海角大神

With the release of 鈥淭he Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 鈥� Part 2鈥� (did you forget how long that title was?) last November, the Twilight movie series, adapted from the books by Stephenie Meyer, officially came to a close.

We assume, that is. Brooding vampires could be coming back to a cinema near you if Meyer writes more stories or a movie-only narrative is cooked up.

But movie executives noticed the overwhelmingly successful box office grosses reaped by the story of ordinary girl Bella Swan and the melancholy vampire she loves, and those craving a young adult series fix over the next year won鈥檛 be disappointed. For better or for worse, every movie adaptation based on a young adult novel with similar themes will be compared to 鈥淭wilight鈥� 鈥� whether they鈥檒l be able to come out from that shadow remains to be seen.聽

One out now, the movie 鈥淏eautiful Creatures,鈥� adapted from the 2009 book by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, follows a boy, Ethan, who falls in love with a teenage girl named Lena who belongs to a family of witches. Lena is approaching her sixteenth birthday, on which she will be 鈥渃laimed鈥� by either the forces of good or evil. The book is the first in a series.

鈥淐reatures鈥� director LaGravanese told Newsday that the two stars of the film initially passed on the movie because they didn鈥檛 want to invite 鈥淭wilight鈥� comparisons, an apprehension he also shared.

鈥淢y own hesitation about doing this was fear of getting lumped into this sort of 'Twilight' world,鈥� LaGravanese said.

Actor Alden Ehrenreich, who plays Ethan, said he was uninterested at first by the pitch he got (which he said was 鈥淭wilight meets Romeo and Juliet鈥�), but he was immediately won over when he read the script.聽

鈥淲henever you're pitched something that sounds like it's just a rehash of other things that were successful, it's not very exciting,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause you assume that means it's not somebody's personal vision, just a meld of certain tropes and conventions鈥� within three pages I knew I wanted to do the film, because this character that I got to play I just identified with so much.鈥�

The film was released yesterday but has suffered in reviews, currently holding a score of 53 on the review aggregator website Metacritic. Monitor critic Peter Rainer gave the movie a C+, writing, "[LaGravanese] outsmarts himself by playing everything too straight. (Mustn鈥檛 mess up the franchise.) A dash 鈥� only a dash 鈥� of Tim Burton ghoulishness might have helped."

But some were won over. Writer Meriah Doty titled her article for Yahoo! Movies 鈥淏eautiful Creatures is not Twilight (and you might like it better).鈥�

鈥淭he love story in "Creatures" is decidedly relaxed, cerebral, dare I say more authentic and charming than the heightened, over-the-top passion between Bella and Edward,鈥� Doty wrote.

Others are coming down the pike as well. The movie 鈥淭he Host,鈥� which is scheduled for a March 29 release, is based on the novel of the same name by 鈥淭wilight鈥� writer Stephenie Meyer. 鈥淗ost鈥� is the story of Earth after aliens known as Souls inhabit the planet and start living in the bodies of humans. A Soul named Wanderer takes over the body of a girl named Melanie, who is in love with a boy named Jared, and Wanderer and Melanie struggle to coexist.

Actress Saoirse Ronan will play Melanie and 鈥淩ed Riding Hood鈥� actor Max Irons will play Jared, with actor Jake Abel of 鈥淧ercy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief鈥� playing Ian, a man with whom Wanderer falls in love.

And the adaptation of the first book in the supernatural young adult series 鈥淭he Mortal Instruments鈥� by Cassandra Clare is scheduled for an August release. 鈥淢ortal鈥� follows a girl named Clary who discovers she has powers to fight evil demons. She is forced to try to reconcile her feelings for a boy who also battles evil creatures with the love her childhood best friend feels for her.

鈥淢ortal鈥� will star 鈥淢irror Mirror鈥� actress Lily Collins as Clary and 鈥淗arry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 鈥� Part One鈥� actor Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace. 聽