'Twilight' Animated Spin-off 'Midnight Sun' Gets 2 Season Order

A world full of sparkly vampires, half-naked werewolves, love triangles and swoony romance- the unstoppable rise of the Twilight franchise feels so long ago now. It's easy to make fun of (and many did), but it still has an army of loyal fans and many who look back on it now with nostalgia. Although it may have seemed like it dropped off the face of the planet following the release of the final movie, Breaking Dawn Part 2, author Stephenie Meyer continued to put out additional books in the series. Netflix has hit on the idea of adapting one of them. Only this time in animation.

The plans were originally announced back in 2024, but now additional details have been confirmed. The series is being produced by Netflix and Lionsgate, the Hollywood studio that released the original movies. The series is being described as adult animation, so it seems to be targeting fans who maybe grew up on the original books and movies. It's set to be an adaptation of Meyer's 2020 novel Midnight Sun, which is a retelling of the events of the first book from the perspective of brooding vampire Edward Cullen (played in the movies by Robert Pattinson) rather than original protagonist, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).

It's unsurprising that Cullen and Stewart would not return to reprise their roles, if they've even been offered. Both have become somewhat indie darlings with eccentric careers (and Batman) in the years since Twilight ended. According to Knight Edge Media, actors Sadie Stanley and Julian Grey have been cast as Bella and Edward. We weren't able to verify this (nobody else is reporting it) and have no idea if they are a reputable source or not.

The series has already been renewed for a second season. Whether the plan is to tell the whole story over two seasons or if they plan to run for longer, we can't say.

The news was revealed during Lionsgate's latest Q2 Earnings Call, with Chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group, Kevin Beggs. Beggs said that the series was born out of Meyer's love for television, and animation in particular. "Stephenie and her team are very hands-on, really running the process along with us at Netflix," he said.

Sinead Daly is acting as showrunner, with Lynn Wang as supervising director. Stephenie Meyer is executive producer, along with Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Erik Feig, Meghan Hibbett, and Emily Wissink. Meyer's production company Fickle Fish is producing alongside Lionsgate and Netflix.

The book is apparently much longer than the original Twilight, so maybe they need those extra episodes to fit it all in. If it's a big success though, don't be surprised if Netflix asks for more. After all, there's much more Twilight Saga out there to be adapted through this new lens.

There's no release date from Netflix yet, but production on season one is expected to run from August 2026 to May 2027 (according to What's On Netflix), so it's unlikely to debut before late 2027 at the earliest.

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