Following the Twilight franchise’s success, many others attempted to follow in its footsteps, with one mid-2010s film (that is trending on Netflix, as of the writing of this article) failing to do so. All five Twilight movies are adaptations of Stephenie Meyer’s book series of the same name. They took the world by storm after the first film’s premiere in 2008, becoming a cultural phenomenon as many argued over Team Edward versus Team Jacob and eagerly anticipated the next release. Twilight helped popularize the supernatural romance genre and significantly influenced many books, TV shows, and movies, including one 2016 film.

Aside from its cultural impact, Twilight launched numerous actors’ careers. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner all rose to fame due to their involvement in the Twilight films. So, it’s easy to see why many wanted to replicate the franchise’s success. Some were more fortunate than others (like The Hunger Games and Divergent). However, one movie in particular was supposed to be the next Twilight until it bombed at the box office and received an overwhelming amount of negative reviews.

Fallen’s Fantasy Premise Set It Up As A New Twilight Replacement Series

Fallen & Twilight Have Many Similarities

Fallen, a 2016 romantic fantasy drama, shares many things in common with Twilight, leading some to believe that it would follow in the dominant franchise’s footsteps. Fallen adapts Lauren Kate’s 2009 novel of the same name for the big screen. The book, which spawned five sequels, is quite popular, which is why it had the potential to become the next Twilight. Unfortunately, that plan never came to fruition as the series’ sequels were never adapted into films.

Like Twilight, Fallen revolves around a teenager joining a new school. There, she meets a handsome, mysterious boy she can’t help but feel drawn to. Lucinda “Luce” Price, who is similar to Bella Swan, is sent to Sword & Cross Reform School as punishment after she is accused of murdering someone. Meanwhile, Daniel Grigori is Edward Cullen’s counterpart, but he’s not a vampire. Still, as Fallen goes on, more details about Daniel’s past and idenтιтy are revealed, and they’re as complex as Edward’s.

Given that five more books remain in Kate’s series after Fallen, the film was evidently meant to start a movie franchise, similar to Twilight. Fallen premiered four years after Twilight ended and could’ve easily become its replacement. Instead, it epically flopped.

Fallen’s Negative Critical Response & Box Office Failure Explained

The Film Bombed At The Box Office

Fallen was a big swing and miss due to its poor performance in theaters and negative reviews. According to The Direct, the 2016 romantic fantasy drama only grossed $2.5 million at the worldwide box office, mostly because of its unfortunate reception (it has a 7 percent Rotten Tomatoes score). Critics called it unoriginal, accused the movie of copying Twilight, and pointed out the lack of chemistry between the actors. Fallen‘s distribution company also seemingly didn’t market the film properly. As a result, not many were compelled to go to the theaters to see Fallen.

Twilight also received mixed to negative reviews from critics. However, all five movies had exceptional box office performances, with the last one, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, grossing the most money with $848.5 million. It could stand to have unfavorable criticism. Overall, Twilight is one of the highest-grossing film series ever, earning over $3 billion. It would be difficult for any movie to live up to that expectation, especially one with bad reviews and a poor (or lack thereof) marketing strategy.

Will Fallen 2 Ever Happen?

A Sequel Was In Development

As mentioned above, there are six books in the Fallen book series. So, the plan was likely to adapt all of them — even a sequel was reportedly in development in 2014, two years before the first movie premiered. Due to Fallen‘s critical and commercial failure, though, nothing came of these plans. A TV adaptation of the first novel debuted in 2024 on the Brazilian streaming service Globoplay, but even that isn’t confirmed to continue after its first season. After all this time, fans shouldn’t hold their breaths for a Fallen sequel, despite its recent success on Netflix.

Source: The Direct