2 Decades Later, Stephenie Meyer’s Abandoned Twilight Novel Got An Unexpected Comeback

Published Nov 11, 2026, 1:09 PM EST Amanda Kay Oaks is a writer and lifelong book nerd. She has been writing about books on the internet for over 10 years, with prior bylines at Book Riot and ComicBook.com. Though she reads across most genres, Amanda Kay is particularly fond of romance, cozy fantasy, and books with strong female characters. Twilight fans got some unexpected but welcome news when Netflix announced its new animated series based on Midnight Sun. This novel dives back into the original story of book one, but from Edward Cullen's perspective. And if that isn't wild enough, the book's journey to publication is a fascinating saga in its own right. Love it or hate it, Twilight has an enduring presence in pop culture, solidified in part by its live-action film adaptations. The movies have spawned entire social media trends, including dubbing fall "hoa hoa" season after the soundtrack. So, it's not too surprising to see Netflix attempting to recreate the magic by bringing a new version of Stephenie Meyer's series to life. Along with the pivot to animation over live action, Midnight Sun is an interesting project for many reasons. That includes the book's own complicated origin story. Officially, Midnight Sun released in 2020, treating fans to a fascinating look into Edward's perspective on the events of Twilight. For newer fans, this may well have seemed like an exciting resurgence out of nowhere. But those who've been with the series from the beginning may remember that we once almost had Midnight Sun nearly two decades earlier. Twilight Fans Almost Ruined Midnight Sun For Good Image via MovieStillsDB Once upon a time, the Twilight companion novel was supposed to release during the franchise's initial wave of popularity. Stephenie Meyer actually started writing the book around 2003 as part of her work on Twilight. Initially, it likely would've come out not long after the original trilogy wrapped up with the 2008 release of Breaking Dawn. However, those plans got derailed in a big way that same year. In 2008, the first twelve chapters of an early draft of Midnight Sun were posted online without Meyer's consent, giving fans an unplanned preview of the work in progress. She addressed the leak on her website, calling the leak, "a huge violation of [her] rights as an author." In that same missive to fans, she put the story on indefinite hold, saying it felt like there was no possible way for her to continue writing it in her current frame of mind. We don't know exactly who leaked the story or why, but it's likely that voracious fan enthusiasm for the series at the time was a direct contributor to the incident. Meyer claimed she never wanted fans to see the draft in that form, since it was unfinished and not ready for public release. However, she posted the manuscript that leaked on her website to let curious readers experience it without having to track down the illegally distributed version. For a long time, it seemed like those messy, incomplete initial chapters would be the end of Midnight Sun's story. Fans eager to see the story from Edward's perspective could see Meyer's early efforts at the story, but the full Midnight Sun we once expected sat as an unfinished manuscript for nearly 20 years. Following Midnight Sun's indefinite hiatus, Meyer continued to work on other projects, including entirely new stories like The Host and The Chemist. Though she returned to the well of her original vampire trilogy a few times throughout the years, for all fans knew, we'd never get Midnight Sun. But then, in 2020, the Twilight author made a shocking surprise announcement. She had, in fact, finished writing Midnight Sun, and it would come out that very year. Over a decade after she abandoned it, Midnight Sun finally hit shelves as a complete, finished novel. Now, it may be about to rope in a whole new generation of fans. You can purchase Midnight Sun here. Netflix's Midnight Sun Could Fan the Flames of a Twilight Renaissance Or Bring About Its Demise Little Brown Though Midnight Sun sold quite well when it finally arrived in 2020, it would've been interesting to see how things shook out if it debuted during the initial hype around Twilight. After all, if things had gone to plan without the leak, the alternate POV story probably would've come out before the original series of movies wrapped up. But, thanks to the leak, we'll never know how the story would've hit so close to its original source material. Though we will likely forever love some thirsty teenage vampires, the cultural and literary landscape has changed quite a bit since Millennials flocked to their favorite bookstores for Breaking Dawn midnight release parties. That made the broader reception of Midnight Sun pretty interesting in and of itself, before Netflix even got involved. Leaked draft drama aside, Midnight Sun is at its core a retelling of Twilight. Readers already know what happens, but this time, we get to see it all through Edward's eyes. And therein lies the delight - and the problem. For longtime fans, it's a treat to see things from another point of view. But it also makes Edward harder to love, thanks to his slightly insufferable internal monologue. It also highlights many of the same issues about his dynamic with Bella that have caused many readers to re-evaluate their relationship to the series over the last decade or so. That's given Midnight Sun an interesting place among the broader fandom, and makes it a fascinating place for Netflix to start for an adaptation. Animation frees the project from many of the live-action film's limitations. Sparkly skin, werewolves, and the like will be easier to render realistically in animated form, letting Netflix's team lean into the action in ways the original movie couldn't dream of. But as a story, Midnight Sun is interesting because of its perspective more so than its actual events. And that's where things get interesting. The show is set to run for two seasons, offering plenty of space to retell the events of Twilight with more nuance than the 2008 film. But to really adapt Midnight Sun, the showrunners will still need to navigate the Edward internal monologue of it all. If they pull it off, the Midnight Sun adaptation could easily make the once-abandoned manuscript even more popular than it was upon release. It could fan the flames of the simmering Twilight resurgence, introducing a new generation of fans to the series. Or, it could be another fiasco for the story years after the draft leak broke the internet (or at least, Stephenie Meyer's website). Edward's perspective was alienating even for longtime Twilight fans when the book finally released. It will be a tough balancing act to present it in the show without making Edward seem like a monster or, perhaps even worse for the show's long-term viewership, an insufferably angsty ancient teenager. But cutting out those insights that make Midnight Sun stand apart from Twilight could mean Netflix reinventing the wheel rather than crafting something new. That said, it's been 18 years, so fans might not be mad at a TV series that basically just retells Twilight with a few more vampire bits, either. Either way, the story that readers once thought we'd never see in full is about to hit a whole new audience when the Netflix adaptation finally arrives in the next few years. Release Date November 21, 2008 Runtime 122 minutes Director Catherine Hardwicke Twilight marks the first movie in The Twilight Saga, centering on the forbidden love between ordinary human Bella Swan and the centuries-old vampire Edward Cullen.