Overview

• In a July 2025 interview with The Guardian, Catherine Hardwicke said she found a single mini cupcake in her thank-you gift box at the production studio party celebrating the 2008 film’s success.
• Hardwicke recalled male colleagues being rewarded with a car, multi-film deals, or guaranteed future projects after the first Twilight’s box-office triumph.
• She directed only the inaugural Twilight instalment and did not return for its sequels, which were helmed by other directors.
• The original Twilight sparked a wave of vampire-genre media, including the Vampire Diaries series that ran from 2009 to 2017.
• Her revelation has reignited conversations about gender-based disparities in film industry recognition more than a decade after the franchise began.