagined by Stephenie Meyer.”

7:00 – The rough cut of Part 2 is currently 1 hour 52 minutes without credits, down from 2 hours 14 minutes in the first cut.

7:45 – He is reading scripts and eager to do another movie after 2+ years of Twilight. However, he is still immersed in post-production on Part 2.

From thedailybeast: | Via 

 Bill Condon and Melissa Rosenberg on 'Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn'

Filming a Real-Life Couple (Pattinson and Stewart)
Condon: It was entirely a relief. I can’t imagine doing those scenes with two people who don’t like each other. But did I have to adjust the way they make love to each other? No, it was really good.
Rosenberg: I created the sex scene and then Bill let the actors go, and I don’t think Rob and Kris needed any help with how to perform. [Laughs.]


The Wedding Scene
Rosenberg: For me, what was great about the wedding was that in the book, it’s so dreamy for Bella and she doesn’t actually go into specifics about what actually goes on in this wedding, so I got to fill that out a little bit by adding the wedding toasts, which was fun.
he Headboard-Shattering Sex Scene
Condon: It changes anybody forever, losing their virginity, but obviously Bella, who’s anticipated it for so long, is going to come out a different person. To me, it wasn’t so much about the act but about the whole experience, and that the more potent expression of that was looking at yourself in the mirror and realizing, “I am the person who’s had sex with that person,” and treasuring each moment that will now become a part of who you are. And you have to make it funny because sex is funny, and the anticipation before the first time you do it has some humor, and because you know there’s been such tension, you can play with audience’s expectations, like, “Oh my God, that was it?” And you get more sex later, and then you get even more when they have sex again.
Rosenberg: There was not going to be any fade-to-black [like in the book]. I wasn’t too interested in that and I don’t think the fans were too interested in that. It was conveying the passion of it and the physicality of it, but also the romance of it. That’s what makes so much of this scene different from so many other sex scenes. It’s about the sex, certainly, but it’s also about the consummation of a year’s-long—in movie land—romance. It’s not hard to write a PG-13 sex scene because you can convey so much with the actors’ emotional states. To me, what’s often most sexy or terrifying is not hand-on-boob, but the suggestion of it. But I know Bill had to dial back some of the sex scene [for censors].


Jacob “Imprinting” on Baby Renesmee
Condon: In the outline, Melissa had come up with the idea that you take the entirety of Renesmee’s life to adulthood, and you see that he’s connecting to the whole person and not the baby in front of him. My feeling was that it had to capture the part of him that’s a magical creature, and a shape-shifter that lives in nature, and to remind everybody that that’s the part that isn’t necessarily falling in love, but connecting in some way.
Rosenberg: My approach there was to lay in throughout the movie what “imprinting” was, and touch on it at several different moments throughout. I wanted to emphasize that this was a spiritual connection and to take physicality out of it, because that would be creepy. And emphasizing that Jacob has become her protector, in a way.


What to Look Forward To in Part 2
Condon: I’m in the middle of cutting it now and it’s an incredibly different movie. It’s more about the mythology and about this global view of vampires. It’s a lot of fun and chock-a-block with action, and not as emotional as this. I think the power of it is this vampire-hunter-goddess that Kristen Stewart creates. She was so turned on after watching everyone do all that stuff to then do it all herself. She said, “I’m going to make the best vampire ever.” The Volturi is also a serious threat, and when you have Michael Sheen and all these great actors playing them, it’s hard not to give it a big wink, which I like.
Rosenberg: One of the toughest things about that movie is you have all these great characters coming into it, and you really have to pick and choose who’s coming forward. If you include all of them then none of them get enough time. But you’ll have to see it to find out!


Reaf More HERE

Alex Merez and Melissa Rosenberg

Aurum Productions a Spanish production company has announced via twitter that Alex Merez and Melissa Rosenberg will be attending the Breaking Dawn event at the Stiges Festival in Barcelona, Italy.

aurump Aurum Producciones

@

@RPatzzSpain Tendremos únicamente el evento fan en el Festival de Sitges con Alex Meraz y Melissa Rosenberg :) Un abrazo!!

19 Sep Favorite Retweet Reply

via Twitter via Twilightish Via TheMerezEffect

YouTube Presents Distinguished Speakers Series: An Evening with Melissa Rosenberg

hUSCCinematicArts Via Twilightish

Melissa Rosenberg Receives WGA Nomination for Dexter

Congratulations to Twilight screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg, and the other writers on Dexter who have all been nominated for a WGA (Writers Guild of America) Award. See all nominees here.

The staff writers at Nurse Jackie, The Good Wife and The Pacific were also recognized. Those series have Twilight cast members: Elizabeth Reaser, Rami Malek, and Peter Facinelli in them

via twilight lexicon | team-twilight

Melissa Rosenberg At The 2010 New Yorker Festival: "The Vampire Revival" Coverage + Pics

Dispatches from the New Yorker Festival.

VAMPIRES VERSUS ZOMBIES

Forget vampires, zombies, and blood-soaked prom-goers—Stephen King’s earliest memory of horror films was the forest fire scene in “Bambi.”

“The Disney pictures are scary as shit,” he announced on Saturday afternoon at the “The Vampire Revival.”

His fellow panelists agreed: Melissa Rosenberg, who’s adapted Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” books for the screen, added “Fantasia,” and Matt Reeves, the director of “Let Me In” and “Cloverfield,” admitted that he always had to close his eyes during the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride. But the subject at hand wasn’t forest creatures or animatronic drunks. Noël Carroll, a CUNY professor and author of “The Philosophy of Horror,” and moderator and staff writer Joan Acocella joined this group to discuss sex, gore, and the characters on which they usually intersect these days: vampires.

When Stephen King released “Salem’s Lot” in 1975, vampires were so out of fashion that the publisher didn’t want to mention them on the jacket flap. In recent decades, a few pop-culture phenomenon—“Buffy” a decade ago, “Twilight” now—have brought waves of fans (read: teen-age girls) back to the genre.

These vampires are lost souls, Carroll said, the type that women long to make their “projects.” The sex, King pointed out, is invariably adolescent—“they just want to bite the girl’s neck”—and Rosenberg elaborated: the self-loathing Edward from “Twilight” is “actually very safe, because of his own morality.” King asked if there was a parallel between maintaining abstinence and not wanting to suck her blood? Rosenberg didn’t miss a beat: “Absolutely.”

King was quick to highlight the Christianity of the undead: zombies eat the body, vampires drink the blood. And then he turned to the inevitable question: when the zombie apocalypse arrives, which of the two would win? In a room full of vampire fans, King was impressively confident: zombies. They use the whole body, after all.

newyorker

pics

Melissa Rosenberg Talks More About 'Breaking Dawn'(video)

kstewrobfans via Robstenation

Melissa Rosenberg Talks About Breaking Dawn's Scripts

At Sunday night's Emmy Awards ceremony, MTV caught up with Twilight Saga screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, to get all the latest gossip on final movie Breaking Dawn's highly anticipated scripts.
Rosenberg, the screenwriter for all the Twilight Saga movies, had this to say about Breaking Dawn.

They're coming along. I just flew in last night from working with Bill Condon, prepping the scripts. It's a lot of work, I'm exhausted.
She also revealed that the scripts are almost 80 percent finished, saying "We're intent on making them the best scripts yet." Talk soon turned to the biggest challenges facing the Breaking Dawn crew, which fans would instantly place as Bella's birth scene. Rosenberg instead insists it's the final battle scene between the Cullens and Co. and the Volturi vampire clan.

The final battle sequence is a big challenge because it lasts 25 pages. It's almost an entire three-act story in and of itself. You have to track (kept all in one setting) hundreds of characters. It's an enormous challenge to choreograph on the page and for Bill to choreograph on the stage. I've written a couple of drafts [of the scene]; I haven't gotten with Bill [to go over it] yet. That's the next big hurdle to sit down with the stunt coordinator and create the ballet.
We're not sure this scene can be called a "battle," since no epic Eclipse-type battle actually takes place. Instead, both groups talk amiably and agree to leave each other alone. It's all very anti-climactic, even by Twilight standards. We're betting the movie will incorporate some theater-crowd-pleasing action into the ending, and give the franchise the explosive send-off it deserves. What do you think, Twilighters? Which are you looking forward to seeing more: the birth or the battle?

reelzchannel

Mtv:"Breaking Dawn' "Scribe Says She's Wrestling With "Battle Scene"

"It"s an enormous challenge to choreograph on the page,' Melissa Rosenberg reveals from Emmys red carpet.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

In the midst of Emmy mania Sunday night (August 29) — Dresses! Nominees! Celeb couples! — which predictably revolved around the world of TV, pre-show viewers got a pleasant surprise as "Twilight" screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg made her way down a very long red carpet at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Naturally, when MTV News caught up with the busy scribe, we had to press her for another update on the progress of the "Breaking Dawn" scripts.

"They're coming along," Rosenberg said. "I just flew in last night from working with ['Dawn' director] Bill Condon, prepping the scripts. It's a lot of work, I'm exhausted," she added. Rosenberg also revealed that she's between 75 and 80 percent finished with the two screenplays. "But we're intent on making them the best scripts yet."

Regarding the biggest challenge she faces in finishing "Dawn," parts 1 and 2, Rosenberg said it's the climactic "battle scene" — in which the two opposing vampire groups face off in dramatic fashion at the end of the book — that's proving to be her biggest obstacle, rather than the infamous "birth scene".

"The final battle sequence is a big challenge because it lasts 25 pages," Rosenberg told us. "It's almost an entire three-act story in and of itself. You have to track (kept all in one setting) hundreds of characters. It's an enormous challenge to choreograph on the page and for Bill to choreograph on the stage."

Rosenberg went on to say that perfecting that scene is her "next big hurdle."

"I've written a couple of drafts [of the scene]; I haven't gotten with Bill [to go over it] yet. That's the next big hurdle to sit down with the stunt coordinator and create the ballet."

First Look Melissa Rosenberg At Red Carpet #Emmy 2010 (Mtv)

*Talking Breaking Dawn battle scene w/ Melissa Rosenberg! #Emmys #BreakingDawn



karawarner via RobPattzNews

Mtv Interview: Rosenberg talks about "Breaking Dawn" and "Birth Scene" -Video & Photos

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

OTRC: ‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn’ to have sex scenes? Melissa Rosenberg says it’s possible

via twilightguide

Melissa Rosenberg on Breaking Dawn: “We want the eroticism of the sex scenes"

“I don’t think we’ll be toning a whole lot [of the racy scenes] down,” Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg told HollywoodLife.com exclusively during a one-on-one interview before her Writer’s Guild Foundation event in LA July 13. “We want the eroticism of the sex scenes.”

Sweet! We can’t wait to see real-life lovebirds Robert Pattinson and Kirsten Stewart are going to steam up the screen! However, Melissa does say, “That doesn’t mean that one has to see it all, but you do want that [eroticism]. With the birth scene as well, I just don’t know that you have to tone it down. If you really look at the books, how much are you really seeing? I think [the movies] might wind up being saucier than the book because you’re actually seeing skin-on-skin and the horror of the birth scenes. We’re not shying away from it.”

As for how she plans on actually splitting up the epic last Twilight Saga novel into two films, Melissa has a good idea – but nothing is concrete QUITE yet. “We’re still debating the exact moment, but it’ll fall down to the first half of Bella as a human and being pregnant and a newlywed and the second half being Bella as a vampire and a parent. Somewhere in the middle of that, the break will come.”

Source

via Twilightish

Melissa Rosenberg Shares Her Vision For Breaking Dawn

Now that Eclipse has hit cinemas and broken box office records, Twilight fans are already anxiously awaiting the next onscreen chapter in Bella and Edward's love story: Breaking Dawn. We talked exclusively to Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter behind all of the Twilight films, to find out what we can expect from the final two installments. She weighed in on whether or not Bella's childbirth scene will make it to the screen, shared her most surprising fan moment and dished on her creative relationship with Stephenie Meyer. Check out our all-new exclusive interview with her here now.

PopSugar: How did you feel about the decision to split Breaking Dawn into two movies?
Melissa Rosenberg: Relief, actually, because it was going to be quite a challenge to condense such a large book into one movie. That's always the challenge with all of these and, more so, Breaking Dawn. Having a little more room to breathe is nice . . . on the other hand, there's also the challenge of making sure there's enough to fill two movies.

PS: We've heard there are some scenes you want to avoid showing on screen in Breaking Dawn. For example, Bella giving birth. Can you tell us why?
MR: That was a misquote. The childbirth—all the scenes, I feel—should be on screen. I think perhaps what I was referring to was, would we actually see Edward's teeth through the placenta? I don't think so. I don't think we need to see that and if someone needs to see that, I think they should take a look at that. [Laughs.] I believe it will be implied, but I don't think we'll see teeth in the placenta.

To read the rest of the interview about her craziest fan experience, her favourite scenes to write and more, read on.

PS: What responsibility do you feel toward the fans? Are they on your mind during the writing process?
MR: The responsibility I feel to the fans? Well, there's one: making them happy, of course. I want people to enjoy the movie and not feel that I killed their favourite novel! But what I've realised is, you can't satisfy all the people. But the real weight that I feel is a very heavy responsibility, knowing that a lot of women and young girls are seeing this and watching to make sure that what's portrayed in the film is that Bella's a strong female role model. That the messages they're getting are positive ones.

PS: What's the craziest or most surprising fan reaction you've experienced?
MR: You can't call it crazy, but crazy wonderful. I just came back from Paris. I was there [for a press junket] with some of the actors: Daniel Cudmore, Edi Gathegi, Michael Welch and Alex Meraz. At the end, there was this closing ceremony and we were told there was a surprise for us and they led us out on the stage . . . and the entire audience was sort of standing in this darkened theatre, almost as if in prayer. It was very odd. And then after a moment, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" starts up and they break into a dance they've been choreographing for three days. This wonderful, very unified dance and it was amazing. We were stunned. A thousand pairs of hands all raised to the beat at the same time—it's a powerful experience . . . I wondered, could that have happened anywhere else but in France? Would American audiences have been too cool?

PS: How involved is Stephenie Meyer in the writing process and what is your relationship with her like?
MR: Stephenie is very involved. My relationship with her has only gotten better with every movie. When I met her and began to engage, I had no reason to be protective. I found her to be extremely collaborative and a tremendous resource. So I began to engage her more and that happened more on New Moon and even more in Eclipse . . . She weighs in on every draft of the outline, every draft of the script. She's on set. She's very involved.

PS: What is one of your favourite scenes from the books or films? Is there one you've especially enjoyed writing or look forward to writing?
MR: There are a number. I think seeing Bella as a vampire and her adjusting to her powers and embracing them, those are all really fun scenes to write. Particularly when you picture Kristen Stewart playing her, and the way she's embodied Bella as a sort of awkward, fidgety persona. When she turns into a vampire, all of that goes away.

via PopSugar

Clevvertv: Breaking Dawn Screenwriter Calls Final Films "Way Hot"

via bellaandedward

Poster Official Twilight Convention (France) july, 2010

source

Alex Meraz & Melissa Rosenberg At Twilight Convention (07/03/2010) France

More videos from Convention: Titia094

Melissa Rosenberg: “Robert Pattinson Is A Courageous Actor”

Here’s the excerpt interview of Melissa Rosenberg on Robert Pattinson as A Courageous Actor.

Rob said recently he was very challenged by Slade in playing the role of Edward this time around, and that it felt like a new character. What was the dynamic between Rob and David like?
“You know, David has talked about how Edward has to go from having just gotten Bella back to literally ripping someone’s throat out at the end [of Eclipse]. It’s a hard journey to get to for a character. So I know David worked with Rob in terms of bringing out that dark aspect of him, and we worked together on the script to make sure that was in there.”

Change can be unnerving for an actor, so was Pattinson onboard to bring this new character out? Or did he prefer the Edward in Twilight and New Moon?
“Oh sure. Rob is a courageous actor. He wants something to chew on, as it were! He wanted something meaty to really be able to act.”

via @pattinsondaily