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Twilight vampires get their day in the sun

Rebekah van Druten

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson star in New Moon
Cinema-goers fell head-over-heels in love with Bella Swan (Kirsten Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).(


The countdown is on - one day, 14 hours and 40 minutes.

This Thursday, at the stroke of midnight, the wait will be over for Australian fans eager to see part two of the Twilight saga, New Moon.

Not since Harry Potter has a film franchise generated such a frenzy.

But it wasn't always this way.

Stephenie Meyers' four-book Twilight series might have topped bestseller lists worldwide, but Hollywood wasn't anticipating the cinema-going public to fall head-over-heels in love with vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and girl-next-door Bella Swan (Kirsten Stewart).

Palace Cinemas' Queensland operations manager James Feldman explains:

"Last year's release [Twilight] was a budgeted release as opposed to the major blockbusters," he told ABC News Online.

"They [the film's distributor] did it on a budget. They thought it would be great - it started as a great book - but there wasn't the financing I guess for it to be a Marvel Comics style movie or anything along that line."

Twilight went on to top the Australian box office on release, grossed a whopping $383 million worldwide and catapulted young stars Pattinson and Stewart to dizzying heights of fame almost overnight.

Come Thursday, more than 85 per cent of cinemas in Australia will be showing New Moon - undoubtedly hoping to cash in on the hype. Only true art house complexes will shy away from screening the film.

Horror writer Jason Nahrung believes the correlations between Twilight and Shakespeare's classic Romeo And Juliet is what makes it so appealing to audiences.

"In many respects the vampirism is a background feature," he said.

"It really is a very teenage girl romance. When Bella falls for Edward it's based almost entirely on the fact that he looks pretty, so it's such a strong fetish love affair and I think possibly that is helping it not just attract the teenage female readers, but also the adult female readers as well.

"They're getting maybe an echo back to that feeling that they had in high school or whenever, when they first had their first, real overwhelming crush on somebody."

New-age vampires

New Moon further explores the course of Edward and Bella's star-crossed romance, but it also has more action and introduces the audience to the more violent, darker side of the supernatural world, including the Volturi clan.

Actors Cameron Bright, Charlie Bewley and Christopher Heyerdahl - recently in Australia on a promotional tour - play members of this elite vampire gang.

They are well aware of the pressure of audience expectations.

"I didn't even have to read the books [before shooting]. All my friends told me immediately what happened in every book ... I was just like, 'Oh. My. God'," Bright told ABC News Online.

Bewley adds: "Yeah, it was a totally unique situation in that respect. The information came to you."

Nevertheless, all three were dying - pardon the pun - to be involved in this phenomenal franchise.

Bright - a 16-year-old Canadian native who has held his own on-screen opposite the likes of Robert De Niro and Nicole Kidman - recalls almost missing out on his part:

"I got a call for an audition and we were going to go for the audition, but we actually ended up not being able to make it.

"I called my manager and she said, 'Oh don't worry about it. They're most probably just going to offer you the role', and that ended up happening ... [but] even if I hadn't have gotten it offered, I still would have been right there trying to get it."

The actors say they don't fear typecasting and instead are full of praise for Meyer's "wonderfully refreshing" take on vampires - who look, act and experience emotions very similar to their human prey.

Writer Nahrung explains how this vampire mythos has evolved:

"Obviously the sexual side of vampirism has been ramped up to a far more overt level in this day-and-age; whereas before the vampire was a sexual predator, now he's become almost a sexual protagonist in some ways," he said.

"We've lost the religious side of vampirism, where the vampire was once an evil creature attacking sexual morality.

"We've lost the whole 'become a vampire, lose your soul' kind of thing.

"So now were really only left with that pure sexual side of it, the romantic side of it and I guess that's maybe why Twilight is so popular."

The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens nationally on Thursday and in the US on November 20.


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