Grabbing most of the headlines for the Twilight Saga's fourth installment, Breaking Dawn, is a list of potential directors that includes the likes of Gus Vant Sant (Milk), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) and Bill Condon (Dreamgirls). Heck, even the possibility of M. Night Shyamalan directing Breaking Dawn has been thrown out there.

However, one of the main issues with directing Breaking Dawn is how to adapt it from page to screen. As those who have read the novels will know, the fourth book deals with a lot heavier stuff than the first three, including [SPOILER ALERT!] Bella being pregnant and giving birth to a half-human/half-vampire hybrid baby (the birth scene is in the book - let's see how they put THAT in the movie!).

So, with the content of Breaking Dawn being... let's say stronger than the first three books, it could lead one to think that the movie is going to be rated R (as our Screen Rant April Fools joke proclaimed :P ).

However, all the teenage Twilight fans ready to kick and scream that they won't be able to see Breaking Dawn without an adult can officially relax. Twilight screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg, talked to Film.com recently and she assured fans Breaking Dawn will be PG-13 just like the rest of the franchise, but at the same time wouldn't cut anything from the story.

Here's what Rosenberg said:

"Oh yeah. It's completely doable [to make it PG-13]. You don't sacrifice story by cutting language. Nor do you sacrifice story by showing less blood or gore, or whatever it is that's bringing you to an R rating."

"That's your audience... In this series, you don't sacrifice anything. There are some movies that wouldn't play at PG-13, like 'The Hangover,' but this is just not one of them for me. Again, if you're capturing character, emotion and emotional journey, you're OK."

I've not taken the time to read Breaking Dawn - or any of the Twilight books for that matter - so obviously I can't say that I'm dying for them to keep all the story elements of the book when they adapt it. However, I can totally understand those who cherish these books wanting the filmmakers to stick as close to them as possible. I certainly wouldn't want a mild PG-13 version just for the sake of it. If they can manage it and still keep all the necessary elements then I'm fine with the lower rating.

Of course, most non-Twilight fans who want their vampires a bit more hardcore probably want some hard-R vampire action...

Moving on from the rating of Breaking Dawn and getting back to who might direct it, Rosenberg says she has seen lists of people and has weighed in with her thoughts on who she'd like to see direct - but it's in no way her decision:

"It's definitely not up to me. I've seen lists and weighed in, and they [Summit Entertainment] always welcome input, which is lovely, but ultimately it's their decision and they'll do what they do and I'll work with whomever they choose. I had no knowledge of the first three directors and it worked. Generally speaking they [the list] are people I haven't worked with before."

I've really been surprised to see the directors that the Twilight series has managed to snag over its cinematic course: Catherine Hardwicke did Twilight, Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) did New Moon, and David Slade (30 Days of Night ) did Eclipse, which is due out in a couple of months. And as I stated, the list of potential Breaking Dawn directors is equally as surprising (and impressive!).

Personally, I'd like to see either M. Night Shyamalan or Sofia Coppola take a shot at Breaking Dawn: Shyamalan because he's done movies dealing with themes not too dissimilar to Twilight (and with The Last Airbender he has seemingly proven he can handle a big-budget tentpole film); Coppola because I can totally see her style fitting with the franchise.

Are you glad to hear Breaking Dawn will stay PG-13 instead of going R-rated? Who would you like to see direct?

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn will likely be split into two movies and you can expect to see them both released sometime in 2011 or 2012. If you can't wait that long, the third film, Eclipse, opens in theaters on June 30, 2010.

Source: Film.com (via MTV)