Posted Jun 30, 2010, 12:47 pm
Olivia Tortorici got in line Tuesday at 8 a.m. She would have to wait in line for nearly 16 hours by herself. She is eleven years old.
"I'm so excited, it's going to be awesome," she said about the opening of "Eclipse," the third installment of the "Twilight" saga.
Like many "Twiligh"t fans, Tortorici has had her tickets for the film well over a month in advance.
Tickets for the film's midnight showings were still available late Tuesday afternoon, but the lines began much earlier.
"The way things are going we anticipate every showing to be sold out," a manager of Cinemark Century El Con 20 said Tuesday. The theatre allowed patrons to enter the theater where the film would be run and wait several hours until the movie started, just after midnight.
Harkins Spectrum Theatre, near Interstate 19 and Irvington Road, had more than 500 moviegoers line up outside until around an hour and a half prior to show time.
Yet despite ideas that "Twilight" is geared toward the young to preteen crowd, some older fans also attended the midnight showings.
"I've been planning to see "Eclipse" at midnight since "New Moon" came out. It's sort of a tradition," Kelsii Dyer, 19, said. Dyer was waiting in line because of the excitement of the film's opening, she said.
Dyer admitted she never picked up one of the "Twilight" novels until after seeing the second film, but after that, quickly bought and finished all four within a week.
"Twilight" opening in November 2008 earned nearly $69 million dollars, according to imdb.com. The following year, "New Moon" doubled that, taking in $142 million in the opening weekend. The two films have grossed over $487 million.
"I plan on seeing it today," said Melinda Valenzuela, 31. "They entertain me and they're fun. And it's love story."
Why has the "Twilight" saga been so successful?
"I think that people like to believe in ghost stories, fairy tales, stories about vampires and witches and when such an enticing saga comes out that incorporates one or all of those ideas it becomes intriguing. A world outside the one we all live in," Dyer said.
Twilight author Stephanie Meyer also created a different take on traditional vampire and werewolves, making it less visceral to a younger crowd.
"I used to be afraid of werewolves but not anymore," Tortorici said.
The Twilight books - "Twilight", "New Moon", "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn" - sold over 22 million copies just last year.
The fourth and final film will be released next year.
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