Netflix Is Already Removing The Twilight Saga Next Month, And The Internet Has Thoughts
Edward Cullen: "You just don't belong in my world, Netflix."
Queue up the New Moon soundtrack, because not unlike the somber breakup tunes of the second Twilight film, you’re not going to want to hear this. After less than six months of easy streaming accessibility on Netflix, The Twilight Saga is set to be removed in January, and the fandom is not prepared to say goodbye to Edward and Bella again.
Twihards had a summer and fall of rejoicing as all five Twilight movies were made available to stream on Netflix. But as winter rolls around, the YA franchise is set to leave Netflix. Yes, it’s been announced that the films will no longer be on Netflix starting January 16, 2022, and the fans are not okay:
THEYRE TAKING TWILIGHT OFF OF NETFLIX ON JANUARY. 2022 IS NOT GONNA BE MY YEAR pic.twitter.com/U0F3AE1gJlDecember 20, 2021
Of course, this means it’s prime time to channel angsty, sad and depressed Bella from New Moon. Because honestly, what other reaction were you expecting from Twilight fans? Check this one out:
They’re removing twilight from Netflix in January 😩 pic.twitter.com/4YPwFoSOTaDecember 16, 2021
The Twilight films are comfort movies for many and a load of fun to have a couple clicks away on Netflix. The movies were on the platform for exactly six months, likely due to a limited contract with the studio. The franchise has done its rounds on multiple streaming services prior to Netflix, such as Amazon Prime and Hulu, so it’s possible it could be getting ready to share custody with another service again. Even so, fans are not happy about it:
NETFLIX WHY TF ARE YOU TAKING ALL THE TWILIGHT MOVIES OFF OF YOUR STUPID PLATFORM WHEN YOU LITERALLY JUST ADDED THEM A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO????? I HATE YOUDecember 18, 2021
When The Twilight Saga made its way onto Netflix in mid-July, the movies instantly soared to the platform’s top 10 list and became a trending topic. According to Nielsen data, over 70 million hours of the Twilight films were viewed in the first few weeks of them being on Netflix, with the first movie leading the pack, New Moon in second place and Breaking Dawn Part 2 in third. The movies’ presence on Netflix made a lot of fans happy, leading to this news cutting even deeper now that it’s going away again:
netflix removing twilight is my villain origin storyDecember 17, 2021
The thing is, studios like Summit Entertainment benefit from this catch and release from streaming services. When the Twilight movies joined Netflix, tons of people rekindled their love for the franchise and watched it on the service. And now that it’s gone, they may be inspired to buy or rent these movies. Whenever they pop up on Netflix again or another service, the cycle will continue. It seems to be a bit of a streaming syndication business model for movies without a singular streaming service to be put on.
So here’s your warning to watch the Twilight movies to your heart's content on Netflix for the next three and a half weeks!
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Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.