LOS ANGELES – Twilight, the vampire-romance series that spawned five blockbuster movies and captured the hearts of brooding teenagers worldwide, is coming to television.

Lionsgate Entertainment is developing the series – based on the young-adult books by American novelist Stephenie Meyer – for TV, according to a person familiar with the matter. But plans are in the very early stages and have not been finalised, said the person, asking not to be identified because the information is not public.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported on the plans.

News of a potential Twilight series follows plans by Warner Bros Discovery to create a TV show based on British author J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter saga, which was previously made into eight movies.

It underscores the pressure studios are facing to squeeze as much revenue as possible from intellectual-property rights they own, especially if they have already generated billions of dollars from the franchises.

The five Twilight movies – the first of which was released in 2008 – grossed US$3.3 billion (S$4.4 billion) worldwide, earned stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart a legion of die-hard fans, and turned the series into a cultural touchstone for a generation of young moviegoers. 

As for Lionsgate, it has struggled to find a buyer and has lost more than 30 per cent of its market value since the start of 2022, even though it boasts a library of almost 20,000 titles, including The Hunger Games (2012 to 2015).

It recently got a reprieve with the success of John Wick: Chapter 4, the latest instalment in the action­ movie series starring Keanu Reeves. BLOOMBERG