Summit Entertainment has revealed today that The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 will open in theaters on November 16, 2012, a year after its Part 1 predecessor.

Following the lead of the Harry Potter film franchise, the studio confirmed back in June that the big-screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer‘s final Twilight Saga novel would be broken up into two films, both of which will be directed by Bill Condon.

Last month, it was announced that filming would begin on the final movies this Fall, with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 to be released in theaters on November 18, 2011. Filming will take place in both Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the United States and Vancouver, BC in Canada [Read “˜Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn’ Filming Locations & Start Date].

As I’ve mentioned in my prior Twilight coverage, I’ve yet to read Breaking Dawn, the fourth and as of now final novel in Stephenie Meyer’s popular book series (I’ll probably bang it out during my upcoming trip to California). Nevertheless, I already know several crucial elements of the story thanks to sites everywhere putting spoilers right in the headlines.

I didn’t want to do that here, for those of you who haven’t read the book and managed to avoid spoilers so far, but there is now an update regarding a pivotal scene that people believed would be cut from the upcoming film adaptations — the final book is being split into two films, with Bill Condon directing. Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg said that she is, in fact, writing this particular scene into her script and explains just have graphic she expects it to be.

Continuing reading for SPOILERS on Breaking Dawn and to read Rosenberg’s updates regarding her script.

If you’ve been following the progress of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn at all, you know it’s been long-expected and long-assumed that the final chapter to the film series would be split into two films.

The move was expected as it would be in an attempt to cover as much of the story’s details as possible and of course to pile as much cash into the bank as they possibly could before the franchise’s end.

In a press release put out by Summit Entertainment today, it was finally made official: Breaking Dawn will indeed be a two-part movie. The film will go into production some time this fall, and the first of these two movies will be released in November of 2011.

Recently it was reported that because Summit Entertainment had not decided earlier that their final movie in the Twilight franchise, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, would be split into two movies and because their actors had become stars, talents like Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz were holding out in hopes of pulling in a much bigger payday (Read: Will ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn’ Re-Cast Cullen Kids Ashley Greene & Kellan Lutz?). It was also for this reason that the assumed-two-part film had not been made “official” yet, even though there was little doubt that all cast members would eventually rejoin the three main stars.

In a press release put out by Summit, the studio announced the return of the entire Cullen family, including Greene, Lutz, Peter Facinelli, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, and Elizabeth Reaser. The release pointed out that the actors have joined Billy Burke, who plays Charlie Swan. Three new posters were also released for the next film in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, one of which can seen to the right.

When it comes to the sequels in a juggernaut franchise, it’s only a matter of time before money becomes the main focus of the talent involved, and complications develop.

And so it begins.

As you all know, Summit Entertainment wants to split the final movie in their series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, into two parts so that they can cover more of the story and of course, so that they can add a few hundred-million dollars more to their bank account. But why has this two-part movie always been “hoped” for and not an official decision? Money, naturally.

When Twilight was first being made it had a big following behind the books, but the movie didn’t have a massive budget and its stars, who were signed on for a possible three films if the first did well, did not get paid a lot of money. The movie went on to pull in insane box office numbers, instantly creating a worldwide phenomenon and solidifying the birth of a franchise instead of just one film. This also lead Summit to smartly re-enter into negotiations with their stars to lock them up for a last movie based on the fourth book from author Stephenie Meyer.