A retelling of the classic, 10th century folk tale, 2011's Red Riding Hood—starring Amanda Seyfried—has a connection to another teen horror romance, Twilight.
Three years after the first movie in The Twilight Saga released, Red Riding Hood established the same blend of classic monster movies, dark fairytales, and a teen and young-adult oriented love story. Despite having several prominent actors cast alongside Seyfried such as Max Irons, Shiloh Fernandez, Virginia Madsen, and Gary Oldman, the film only managed to gross $90.2 million at the box office on a budget of $42 million. The film was also less than a hit with critics; it currently holds a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was named one of the worst movies in 2011 by Time magazine.
Though completely different in terms of overall plot, there are a few similarities between the two movies. Thematically, even aesthetically they have overlap in terms of the cool, oversaturated color palette that is rich in whites, blues, and grays. The main actors are young, up and coming stars at the time such as Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in Twilight. Seyfried, Irons, and Fernandez all went on to land roles in major movies. However, one of the most interesting connections between Red Riding Hood and Twilight is also the simplest.
Red Riding Hood's Connection To Twilight
Twilight and Red Riding Hood share a director, Catherine Hardwicke. This explains not only the similarities in casting and overall aesthetic, but some of how the movie plays out. The movies had different writers—Twilight was written by Melissa Rosenberg, adapted from the novels by Stephanie Meyer. Red Riding Hood was written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who later went on to write screenplays for The Conjuring 2, Aquaman, and The Conjuring 3. Johnson-McGoldrick will also be writing the screenplay for Aquaman 2 and served as a writer for 12 episodes of AMC's The Walking Dead. Hardwicke is also known for directing Thirteen (2003) and The Lords of Dogtown (2005).
Given Twilight's massive success, Hardwicke became one of the most profitable female directors in Hollywood. However, she turned down the director's chair for the sequel to the 2008 film, New Moon. While there was some controversy about whether Hardwicke quit, stepped down willingly, or was fired, she stated that the decision was entirely her own. Hardwicke cited Summit Entertainment's desire to rush out the sequel and other movies faster than her timeline as a director would allow as her reason for not directing New Moon. Red Riding Hood was Hardwicke's first movie after Twilight; the film was produced by Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions and was distributed by Warner Bros.
Red Riding Hood continues themes that are continually present in Hardwicke's work; while she didn't write either movie, the love triangle present between Valerie (Seyfried), Peter (Fernandez), and Henry (Irons) is very similar to the Bella/Jacob/Edward triangle in Twilight. It's a fantasy romance with light horror elements that speaks to a young woman's budding sexuality and coming of age while a supernatural threat looms on the horizon. Werewolf movies in general have often been used as stories that speak to a young person coming into their own; 2000's Ginger Snaps was steeped in metaphor for a young woman's sexuality, and the folk tale, Little Red Riding Hood has been similarly adapted as such in the same way; a young woman must find the courage to defend herself and her innocence from the big bad wolf. Though not a major success for Hardwicke or folk horror, Red Riding Hood was a product of the time, and reflected the werewolf story in a different, but ultimately unsuccessful light.