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'Breaking Dawn' director Bill Condon says he's looking forward to fan reaction

'Breaking Dawn' grows up with fans as it addresses topics like marriage, Condon says

Two films.

Seven hundred and fifty-four pages.

Bill Condon had a tall order and a lot of content to cover when he signed on to direct The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2, the fourth and fifth films based on Stephenie Meyer鈥檚 novels. But he was up for the challenge.

鈥淲ell, I think the biggest challenge is that these books are so beloved by so many people that you want to make sure that obviously it鈥檚 your take on the material but that it doesn鈥檛 betray people鈥檚 expectations and yet still becomes a full cinematic experience,鈥� Condon said.

The cast was a big help to Condon. Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen; Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella Swan; and Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black; have been in these roles for several years and helped Condon get a better understanding of these characters. In fact, the four of them spent two weeks before filming began talking through what had happened in the previous films and what was coming for their characters.

鈥淎t a certain point, when an actor starts to embody a role, they know it better than you ever will. And certainly that was true here,鈥� Condon said.

After working together for so long, the cast has become close 鈥� particularly Pattinson and Stewart 鈥� and Condon was happy to work with their chemistry.

鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy, you know, just how close they are. It鈥檚 wonderful. I feel as though, because they鈥檙e more relaxed with that, it added something to the movie because obviously this is the part where they are together, and that鈥檚 something they didn鈥檛 have to act,鈥� he said.

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Of course, with that much content, some of it had to be cut, even with two films.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all about the rules of visual storytelling,鈥� he said.

In this case, the visual storytelling initially did not hit a PG-13 rating. Scenes from Edward and Bella鈥檚 honeymoon were changed to achieve that rating, but Condon says that 鈥渋t鈥檚 not very different from what you see now.鈥�

Breaking Dawn does take on adult topics 鈥� marriage and motherhood 鈥� and Condon feels that fans are ready for that.

鈥淚 think they鈥檝e gotten older, too,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 important that the series grow with them. These concerns are not the same concerns Bella had when she moved from Arizona.鈥�

For the most part, these stories were filmed in Vancouver, Canada. But for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2, the cast and crew traveled to Brazil to film honeymoon scenes and spent four months filming in Baton Rouge, La.

鈥淲e know that we have to be in the Pacific Northwest and Canada for Forks, Wash., and all the exteriors. We knew we had to go to Brazil for the honeymoon. It just worked out that we could shoot all of our stage work in Baton Rouge and then go up to Vancouver when it came time to shoot all of the exteriors,鈥� producer Wyck Godfrey said.

Now that the film is finished, Condon is looking forward to the reaction of fans.

鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to be able to work on something where every decision is going to be studied and reacted to by a large group of people. It鈥檚 something that means so much to people,鈥� Condon said.

Krista Richmond blogs at Killer Film.