Sunday, February 13, 2011

Do You Want A New Volvo In Breaking Dawn?

It's no secret that most Twilight fans were not pleased with the change of Volvos in the films.
In Twilight, Edward (Robert Pattinson) drove a silver C30 coupe. While this wasn't what Stephenie Meyer had chosen (she actually picked the S60R), the Twilight coupe was close enough to the book's description to melt into the storyline.


Then, in The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Edward's "stupid shiny [silver] Volvo" became a smoke gray SUV, the XC60 Crossover.
Why?

Well, first of all, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner went on The Tyra Banks Show and gave away the original to a fan (see the attached video - so great).

Then, as Chris Weitz explained, there was a marketing opportunity at-hand (Volvo is a huge advertising partner for the Saga now) coupled with some executive decision-making in the mix.

I've taken a real spanking for this, a lot of heat . . . I'll tell you exactly why: Volvo wanted to give us a new, different car so I didn't want to paint it exactly the same silver color, because then [Twilighters] would be saying, 'Why are they trying to say that it's the same car; it's obviously not.' So, I thought, 'Well, I'll choose a new color!' And I thought I would choose slate black, not a reflective black, because it actually absorbs light and it would reflect the mood and melancholy and depression [of his character]. I know I got it wrong, I apologize for that. But that is my reasoning.

Since The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was filmed before New Moon came out, the same car was used during production before fans really got the chance to speak up in protest. According to FoForks, the Eclipse SUV was spotted at a car show recently. While it's not certain this was the Volvo, it was promoted with Eclipse insignia and the like, so it's not certain it wasn't. Whether or not it was the car from the movie, it draws up the question - will Breaking Dawn give us a new one?

Some contended, when the New Moon Volvo change-up controversy began, that the C30 Coupe was no longer available and that this was part of the reason Volvo wanted to switch it out. Well, that is not the case now. Looking at Volvo Cars USA's website, one can see that that model of the car is indeed available in a 2011 model, and one of the color choices for the design is "Silver Metallic."

So, why not go back to the original?
After all, it's going to have some competition for attention in Breaking Dawn if the movies faithfully adapt the book. Bella gets a Guardian (which, of course, isn't real but is similar enough to the Mercedes Guard), and then there's the Ferrari . . . You get the idea. Also, there's a great scene in the story where Bella (a new, beautiful vamp) steps out of Edward's Volvo to speak with J. Jenks' assistant . . . so, the Volvo is again an important component of a specific scene from the book.

Perhaps Volvo will approach (or has done so already) Bill Condon with the concept of bringing back the original. With the return of Carter Burwell to score, there is a hope that some of the better aspects of Twilight will resurface in Breaking Dawn. The Volvo should be one of them. This would be delightful, don't you agree?


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