When the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. this Friday, theaters across the country will usher in a new breed of a vampire movie.
No, this isn't your grandpa's "Dracula" type of movie -- this one is geared specifically at teen girls.
The film is "Twilight," the hotly anticipated vampire romance thriller has some analysts like Business Week online mulling whether it could be this holiday movie season's "Harry Potter." If online ticket seller Fandango's numbers are any indication, "Twilight" at the very least is on pace with another 'tween movie sensation -- "High School Musical 3" -- with more than 100 midnight shows already sold out across the country.
Time will only tell how the box office take will pan out. However, like "Harry Potter," "Twilight" has earned its pedigree as a best-selling series of books. Authored by Stephenie Meyer, the four "Twilight" books to date have sold in the neighborhood of 17 million copies worldwide.
Plus, the film won't be hurt by a little "Harry Potter" movie magic. Robert Pattinson, who starred as Harry's Twi-Wizard challenger Cedric Diggory in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," plays the lead character in "Twilight."
Pattinson plays Edward Cullen, a vampire whom Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) falls in love with.
And even before the first frame has flickered in theaters, "Twilight" book fans have already fallen for the big-screen versions of Edward, Bella and several of their cast mates. Thousands of screaming fans have turned up at personal appearances at Hot Topic stores across the nation to get a glimpse of the stars.
"It's absolutely insane -- it's the closest any of us will get to becoming rock stars," said Taylor Lautner (who plays Jacob Black) in a recent @ The Movies interview. "We've been averaging 2,000 people at the question-and-answer sessions. But I really wouldn't call it a question-and-answer session because you don't get to answer too much because they're screaming the whole time."
