Robert Pattinson has spent the best part of a decade distancing himself as far away from The Twilight Saga as possible, delivering a string of acclaimed performances in low budget independent films and even getting cast as Batman for Matt Reeves’ upcoming reboot, but in the eyes of a lot of people, he’ll never escape the stigma that comes from playing sparkly vampire Edward Cullen.
There was a lot of backlash when he was first announced as the rebooted Dark Knight, and it was all down to Twilight. The majority of people that blasted the decision probably hadn’t even seen his immersive and transformative work in the likes of The Rover, Good Time, The Lost City of Z and High Life, and if their only experience of the actor’s talent came from the literary phenomenon, then you’d completely understand the concern.
The series spawned an intensely passionate and more than a little terrifying following, with the five installments combining to earn over $3.3 billion at the box office despite being widely panned by critics. A decade later, Twilight experienced a resurgence of sorts last year when author Stephenie Meyer released a new book, and it appears as though the films could be finding something of a second life on Netflix.
The opening chapter is currently the eight most-watched title on the platform on the global chart, while first sequel New Moon has jumped a massive 59 places to fourteenth position this week. Eclipse and Breaking Dawn – Part 2 can both be found in the Top 30 as well, with The Twilight Saga slowly creeping up the rankings as the polarizing franchise attempts to win over some new converts and re-engage longtime fans.
