Harry Potter Meets Twilight In This $90 Million Fantasy Movie That's Now On Netflix

Published Aug 18, 2026, 7:21 PM EDT Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Sign in to your ScreenRant account Fantasy movie fans may need to turn on Netflix, as the streaming service has now become the home of an exciting release that is Harry Potter meets Twilight. Fantasy is one of the genres that has always been popular. After all, millions around the world search each year for movies and TV shows with immersive worlds that they can disappear into. Some of the best movie franchises of all time come from the fantasy genre. Over the years, the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises have become synonymous with successful fantasy universes for teens and young adults. To this day, both of them remain incredibly popular, which is why new projects from those franchises are currently in development on different streaming services. After a successful theatrical run, Harry Potter is coming to TV, with HBO's Harry Potter reboot series set to debut on December 25, serving as the perfect Christmas gift for fantasy TV show fans. As for Twilight, no, another movie with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner is not in the works. However, a Netflix animated series adapting Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer's Twilight retelling, is in development. A Compendium of Enchanted Cinema How Well Do You Know Fantasy Movies? “Magic always comes with a price.” 🪄SpellsWingardium Leviosa 🐉BeastsHere be dragons 👑KingdomsLong live the king ⚔QuestsThe hero’s journey 🔮MagicWhat lies ahead OPEN THE GRIMOIRE → 01 Across the Harry Potter films, the boy wizard is rarely without his loyal companion — a snowy owl gifted to him by Hagrid on his eleventh birthday. What is the owl’s name? AHedwig BErrol CPigwidgeon DCrookshanks ✓ Correct! Hedwig — the snowy owl Harry receives in The Philosopher’s Stone — becomes one of his most beloved companions. Errol is the Weasleys’ ancient, accident-prone owl; Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny hyperactive owl; and Crookshanks is Hermione’s ginger cat — not an owl at all. ✗ Not quite! The answer is Hedwig. Errol is the Weasleys’ clumsy family owl, Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny owl from later books, and Crookshanks is Hermione’s cat. Hedwig is the snowy owl Hagrid buys Harry for his birthday — even getting her own leitmotif from composer John Williams. NEXT → 02 In Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride, the farm boy Westley answers Buttercup’s every demand with the same three words — which she comes to realize actually mean “I love you.” What does he say? A“As you wish” B“Inconceivable!” C“My only love” D“Anything for you” ✓ Correct! “As you wish” is Westley’s signature line — and the film’s emotional core. “Inconceivable!” is Vizzini’s catchphrase (prompting Inigo’s famous “You keep using that word…”). The other two were never in William Goldman’s script — the whole point is that three plain words carry all the meaning. ✗ Not quite! The answer is “As you wish.” “Inconceivable!” belongs to the Sicilian Vizzini. Buttercup slowly realizes that Westley’s endlessly repeated “As you wish” is really his way of saying “I love you” — one of the most quoted lines in fantasy cinema. NEXT → 03 The 2006 Spanish-language masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth blends a fascist-era fairy tale with the grim reality of post-Civil War Spain, featuring the nightmarish Pale Man. Which director created this dark fantasy? AAlfonso Cuarón BGuillermo del Toro CPedro Almodóvar DRobert Rodriguez ✓ Correct! Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed Pan’s Labyrinth, designing the Faun and the eyeless Pale Man himself. He’d later win Best Director and Best Picture for The Shape of Water. Cuarón directed Prisoner of Azkaban; Almodóvar is Spain’s great melodramatist; Rodriguez is del Toro’s close friend but made Sin City and Spy Kids. ✗ Not quite! The answer is Guillermo del Toro. Alfonso Cuarón (a fellow “Three Amigos” of Mexican cinema) directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Pedro Almodóvar makes Spanish melodramas, and Robert Rodriguez made Sin City. Del Toro’s creature designs in Pan’s Labyrinth are now iconic. NEXT → 04 In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), the four Pevensie children first stumble into the snowy land of Narnia by passing through what object? AA magic mirror BA wardrobe CA painting DA wishing well ✓ Correct! It’s a wardrobe — it’s right there in the title. Lucy hides inside during a game and finds the snow and lamppost of Narnia beyond the fur coats. A magical painting actually appears in the sequel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; the mirror and well are red herrings from other fantasy tales. ✗ Not quite! The answer is a wardrobe — literally named in the title. Lucy Pevensie pushes past the coats and steps out into snowy Narnia by the lamppost. (A magical painting does pull the children into the sea in the later film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — but not here.) NEXT → 05 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) made Oscar history as the first fantasy film to win Best Picture, sweeping every category it was nominated in. How many Academy Awards did it take home? A4 B7 C9 D11 ✓ Correct! Return of the King won all 11 of its nominations — tying Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) for the all-time record, and becoming the first (and so far only) fantasy film to win Best Picture. Remarkably, it earned zero acting nominations yet still swept the board clean. ✗ Not quite! The answer is 11 — a perfect clean sweep. Return of the King tied Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscar wins ever and broke fantasy’s long Best Picture drought. Fellowship of the Ring won 4 and The Two Towers won 2; the finale took everything it was nominated for. NEXT → 06 In the swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean films, Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination playing a swaggering, kohl-eyed pirate captain reportedly inspired by Keith Richards. What is the character’s name? AWill Turner BDavy Jones CCaptain Jack Sparrow DHector Barbossa ✓ Correct! Captain Jack Sparrow — Depp’s loose-limbed, rum-soaked performance earned a surprise Best Actor nomination for The Curse of the Black Pearl. Will Turner is the blacksmith hero (Orlando Bloom), Davy Jones is the tentacle-faced villain (Bill Nighy), and Hector Barbossa is the mutinous rival captain (Geoffrey Rush). ✗ Not quite! The answer is Captain Jack Sparrow. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is the earnest blacksmith, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is the squid-faced sea villain, and Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is the cursed rival. It was Depp’s Sparrow — modeled partly on Keith Richards — who earned the Oscar nod. NEXT → 07 Jim Henson’s 1986 musical fantasy Labyrinth features a teenage Jennifer Connelly navigating a maze to rescue her baby brother from the flamboyant, wild-haired Goblin King Jareth. Which rock legend played Jareth? ADavid Bowie BTim Curry CMick Jagger DSting ✓ Correct! David Bowie played Jareth, writing and performing the film’s songs including “Magic Dance” and “As the World Falls Down.” Tim Curry famously played the demon Darkness in another Ridley Scott fantasy, Legend (also 1985-86). Jagger and Sting are rock icons but never donned Jareth’s glittering cape and wild wig. ✗ Not quite! The answer is David Bowie. Tim Curry played the towering devil Darkness in the rival fantasy Legend around the same time. Bowie not only starred as Jareth the Goblin King but composed and sang the soundtrack — “Magic Dance” remains the film’s signature number. NEXT → 08 In the 1984 classic The NeverEnding Story, the young warrior Atreyu journeys across the dying realm of Fantasia and befriends a furry, dog-faced luckdragon who carries him through the skies. What is the luckdragon’s name? AArtax BFalkor CGmork DBastian ✓ Correct! Falkor (Falkor the luckdragon) is the friendly, scale-and-fur covered dragon who aids Atreyu and Bastian. Artax is Atreyu’s horse, lost heartbreakingly in the Swamp of Sadness; Gmork is the wolf-like servant of The Nothing; and Bastian is the real-world boy reading the story who is ultimately drawn into it. ✗ Not quite! The answer is Falkor. Artax is Atreyu’s beloved horse (the Swamp of Sadness scene scarred a generation), Gmork is the menacing wolf-beast serving The Nothing, and Bastian is the bullied boy reading the book. Falkor is the soaring luckdragon — one of fantasy cinema’s most cherished creatures. REVEAL MY SCORE → The Grimoire Closes · Quest Complete Your Fantasy Rank 🔮 / 8 Archmage of the Silver Screen — or still lost in the labyrinth? ⤴ CAST AGAIN That said, before the upcoming new Harry Potter and Twilight TV shows arrive on their respective streaming services, fantasy movie fans should check out The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones on Netflix. The fantasy movie was released in theaters on August 21, 2013, with The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones having arrived on Netflix in the United States on August 1. The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones Blends Twilight, Harry Potter & More YA Franchises The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones looks at the formulas of other successful YA fantasy franchises to craft an expansive world full of magical elements, intense romances, and supernatural twists. Perhaps the movie's clearest inspiration comes from the Harry Potter franchise, as the novel that the movie is based on, City of Bones, as well as its entire franchise hail from author Cassandra Clare. She became known online in the 2000s for writing a Harry Potter fan fiction saga, aka The Draco Trilogy, focusing on Draco Malfoy, turning him from a villain into an anti-hero. Other Harry Potter elements in the film include the fact that Mundanes, aka ordinary people, can't see the magical world in front of them. The Harry Potter franchise's wands were replaced by steles in the film, and so on. As for Twilight inspirations, many vampires and werewolves can be seen wandering throughout the film, as they are factions that stand as a core part of the Downworld. Additionally, The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones' love triangle feels very in line with Twilight. You get a half-human, half-angel girl torn between her human best friend and a Shadowhunter. Why Didn't The Mortal Instruments Work As A Movie Franchise? Despite the popularity of other YA movies in the 2010s, such as The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner franchises, The Mortal Instruments stopped after its first movie. In practical terms, there was no financial reason to move forward with a sequel. The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones had a reported budget of $60 million, so it needed to finish between $120 million and $150 million to break even. The fantasy movie ended up bringing in $95.4 million worldwide, falling short of even the lower end of that projection. Despite having the perfect cast, including Emily in Paris' Lily Collins and Stranger Things' Jamie Campbell Bower as it leads, with other stars like Jared Harris and Lena Headey also present, The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones simply tried to establish too much lore for a movie's runtime, and made major book changes. Mortal Instruments (Mostly) Worked Better On TV While the fantasy franchise's movie foray lasted a single entry, The Mortal Instruments was brought back in 2016 as a TV show, Shadowhunters, where it found success. The Freeform series recast all of its roles, with Katherine McNamara replacing Collins and Dominic Sherwood instead of Bower. Shadowhunters ran for three seasons, and it worked better than the movie because it had the necessary time to explore the fantasy franchise's deep lore and exciting locations. Shadowhunters has a strong 80% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. As such, The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones is a great project for fantasy fans to watch now on Netflix and use as a gateway to then binge Shadowhunters' three seasons on Hulu in the United States. Release Date August 21, 2013 Runtime 130 minutes Director Harald Zwart Cast Jamie Campbell Bower Jace Wayland Writers I. Marlene King, Jessica Postigo Producers Don Carmody, Robert Kulzer