'Breaking Dawn' Director Explains Revisiting 'Twilight' Ballad

Fans of the original "Twilight" soundtrack got a pleasant surprise when the recently released track list for "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" revealed that Iron & Wine's melancholy ballad "Flightless Bird, American Mouth (Wedding Version)" was among the cuts. Twilighters — who are no doubt gearing up for Thursday's "MTV First" with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner at 7:56 p.m. on MTV and MTV.com — will recall that the song made its "Saga" debut in the closing moments of "Twilight" as Bella and Edward shared their first dance. And according to "Breaking Dawn" director Bill Condon, the retread of this memorable number was an important reference for him to make. "I always thought of this movie as the bookend to the first movie, and that was such a great powerful, romantic song for those characters," he told MTV News during a phone interview last week. "It just felt right to kind of refer back to it at this important, important moment," he added about "Breaking Dawn - Part 1," the first of the two-part finale. Of course, Condon wouldn't reveal exactly which important moment this song will accompany in the November 18 film, leaving fans to wonder whether its delicate strains will find their way into the wedding itself or perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Cullen's first dance as man and wife. Condon did divulge, however, that the song is just one of many callbacks to earlier "Twilight Saga" films. "[There are] quite a few," he confirmed. "Musically, I would say at the wedding there's a jazz quartet that plays a couple of tracks from 'Eclipse.' Carter Burwell has come back to do the score. He did the first movie, so 'Bella's Lullaby' features in this movie too." Moral of the story: Keep your eyes and ears peeled for touching tributes to "Breaking Dawn" predecessors. Be sure to tune in to "MTV First: Breaking Dawn - Part 1," which kicks off Thursday, November 3, on MTV at 7:56 p.m. ET, followed by a Q&A with Kristen, Rob and Taylor on MTV.com! Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1." For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com. Robert Pattinson in "Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" Photo: Summit Entertainment