Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, it was the perfect match, wasn't it? Two young, popular and super good looking actors rounding into the form of their lives; they were fast becoming one of the most high profile Hollywood couples, with the additional sweetener being the fact that their real life intimacy developed from an on-screen relationship. However it's fallen apart, for reasons that only the 22 year-old Stewart can explain, the young star having had an affair with her director in 'Snow White And The Huntsman', RUPERT SANDERS. Such is the stock of "K-Stew" and "R-Patz", that the fact that Sanders' family has been ripped apart - he has a wife and two children - has barely made the headlines. This is about the actors and the actors only. And this is why bosses behind the 'Twilight' films should be worried, with one more film yet to see the light of day in the cinema.

Why, though? The four films that have been released so far have taken in over $2.5 billion from the worldwide box office between them, making household names of the cast and cementing the name 'Twilight' into the memories of teenagers the world over, likely to never be forgotten. Yet look deeper than the figures and the accolades, and look at the reactions of the fans when they found out about Stewart's affair with Sanders. At the top of the list obviously there's the ridiculously hysteric video uploaded to Youtube by user nuttymadam3575, taking both actors as her own, passing her judgement at the same time as telling the media to leave them alone. Look through comments on Twitter, though; the Daily Mail collected just a few and all come out with similarly fierce personal views on the troubled couple - they range from similar attacks on Stewart, to defences that go as far as to say that the events taking place are fake. "I BELIEVE KRISTEN STEWART DIDNT DO ANYTHING AND IF YOU AS A KRISBIAN THINKS THAT SHE DID THEN YOU ARE NOT A KRISBIAN YOU ARE FAKE!" rants one angry Tweeter.

The point is that the success of the 'Twilight' films was originally down to the success of the books that preceded them, but that that connection has evolved over time. Both old fans and the new ones that have come in their droves have been so won over by the film because of the developing relationships that they feel they have with the film characters, and the actors that play them. Summit Entertainment have been clever to play on that; the last round of promotional trips for the third film saw the actors appear on shows, attend awards and make public appearances in big groups, rather than just ones and twos. The emphasis was clear: the cast are family, and by the nature of your fandom you are part of that family too. Fans didn't need to choose favourites because everyone outside the film was pushing in the same direction, no matter what their characters did within the story.

So what happens when two of the most high profile of that family go through something like this? Already Summit's promotional plans look to be in trouble; Pattinson and Stewart were supposed to be co-presenting an award at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 6th, but given that the latest from People Magazine is that they've moved out separately from the Los Angeles home they shared, that seems highly unlikely to happen. "They're going to have to promote this film around the world, so they need to stay at least on cordial terms," Us Weekly editor BRADLEY JACOBS told ABC News. "I'm sure they will both breathe a huge sigh of relief when the movie comes and goes. But until then, they're going to be very stressed out."

True, all of which undermines the way that 'Twilight' has been marketed in the past; its demographic is teenagers, and the actors have been portrayed as a very pure, close family. The revelation that one of them can't keep her pants on now means that image is shattered, and thus the connection between the actors and their audience has been damaged. It's unlikely that Stewart and Pattinson will promote the film together now, meaning that there's a chance fans could start to choose where their loyalties lie, and given the hysterical nature of their reaction to this news alone, is it really too much to suggest that some of them might choose to stay away from a film with Stewart in? Only time will tell, but this split, unfortunately for the two involved, goes beyond just a couple of breaking up.