The amount of hype that Twilight (a movie based on a series of books based on the horribly over-done premise of a Vampire who is actually a GOOD vampire and falls in love with a mortal… how original) is just insane. I hadn’t even heard of Twilight until recently and I never understood why a book based on a tired idea was getting so much attention. Then I saw the first full trailer and although I still don’t get the borderline religious following this thing has, I must admit that it increased my interest. It was a pretty solid trailer and while I haven’t yet drunk the Twilight Kool Aide, I gotta say I’m looking forward to it.
Anyway, although this franchise already has 4 books and the big plan was always to make all of them into movies… the studios will usually wait to see how the first film turns out and performs before giving the official green light to any sequels (does anyone remember Eragon?). However, it seems that the studio has already seen enough excitement from the fans to move forward with plans for Twilight 2 (New Moon) weeks before the first film even hits the theaters.
Nikki Finke scoops the news:
When your soundtrack isn’t even completed much less released (not until November 4th), yet it’s already in the Top 5 Best-Selling Albums on Amazon based on pre-sales alone, you know you have a hit. When Borders makes an exclusive calendar and sells out the first printing in a matter of days, you know you have a hit. And when the new trailer to your movie surpasses 3.5 million views less than 48 hours after its online debut, you know you have a hit. Which is why Summit Entertainment’s CEO Rob Friedman is already readying a Twilight sequel — even though the vampire tween/tween movie isn’t set for release until November 21st which is the date vacated by Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince. Oh, and did I mention that Twilight has the fastest selling licensed merchandise since — you guessed it — Harry Potter?
Mental note to self. The next time I make a movie, make sure to target 13-24 year old girls with slops of romance between a painfully plain and ordinary girl who is swept off her feet buy a guy who is 10x outside of her league and exceeds any realistic expectations a woman should ever have of any real life man. They seem to go crazy for this stuff. :P
