Follow the Leader: The series is part of the boom in the Young Adult vampire genre caused by Twilight. According to a blog post by Richelle, in early 2006 her then-agent suggested that she should write in this genre. Ironically, she did not hear about the existence of Twilight until she started searching for a publisher. "... one editor rejected it because "It wasn't enough like Twilight." Another editor rejected it because "It was too much like Twilight." And I was—seriously—like, "What's Twilight? Is that a book?" "
According to Richelle Mead's blog, the opening novel was going to be named Kissed by Shadows.
According to another blog post, Richelle's original story ideas were quite different. "I knew for sure that I didn't want the main character to be a vampire—I wanted a human who interacted with vampires." The story "was actually about a teenage boy and girl. Through an ancient family tradition, they had been arranged to be married and met each other for the first time at the start of the book. One of them was in danger, so the other took on a bodyguard role. I can't remember who was protecting whom—or which one was the vampire."
The story then shifted into a different direction. Richelle: "However, I originally set out to write it in third-person POV, with a wider cast of characters having bigger roles. In fact, side character Camille Conta once played a much more significant role and had her own subplot." Chapter 2 included Camille's perspective on the return of Rose and Lissa to the Academy.
Rose started life as a human character. During the rewrite of the novel, Rose was changed into a dhampir.
Dawson Casting: All the named students in the film are supposed to be 17-year-old, except the 16-year-old Mia Rinaldi. They are almost all played by actors in their twenties:
Rose Hathaway is played by 20-year-old Zoey Deutch.
Lissa Dragomir is played by 22-year-old Lucy Fry.
Christian Ozera is played by 24-year-old Dominic Sherwood.
Natalie Dashkov is played by 24-year-old Sarah Hyland.
Mason Ashford is played by 21-year-old Cameron Monaghan.
Mia Rinaldi is played by 18-year-old Sami Gayle.
Direct-to-DVD: After it bombed at the U.S. box-office in February 2014, its British cinema release was cancelled and it went straight to DVD in early July.
Executive Meddling: According to the film's Screenwriter, Daniel Waters, the film was victim of this because of the rushed and choppy editing at the request of Weinstein. Cutting out more than what he and his brother would have wanted.
Follow the Leader: The film was green-lit as an attempt to fill the void of "teen paranormal romance" films left behind once the last Twilight film was released.
Romance on the Set: Sarah and Dominic dated from 2015-2017 after meeting on this film.
Stillborn Franchise: The film only made half of this budget, killing any chances of further sequels. After it was clear that the studio was unwilling to finance a sequel, a crowdfunding effort by the creators was made to keep the franchise alive, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
But, Peacock launched a series with Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre of The Vampire Diaries in charge in 2022.
by Richelle, in early 2006 her then-agent suggested that she should write in this genre. Ironically, she did not hear about the existence of Twilight until she started searching for a publisher. "... one editor rejected it because "It wasn't enough like Twilight." Another editor rejected it because "It was too much like Twilight." And I was—seriously—like, "What's Twilight? Is that a book?" "