(Courtesy of Summit Entertainment)
Four years ago, a housewife from Arizona wrote a book about how a high school girl and a vampire fell in love. This ignited the phenomenon that is “Twilight,” and question of Edward versus Jacob has fans going crazy about the next film installment to the saga, “New Moon,” which comes out Friday.
Century 21 Theater in Boulder’s midnight showing of “New Moon” is already sold out due to fans buying their tickets way in advance. Rebecca Bari, a 19-year-old freshman open-option major, is one of those fans. She and her friends bought their tickets for the midnight show in September.
“I’m going to the midnight premier of ‘New Moon’ on Thursday night because it’s the first showing which is always the most exciting,” Bari said. “I’ve been looking forward to the movie for a long time.”
So what is the hype all about?
Kathryn Goggin, an 18-year-old freshman ethnic studies major, has read all of the books and considers herself a fan of the series.
“I think the ‘Twilight’ hype is around for a reason,” Goggin said. “The books are great, people love the stars in the movies, and it’s just really hard not to get caught up in it.”
Goggin said she didn’t like the first movie, but plans on seeing the second in hopes of improvement.
“I really didn’t like the first movie because it wasn’t close enough to the book,” Goggin said. “But from what I hear about ‘New Moon,’ it is very close to the book, so I think it will be a lot better. It’s just exciting to see what you’ve read in your imagination come to life onscreen.”
According to stepheniemeyer.com, author Stephenie Meyer began to have dreams of a girl and a vampire discussing their love for each other and the fact that he was attracted to the scent of her blood in June 2003. This sparked the inspiration for “Twilight,” Meyer’s first novel. Four books were released for the series and “Twilight” was made into a film and released on Nov. 21, 2008. Though the movie wasn’t a critical favorite, the film was hit among most “Twilight” fans.
Bari has read all of the books and was one of the fans who said she enjoyed the film, “Twilight.”
“Films based on books are always fun to watch to see how they bring the story in the books to a motion picture,” Bari said. “It’s always interesting to see how the characters are portrayed differently between how you as a reader imagined them in your head versus what you see on screen.”
In “New Moon,” Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) have been going out for a while, despite the fact that Edward is a vampire. But at a birthday party, Bella gets injured by Edward’s adopted brother, Jasper Hale (Jackson Rathbone), because he is attracted to her blood when she accidentally cuts herself. Because of this, Edward decides to leave out of fear of endangering Bella. Bella is devastated by this and turns to a close friend, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), who happens to be turning into a werewolf. As she gets closer to Jacob, Bella must decide if she likes Edward or Jacob better.
Fans showed their true power at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, where “Twilight” dominated the proceedings. According to stepheniemeyer.com, the film won best female performance, breakthrough performance male, best fight, best kiss and best movie.
“‘Twilight’ fans are crazy, and I am surprised at how much merchandise there is for the movies,” Bari said. “I think the ‘Twilight’ fans are all about the cute boys that play the characters.”
To avoid the extreme fans, Goggin is going to the film on Friday at 10 p.m.
“I would love to go to the midnight showing but I have early classes the next day and some fans scare me at those midnight showings,” Goggin said.
Even though she doesn’t relate to some fans, Goggin said she still considers herself a “Twilight” enthusiast.
“Well considering I am a ‘Twilight’ fan, I can’t really say anything bad,” Goggin said. “But I do think some of them are just a tad crazy. I’m more of a silent fan. No one knows I’m obsessed.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Brigid Igoe at Brigid.igoe@colorado.edu.
