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UPDATES Twilight Fans Lining Up For Monday’s ‘New Moon’ Premiere
EXCLUSIVE: That’s what I’m told by Fandango, even though there are still 5 more days before the Summit Entertainmnent’s vampire pic based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling books has its November 20 release date. New Moon has already leaped over previous record-holders to become the top-selling pre-release title in Fandango’s 10-year history. The new record for Fandango’s fastest-selling film was set on Saturday night after 8:00 PM.
The Top 5 Advance Ticket-Sellers on Fandango are now as follows:
1. New Moon (2009)
2. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. Twilight (2008)
The latest chapter of The Twilight Saga is currently accounting for 86% of weekly ticket sales on Fandango, the nation’s leading movie ticketing destination. Thousands of Thursday night midnight showtimes for New Moon are already sold out across the country. Yet New Moon tickets continue to be available. To meet the fan demand, the nation’s top theater owners are regularly posting brand new showtimes on additional screens. “For many fans, it’s the year’s most anticipated film event,” Fandango COO Rick Butler said in a statement for me. “Ever since tickets went on sale in September, it’s been among our top five weekly ticket-sellers, as New Moon has a strong pull on audiences. We’re seeing a higher-than-usual number of tickets per transaction for this film, suggesting that moviegoers will show up en masse at theaters this weekend with their friends and family.”
According to a recent Fandango survey of 2,000+ New Moon ticket-buyers:
– 98% say the action in New Moon looks better than the action in Twilight
– 72% plan to see the movie with a group of three friends/ or more.
– 52% of survey respondents say they dream about vampires.
– 22% are mothers and daughters planning to see New Moon together
– 10% plan to show up at the theater dressed as the saga characters.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Uhh…some of you guys are gonna get a reality check come Sunday. New Moon is the sequel to a movie that opened just one year ago to $70 million and then dropped to $27 million in its second weekend. Now even if it garnered new fans this past year ( most people I know who saw the first one out of curiosity didn’t like what they saw) and has a $90 million opening, New Moon doesn’t have enough of a fan base to do Harry Potter numbers ($250-$305 million) total domestic. Twillight did $191 million total domestic after a $70 million opening! That suggests it’s not mass market, it’s a very entusiastic fanbase, but not mass market.
I predict James Cameron’s Avatar is going to mop up the floor with New Moon…his last movie was this little thing called Titanic.
When Twilight was released last year, I didn’t even know the saga existed.
My sister, nieces and friends intend to see it not only at midnight on the 20th, but at least five times opening weekend. We have advanced purchased a total of 25 tickets so far.
We will continue to make as many trips to the theatre to see it again and again as we can possibly muster – all this weekend. And since I saw Twilight 12 times in the theatre, and if New Moon looks to be even better than the first, then I will likely see New Moon many more times beyond opening weekend.
And again, I am not alone. I can’t begin to tell you the number of women I know who came to know this saga well after Twilight was out of the theatres last year.
They will be attending in droves.
This is a unique fan base that I dare say is somewhat unprecedented in its nature. I think we should meet back here on Monday to see who was actually served a spoonful of reality this weekend.
I am a 74 year old Grandmother who is addicted to the Twilight Saga books and the Twilight movie. I bought tix to New Moon 2 months ago to take my granddaughter, and will take a different granddaughter one week later. Then, when it comes out, I will buy the DVD and enjoy watching it many times, just as I did with Twilight. I know a lot of others in the “mature” age bracket who feel the same way. The 3 leads have all commented on how popular the series is in every country they visited including Japan, Mexico, Spain, France, England and Germany. 20,000 people turned out to see RPatzz in Munich. 90,000 advance tix for New Moon were bought in Mexico as of a few days ago. I am eager to see how New Moon does, but I am sure it will be a blockbuster and will break records not only in America, but all over the world.
Way to go bettyel. My daughter was the first one who started reading the book. I was curious why she is always locked up in her room. That was when she introduced me to Twilight. I already bought the tickets. We’re all watching together and we are all so excited to see it.
Star Wars III? That movie was important to many people, but the some of the acting was so bad and there were hasty, cheesy plot devices!
Why can’t people imagine New Moon will be more successful? The lead actors are really good, with the exception of Pattinson, who is improving.
Change your thinking about movie concepts penned by female authors and told from a female protagonist’s point of view (and, remember a female director launched this series with TWILIGHT). They can be blockbusters too. Why do we still hold onto the belief that males drive the markets? Women are the majority in the U.S. Our box office dollars will prove it this weekend!
I think New Moon will do a lot better then Twilight. When Twilight came out in theaters I had no idea that the saga even existed. I had a girl I babysat introduce me to the books. After reading the first I had all four read in 2 weeks. I was standing in line at midnight to buy Twilight. I have already bought tickets to see New Moon tomorrow night. My husband is coming along with me as well. I would not count out the men going. I know a lot of guys who have already bought their tickets. Also don’t keep saying teens/tweens I am 25 and absolutely love the twilight saga. I believe what everyone else has said that this will be huge because it is a love story. Many women will be taking their significant other. Expect this movie to be huge.
I think guys in general, and men in the movie industry sorely underestimate the $$$ that will be coming out of the Twilight franchise. That’s all I can say.
Because of this, Robert Pattinson (who plays the teen vampire/love interest Edward Cullen) now has his own production company and was named Exec. producer of his next film (a 911 tragic love story/Remember Me), which will probably gross hundreds of millions of dollars in sales as well.. and he’ll get more powerful and rich.
PATTINSON GETS this market. Why? because he understands it and is willing to exploit it for all its worth. Unlike some Hollywood shizz guy exec.
Pattinson’s doing pretty damn good for being a former male model who never took an acting class IN HIS LIFE!.
He’s laughing all the way to the bank I bet.
What serious actor would care about any of that ? When Pattinson starts getting Oscar buzz then get back to us, untill then he’s just another pretty face that tweens go wild for.
As I said, Twilight has a very enthusiastic fan base, and that fan base will show up big in its opening weekend. I have no doubt that the fan base could, with multiple repete viewings, push the overall domestic take to $230 million. But, in order to crack the top 50 all-time domestic box office a film MUST be mass market. It needs to draw beyond its fan base. Currently, a film needs to make over $251 million domestic to make the all-time top 50 and ‘New Moon’ won’t do it…period. All the Harry Potter films are in the top 50 all-time as are the Star Wars films and Pirates of the Carribean films. Twilight didn’t make the list…and ‘New Moon’ won’t either…it doesn’t have a broad enough appeal outside its fan base, so you certainly will win the weekend battle, but New Moon won’t stack up all-time with the mass market films and as I said before…I’ll take Avatar over New Moon for biggest movie this holiday season.
Oh, look at you, Rodney, side-stepping your opening-weekend predictions (“Uhh…some of you guys are gonna get a reality check come Sunday.”). But I must ask: How does that little dose of “opening weekend” reality taste?
I can’t help but giggle, naysayers.
Just broke $255 million domestic . . . period. In 17 days no less.
Welcome to the top 50 all-time domestic, New Moon!
i LOVE TWILIGHT. but i definetly have 2 say that the book is better. keep makin’ those BOOKS!!!!!!!!!
Just finished seeing “New Moon”. It was better than Twilight. Yes, I have read the books. I thought it was well done, and didn’t leave out essential plot and character development. The few changes made to jazz things up didn’t make the story any less what it was.
I do have something to say about the acting. Pattison did a phenomenal job acting the tortured Edward – Lautner did the same excellent job acting the loyal Jacob. Kristin, however, was too monotone and didn’t evoke much emotion through her tone and her facial movements. She needs to learn how to act, how not to mumble. For all of her classic beauty, she needs to grow as an actor.