Summit Entertainment confirmed what was long suspected today, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" will be released in two installments.
No date was given for the second picture, but "Part 1" is still set for the originally announced Nov. 18, 2011. Logically, "Part 2" will either duplicate the upcoming "Twilight Saga: Eclipse's" mid-summer date the following year or wait a complete 12 months until November 2012.
Based on Stephenie Meyer's best selling novel, both chapters of "Breaking Dawn" will be directed by Oscar winner Bill Condon and feature franchise stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. Additional cast members including Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz will also return.
Like the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 and Part 2," production on both films will take place simultaneously. Filming is expected to start in the late fall and last for four to five months.
No word on whether Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen, better known as Jane and Aro in the "Twilight" universe, will reprise their roles in "Dawn," but it's expected they will return.
Fans will now have to speculate exactly where in the book screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg and Condon will break up the story for its cliffhanger. They officially have 17 months to speculate.