Claim: The Twilight Saga's first installment was released in 2008.

The Twilight Saga : New Moon , commonly referred to as New Moon , is a 2009 American romantic fantasy film based on Stephenie Meyer 's 2006 novel New Moon . It is the second film in The Twilight Saga film series and is the sequel to 2008 's Twilight . Summit Entertainment greenlit the sequel in late November 2008 , following the early success of Twilight . Directed by Chris Weitz , the film stars Kristen Stewart , Robert Pattinson , and Taylor Lautner , reprising their roles as Bella Swan , Edward Cullen , and Jacob Black , respectively . Melissa Rosenberg , who handed in a draft of the film script during the opening weekend of Twilight , returned as screenwriter for New Moon as well .   Filming began in Vancouver in late March 2009 , and in Montepulciano , Italy in late May 2009 . The film was released on November 20 , 2009 in most countries , and set domestic box office records as the biggest midnight screening , grossing $ 26.3 million , which was superseded by its sequel , Eclipse . This led to the highest single day , domestic gross on an opening day , with $ 72.7 million , until it was beaten in 2011 by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2 , which made $ 91.1 million , by nearly $ 20 million . Furthermore , New Moon opened with the third highest domestic opening weekend since 2002 grossing a total of $ 142,839,137 . The film also became the highest-grossing film released by Summit Entertainment , and was the widest independent release , playing in over 4,100 theaters in its theatrical run , until it was surpassed by The Twilight Saga : Eclipse .   New Moon was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 20 , 2010 through midnight release parties . As of July 2012 , $ 184,916,451 in North American DVD sales , selling more than 8,835,501 units , 4 million of which were sold within its first weekend , beating Twilight 's 3.8 million units sold in its first two days . The film was well received by fans , but received generally negative reviews from critics .