Whether you love it or hate it, the Twilight franchise is here to stay. The paranormal love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob has become one of the most recognizable teen romances all across the globe. The first book was published back in 2005, and as it approaches its fifteenth birthday next year, its popularity shows no signs of slowing down.
The franchise’s popularity was further boosted when it was adapted into a movie just three years later, followed up by four sequels. Fans of the books clamored to see Bella and Edward depicted on the silver screen, and fans of the movies scrambled to get their hands on the international best-selling books. The Twilight craze set off a wave of YA movie adaptations that’s still going strong.
As with any adaptation though, changes had to be made in order to better fit the new medium. Melissa Rosenberg wrote the screenplay for all five films, and added plenty of her own inventions. She also cut a lot of details from the books.
Some of the details were simply unnecessary to the core plot and would’ve just bogged down the pace of the movies. Some omissions actually take away from the richness of Meyer’s world. And some of them are simply weird.
The list below includes content from the movies and the books, as well as the few released chapters of Midnight Sun. If you’re not entirely caught up, you might want to proceed with cautions.
Here are 25 Weird Things Cut From The Twilight Movies (That Were In The Books).
25. Carlisle Has Tinted Car Windows
Cars feature heavily in the Twilight universe, whether it’s the Cullens’ fancy, expensive cars or Bella’s worn-down truck. When Alice, Jasper and Bella escape from James in Carlisle’s car in the book, the car has dark windows. That makes sense since any stray ray of sun would make the vampire doctor sparkle like a disco ball.
But in the movie, the car they use to run away in doesn’t have tinted windows. In fact, sunlight doesn’t seem to be a huge problem at all for the Cullens and they don’t sparkle when physics say they ought to.
24. Bella Dares Edward To Eat Food
In the Twilight book, Bella first sees Edward across the cafeteria with his siblings, so it’s a big deal when she finally sits down at the same table as Edward. Bella has already figured out that Edward is a vampire by then, and tries to learn more about vampirism.
She dares Edward to eat human food, which never happens in the movie. In Midnight Sun, Edward reveals that the slice of pizza he eats is disgusting, and that he’d actually need to vomit up the food later because he can’t digest human food anymore.
23. Bella Faints At The Sight Of Blood
Bella and Edward’s paths cross in biology class, when she’s assigned as his lab partner. She walks into a stream of hot air and her extra tasty scent smacks Edward right in the face. The rest is history. Of course, there’s more than one biology class per semester, and in the book, the students test their blood types.
Edward opts out for obvious reasons, and Bella faints at the sight and smell of blood. She doesn’t even manage to prick her own finger— her classmates’ blood is enough to send her to the nurse’s office.
22. Esme Explains Her Past
Early on in their relationship, Edward takes Bella to one of his family’s baseball games. Since they have superhuman strength, they have to wait for a thunderstorm so they can hide the sound of them hitting the ball.
Before the game starts, Esme tells Bella about her tragic life as a human, a scene that is missing from the movie version. Esme turned into a vampire after throwing herself off a cliff, devastated by the loss of her baby. Just as she was at the end of her life, Carlisle turned her into a vampire.
21. Edward Shares Carlisle’s Past
Esme isn’t the only one whose past is explored in the first book. Edward actually tells Bella about Carlisle’s past, but it’s never mentioned, at least not in the first movie.
If you didn’t know already, Carlisle was born way back in the 1600s and was the son of a pastor and literal vampire hunter. Carlisle eventually joined the family business and hunted down some real vampires in the sewers of London, but got turned in the process. He was horrified by his newfound immortality, but soon found that he could live off of animal blood.
20. Bella Has A Job
In the movies, Bella doesn’t seem to have much of a life outside of Edward, Jacob, and various personal and paranormal crises. We know she goes to school at Forks High, but she’s not exactly the most engaged student. However, in New Moon, she actually starts working at Mrs. Newton’s sports hardware store.
Mentioning this little detail would’ve made the movie version of Bella a more three-dimensional character. While Bella is still clearly fixated on Edward even with a part-time job, she would’ve at least had something in her life that has nothing to do with him.
19. Alice Sleeps Over At Bella’s Place
Okay, Alice doesn’t technically sleep over at Bella’s house because vampires can’t sleep, but she does spend the night with Bella in the New Moon book. In the movie, however, Alice outright refuses to stay multiple times because of Jacob, who by then had already started phasing.
Werewolves are vampires’ sworn enemies, yet Alice is totally down to have a sleepover, further highlighting how caring and compassionate she is. Yet the movie strips that away in order to emphasize the vampires vs. werewolves element, simplifying the conflict between the two species as well as Alice’s character.
18. Jasper Goes To College
The Cullen kids (if they can still be called kids) go through high school and college multiple times in their unending lives. After all, they don’t age, and it’s the only way to maintain their cover. Unlike in the movies, Jasper is actually already in college in New Moon. Instead, the movie has Jasper in the same year as the rest of his siblings and Bella.
Enrolling Jasper a year above the rest of the Cullens would probably raise fewer eyebrows— after all, it’s already unusual for such a young(-looking) couple like Carlisle and Esme to adopt so many kids. It’s awfully convenient that they’re all in the same year.
17. Jasper’s Powers Are Explained
All vampires have superhuman strength and speed, as well as immortality and eternal youth. But some of them are blessed— or cursed— with extra powers when they turn. Alice can see the future, Bella can project a mental shield, and Edward can hear people’s thoughts whether he wants to or not.
Jasper’s special power is the ability to sense and influence people’s emotions. He mostly uses it to help people calm down, although he often does it without asking first. It’s referenced in the books multiple times, but not in the movies.
16. Rosalie And Emmett Go To Africa
When Bella’s 18th birthday starts to approach, she’s upset because she’ll be older than Edward, who will always be physically 17. Still, Edward manages to persuade her to celebrate the occasion at the Cullen residence. He mentions to Bella that everyone in his family is excited for the party. As it turns out, Rosalie and Emmett have returned from their trip to Africa.
We don’t know where specifically in Africa they visit— it’s a huge continent with dozens of varying cultures and countries— but it’s yet another detail that shows off how casually wealthy the Cullen family is.
15. Edward And Alice Give Bella A CD
The Cullens hold an elaborate party for Bella’s 18th birthday at their super fancy mansion. That’s right: Charlie isn’t invited and Bella’s spending such a special day with a bunch of vampires she’s just met.
Of course, there are presents around her, since the Cullens have amassed tremendous wealth over the years. But in the book, Edward and Alice give her a present that money can’t buy: a CD with a lullaby that Edward wrote for Bella. The movie does keep the bit where she gets a brand new stereo in her truck, installed without her permission.
14. Rosalie Shares Her Past With Bella
Rosalie might not be the biggest ray of sunshine ever known, but she’s had a really rough life, as she explains to Bella in the Eclipse book. She shares some of her history in the movie version. However, the details of her mortal life and her transformation are largely omitted.
Rosalie’s husband was a jerk and attacked Rosalie with his friends, and Carlisle turned her into a vampire to save her life. She later saves Emmett and has him turned into a vampire because he reminds him of her friend’s baby.
13. Charlie Approves Of Jacob Kissing Bella
There’s been plenty of criticism about Edward, and Jacob isn’t that much better either. For example, he kisses Bella totally out of the blue in Eclipse. She responds by punching him to defend herself, and breaks her hand.
In the movie, Charlie is flabbergasted when he learns about the incident. In the book, however, Charlie doesn’t seem to mind at all, and he even seems pretty happy with it when he says to Jacob, “Good for you.” Not only is that horrible parenting from Charlie, it’s also especially distasteful for a police officer.
12. Jasper Is Bitten By Newborns
Apart from the paranormal forbidden romance and the angst-ridden love triangle, the major conflict in the Twilight series is Victoria’s hunt for Bella to avenger her mate, James. In the climax of Eclipse, Victoria creates an army of newborn vampires to fight the Cullens and the Uley pack.
The good guys have to get training because newborns are typically stronger than mature vampires. Jasper, having had past experiences with newborns, leads the way. Despite Jasper’s expertise, he gets bitten by newborns to protect Alice in the book, and she chastises him for it.
11. Jasper Mentions How He Met Alice
Rosalie and Emmett’s first meeting isn’t exactly the most appealing of meet-cutes. She literally finds him after he’s been mauled by a bear. Jasper and Alice have a much better first meeting, though, in spite of Jasper’s troubled past.
In the book, Jasper tells Bella that he met Alice for the first time in a diner, where she was already waiting for him. The detail is never mentioned in the movie version. But if you want to know how it looks onscreen, there’s an official short film collection that portrays their encounter.
10. Edward Bribes Alice With A Car To Keep Bella Hostage
Yes, you read that right. Plenty of people have pointed out some sketchy things that Edward has done, like stalking Bella and sneaking into her room to watch her sleep. We already know he’s not exactly prime boyfriend material.
However, in the book version of Eclipse, Edward bribes Alice with a yellow Porsche to convince her to keep Bella captive. Alice may be the sweetest member of the Cullen family, always endlessly supportive and loving, but the book version adds an extra dimension to her, showing how she does have shallow tendencies that eclipse her judgment.
9. Edward Buys A Motorcycle (And Then Gives It To Jasper)
Cars feature heavily in the Twilight universe, and so do motorcycles. They’re key to Bella and Jacob’s relationship, at least as it begins to blossom in New Moon. They also play a part in Bella’s reckless behavior after Edward leaves.
In the Eclipse book, Edward buys a motorcycle so he can join Bella on her rides, but then figures that this is Bella and Jacob’s thing. He ends up giving it to Jasper in a rare display of maturity. The movie adaptations pretty much leave the motorcycles behind after New Moon, and Jacob only mentions them once in Eclipse.
8. Alice Plans Bella’s Wedding
Sure, there’s a giant, violent showdown in Eclipse, a fight for Bella’s life against a vengeful vampire who’s been hunting her down forever, but there’s always time for wedding planning. Or at least, for Alice.
Before the big battle in the book, Alice gets upset because Bella doesn’t want her to plan her upcoming wedding. Given the crisis they’re in, that seems like a pretty good call. Bella eventually relents, even letting Alice choose her wedding dress, which Alice shows to her later on.
In the movie, Alice’s wedding planning is only mentioned in passing.
7. Jared Imprints On Kim
In a nutshell, imprinting is when a werewolf finds their soulmate, like how Jacob imprints on Bella’s infant child and loves her instantly.
If you’re a casual fan of the Twilight franchise, you probably don’t know who Jared or Kim are. Jared is one of the werewolves in Jacob’s pack, and Kim is a local girl. They don’t get a ton of screen time in the movies, especially Kim, who only appears in Breaking Dawn Part 1.
It’s revealed in the Eclipse book that Jared has imprinted on his classmate Kim, but it’s not mentioned in the movie.
6. Quil Imprints On A Two-Year-Old
Edward dating a 17-year-old human girl when he’s a century old is admittedly creepy, even if he looks 17. Jacob imprinting on Bella’s baby Renesmee is also pushing it, even though she does age much faster than humans. But these guys are far from the only ones to have some questionable feelings.
Quil is Jacob and Embry’s best friend and a fellow werewolf, and he’s around their age. Again, he doesn’t get a lot of screen time either, but the book states that he imprints on Emily’s niece Claire, who is only two years old at the time.
5. Billy And Jacob Are At Bella’s Graduation
Bella doesn’t seem to spend a lot of time in school or on studying at home, since she’s too busy preventing her own demise and choosing between two non-human boyfriends. But she is a student at Forks High for the most of the series, and successfully graduates in Eclipse.
In the books, Billy and Jacob join Charlie at Bella’s graduation ceremony, which shows how much growth Jacob’s gone through. However, the movie only shows Charlie in the audience, and the valedictorian is Jessica, instead of Mike as it is in the book.
4. Edward Gives Bella College Apps
Bella spends the majority of her time running for her life and arguing with her vampire boyfriend about turning immortal herself. And sure, Edward isn’t the best of influences, but he is responsible enough to give Bella some college applications to fill out. After all, Edward’s been through high school and college multiple time already, and certainly knows the value of education.
This detail was cut from the movies, though, making it seem like Bella truly has no life outside of her drama with the Cullens and the Quileute werewolves.
3. Bella Gets Into The University Of Alaska
Not only does Bella complete those ridiculously tedious college applications, she actually does get into college! Specifically, she gets an offer from the University of Alaska, which is great news for her relationship with Edward, since the nights are super long during the winter. None of this is mentioned in the movies, though.
Of course, she turns into a vampire before the semester starts, so it’s not clear whether she actually moved to Alaska, but at least she’ll get plenty of chances to go through college (and high school again) now that she’s a vampire.
2. Edward Gets Into Harvard And Dartmouth
Edward, on the other hand, gets into Harvard, Dartmouth and the University of Alaska. Coming from an incredibly wealthy, privileged family and with a century’s worth of education under his belt, it’s really no surprise that he’d get accepted into such prestigious institutions.
It’s also unclear whether or not Edward continues onto college now that he has a kid, but if he does, he’d definitely choose to go to the University of Alaska. Renesmee’s birth cause a giant strain on the couple, but with her accelerated growth and immense independence, surely they can get their degrees in no time.
1. Edward Comforts Bella After She Rejects Jacob
Say what you will about Edward’s problems, you’ve got to admit that he does show some growth after a century of stagnancy.
After a lot of conflict both internal and external, Bella chooses Edward over Jacob. She does, however, acknowledge that she loves Jacob, so she’s absolutely heartbroken by her having to reject him. In the book, she goes to Edward, who is surprisingly understanding and consoles her as she cries.
In the movies, she never goes to Edward, but he does eventually learn to accept Jacob’s role in their lives.
What other weird things were cut from the Twilight movies? Tell us in the comments?
