“Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke recalled receiving a “mini cupcake” from the studio after the vampire romance film’s massive success, which paved the way for multiple hit sequels at the box office.
Hardwicke recently told The Guardian that she entered the offices of Summit Entertainment — the film’s distributor — and walked into a room “with all these gifts” where “everybody was congratulating the studio” before she received a box, which she opened up to reveal the small treat.
Hardwicke — whose 2008 film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel grossed $408.5 million worldwide on a $37 million budget — claimed her male counterparts elsewhere would receive cars, three-picture deals or get to do “basically whatever” they want after achieving such a box office feat.
The filmmaker, who once declared that she “definitely wasn’t treated like men” who directed a blockbuster that turned into a film franchise, told The Guardian that she began to spot gender disparity in Hollywood after her early successes.
“No, people aren’t going to hire more women directors. They’re not going to give you the next job and let you do something great,” she explained.
“It was an earth-shattering reality right away.”
Hardwicke, who notably turned down working on the first sequel to “Twilight,” pointed out to Variety back in 2018 that the remaining three sequels in the franchise (and other film adaptations of young adult novels like the “Divergent” and “Hunger Games” series) weren’t directed by women.
“That was a heartbreak for me,” she said at the time. “There are other badass women out there that could have done those.”
She revealed to The Guardian that 2011′s “Red Riding Hood,” her next film after “Twilight,” proved to be “much more challenging” as she had a lower budget than her prior film. She added that it was a fantasy movie, too, so they couldn’t shoot “any real locations and had to built all the sets.”
“They didn’t give me much freedom,” Hardwicke said.
Hardwicke emphasized the need for gender equality in Hollywood in a conversation with her alma mater, UCLA, back in 2019.
“The more we spotlight the disparity and actively work to hire diverse actors and crew, the more we can move the needle!” she told UCLA’s newsroom.
