It’s time for our daily TWILIGHT news. The chatter about the penultimate film in the series based on Stephenie Meyer’s insanely popular book series, BREAKING DAWN, is heating up. It’s long been rumored that the final film would be split into at least two movies, if not three, and now word is out that “multiple sources” are reporting that Summit Entertainment is interested in, at the very least, going the two-film way.

So far, the only hard and fast news is that screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has been tapped to write the script. Having penned TWILIGHT, NEW MOON, and ECLIPSE, this is news to absolutely no one. But, beyond the enduring two-film rumor is a new one – that Summit wants NEW MOON director Chris Weitz back in the director’s chair for however many films BREAKING DAWN shakes out to be. Weitz recently declared that a much smaller film, THE GARDENER, would be his next job (after telling the world he might just chuck it all in favor of learning Spanish and going surfing). And just who wants to fund THE GARDENER? Why, Summit, of course! That’s not a done deal yet, and could that be due to Summit tantalizing Weitz with a fat BREAKING DAWN paycheck in exchange for postponing the flick?

Of course, this is all speculation as of now, but it still begs one big question. Should BREAKING DAWN even be broken down into two films?

As your resident TWILIGHT expert, my answer to that question is a firm yes. But why?

1. The book lends itself to a split. “Breaking Dawn” is divided into three distinct parts (SPOILER ALERT to anyone not familiar with the plot of the book, all five of you). The first part covers Bella and Edward’s marriage and honeymoon. It’…um…spicy. The second section is told from Jacob Black’s perspective, concerning some of the unexpected results of the honeymoon, and the inevitability of Bella’s transformation into a vampire. It’s…um…messy. The final section returns to Bella’s perspective, now a vampire (and mom!), as she deals with the Volturi coming to Forks to possibly mete out some dirty justice. I’ve always found the first section of the book to a bit boring and drawn-out, but if coupled with Jacob’s section, it could most definitely make a meaty movie, complete with enough vampire AND werewolf coverage to keep all fans happy (cough, Team Jacob, cough). The final section can be set up as sort of an epic battle flick, the final word in the TWILIGHT world, gathering all sorts of new characters and shedding light on some old ones. Honestly, the as-of-now totally theoretical BREAKING DAWN 2 is the film I most want to see.

2. The fans demand it. “Breaking Dawn” (the book) was published in August of 2008. TWILIGHT hit screens in November of 2008. What does that mean? It means that TWILIGHT fans (now known as some of the most dedicated and rabid fans on the planet) not only had enough time to read the book, they also had enough time to read the book with specific cast members in mind. TWILIGHT fans have an idea of how every totally nuts moment of BREAKING DAWN is going to play out, and you better believe that just one film is not even going to remotely satiate those plans.

3. Summit will make an insane amount of money. The $481 million that NEW MOON has pulled in over just two weeks (worldwide) proves that the franchise is not slowing down, it’s only picking up. Weitz also made NEW MOON for a tidy $50 million, including those nifty werewolf-transformation effects that made anything previously seen in TWILIGHT utterly laughable.

4. A two-for-one deal! If they go the HARRY POTTER route and do split BREAKING DAWN into two parts, the movies can be filmed concurrently. While it’s certainly more expensive than just making one movie, there is an ease to not breaking them down into separate productions. Summit would, however, have to renegotiate the contracts for the film’s stars, giving them big bonuses that could bump them into “eight-figure paydays.”

5. Speculation about how exactly the two scripts would be pieced out would drive movie-goers to see at least the first film. Just how much of BREAKING DAWN 1 would hint at BREAKING DAWN 2? Would we have a quick split?

6. Did I mention that Summit would make an insane amount of money? Not only can we expect that two films alone would pull big numbers, Summit would be off their rocker to not give fans the chance to take in a BREAKING DAWN double feature, even on a special one-night-only basis (much like they did with the limited theatrical re-release of TWILIGHT the night before NEW MOON hit). That’s practically free money.

The next installment in the TWILIGHT series, ECLIPSE, was directed by David Slade and will open on June 20, 2010. Expect Fandango to start selling tickets any moment now.

Source Variety, via Slash Film