"The Twilight Saga" stands as one of the most successful franchises in history. Both the series of novels and the series of films that the books inspired were hits. That held true with many critics and even more so with general audiences.

For more than a decade, fans have been hoping for the release of "Midnight Sun." And, there have been times when it seemed that day might never come. But now it looks like fans might not have to wait much longer.

Set for an August 4 release

Appearing on "Good Morning America," author Stephenie Meyer announced that "Midnight Sun" would finally be released.

Meyer's website had been teasing that a major announcement was coming. A countdown clock was even put up on the site. However, CBS reports that so many fans visited the website that it crashed when the big moment came.

Many people referred to "Midnight Sun" as a prequel. But that's not necessarily true. The original "Twilight" followed the story from Bella's point of view. "Midnight Sun" isn't going back to a time before the original story, per se. Rather it's going back to roughly the same timeframe. But this time, the story follows Edward's point of view.

Most long-time "Twilight" fans probably already know this very well. "Midnight Sun" was originally supposed to come out more than 10 years ago.

But then an incomplete early version was leaked online. And the Book was put on indefinite hold. Meyer decided to post the leaked content on her website so fans could at least have that much in the meantime.

Years went by. Other types of "Twilight" content were released. Even a gender-swapped version of the original story entitled "Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined." But no "Midnight Sun." In 2018, it was announced that the book was "no longer in the pipeline."

But somewhere along the way, something apparently changed.

After the release date was officially announced, Meyer said it didn't seem fair to make fans wait anymore. The news comes about two weeks before the release of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" by Suzanne Collins. Aa a prequel to "The Hunger Games," franchise the "The Twilight Saga" might be compared to above any other.

Speculation on a movie adaptation

With the announcement of a new "Twilight" book, many are probably wondering if there could be a new movie. Well, it's possible. But as Collider has indicated, it would probably mean some type of reboot.

Some familiar names from the previous movies alluded that they would be willing to come back, including actress Kristen Stewart and actor Robert Pattinson. But there's the issue that most of the major characters are supposed to be immortal. The passage of time, and the inevitable aging that comes with it, are probable hurdles.

And then add in the fact that he original cast members have obviously already done "Twilight". It's theoretically possible that their aging could be explained away or ignored in a new story. Explaining, or ignoring why characters seemed so much older in Edward's version than Bella's, might be less feasible.
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