‘Midnight Sun’: Animated ‘Twilight’ series in the works at Netflix

In this image released by Summit Entertainment, Kristen Stewart, left, and Robert Pattinson are shown in a scene from "Twilight." Netflix revealed Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, that production has started on a television adaptation of “Midnight Sun,” a spinoff book penned by “Twilight” author Stephanie Meyer in 2020.
In this image released by Summit Entertainment, Kristen Stewart, left, and Robert Pattinson are shown in a scene from "Twilight." Netflix revealed Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, that production has started on a television adaptation of “Midnight Sun,” a spinoff book penned by “Twilight” author Stephanie Meyer in 2020. | Peter Sorel

“Hold on tight, spider monkey” — the “Twilight” saga is expanding on Netflix.

The streaming platform revealed Wednesday that production has started on a television adaptation of “Midnight Sun,” a spinoff book penned by “Twilight” author Stephanie Meyer in 2020.

“‘Midnight Sun,’ an animated series adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel and the retelling of ‘Twilight’ from Edward Cullen’s perspective, is officially in development,” Netflix announced via X on Wednesday.

Lionsgate, which produced all four “Twilight” movies, will produce the animated Netflix series as well. The production company began development on the “Midnight Sun” series last year, per The Hollywood Reporter.

“We’re going to go out with the ‘Twilight’ series, an animated series — I think there’ll be a lot of interest in that,” said Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns, in March, per Deadline.

Sinead Daly (“Tell Me Lies,” “The Walking Dead: World Beyond,” “Raised By Wolves”), will serve as writer and executive producer over the series, per Variety. Meyer will also be an executive producer of the animated series.

A cast for the series has not been revealed.

What is ‘Midnight Sun’ about?

“Midnight Sun” is a “Twilight” spinoff novel that pulls back the curtain on Edward’s side of the teenage vampire-human romance story.

The original “Twilight” trilogy is from Bella’s perspective. “Midnight Sun” tells the same story, but with a focus on Edward’s point of view.

“Edward is a very anxious character. Writing him made me more anxious, and that’s one of the reasons it was hard to be in that story. His anxiety combined with mine was potent. He starts off fairly confident, but boy does he get broken down by the end,” Meyer told The New York Times in 2020 about the novel.

“Bella really breaks him into pieces. I think he comes across in ‘Twilight’ being very strong and so super sure of himself, when that never was really actually the case.”

The “Twilight” spinoff received mixed reviews from critics. Time magazine said the novel is “is more complex, more sophisticated and less innocent” than “Twilight,” but not “a good book.”

According to The Guardian, “‘Midnight Sun’ does not amplify the original novel.”

So, will fans get more books from Edward’s perspective? Probably not.

Meyer said she has no plans of writing an entire series from Edward’s point of view.

“Writing from (Edward’s) point of view makes me extra anxious. And the experience of writing this book was not a super pleasant one,” Meyer told The New York Times in 2020.

“So no, I wouldn’t want to do that — especially given that ‘New Moon’ would just be a nightmare of depression and emptiness. I think this gives you enough of a sense of what it’s like to be Edward.”