Netflix has added all five Twilight movies to its U.S. platform. While most fans are rejoicing in the cult classic film series’ return to streaming, others have joked it may be an ominous sign of an economic recession.
Twilight, the first film of the franchise, adapted from Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling vampire-fantasy romance novels, was released in November 2008 and starred Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in their breakout roles as star-crossed lovers Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. Its release, though considered a box office success, grossing $470 million globally, coincided with the height of the devastating global financial crisis of 2008. The Great Recession lasted from late 2007 to mid-2009 and is widely considered the most severe downturn in U.S. history since the Great Depression. Months after the recession ended in June 2009, the second movie, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, came out. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse followed in 2010, with Breaking Dawn: Part 1 and Breaking Dawn: Part 2 releasing in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
The five films were last added to Netflix’s catalog in 2021, months after the Covid pandemic sent the world into another brief recession.
“Something about the vampire craze starting back up each time we’re nearing a recession,” one quipped on X. A second added: “Twilight? Recession indicator.”
Other fans shared that they were already preparing their weekend movie binges. “That means I’m gonna be having a Twilight movie marathon by myself,” one said, with a second agreeing: “Perfect for a binge-watch session.”
“The best way to start May 1st,” a third exclaimed, while another admitted: “Rewatching Twilight since Netflix came out with the entire collection and let’s just say.. now that im older it is cringey af.”
The return of the entire Twilight Saga on Netflix comes a year after it was confirmed that the streamer was developing an animated series based on Meyer’s Midnight Sun, a companion novel to her first Twilight book. Published in 2020, the book retells the events in Twilight from the perspective of Edward.
Meyer will serve as an executive producer on the show. A release date has yet to be announced.
The five-film franchise, known as the Twilight Saga, became a cultural phenomenon and raked in a total of $3 billion worldwide.
Reflecting on the franchise’s success last October, Anna Kendrick, who starred as Bella’s friend Jessica Stanley, told Business Insider: “The fans of those books are so invested that even if you came into the franchise really late and you had one line, but you were playing a vampire or a werewolf, they’re obsessed with you. They’re picking apart every detail of your costume and your gestures and whatever.”
All five Twilight movies are available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
