14 DAY TRIAL // One Hollywood golden rule says that sequels rarely fare as well as the original films, not to mention surpass them in ticket sales. Early indications for “New Moon,” the follow-up to the immensely successful “Twilight” of last year, show that it will literally set the box-office on fire upon release, as the first batch of tickets made available online has already sold out, Twilight Lexicon informs, citing a Los Angeles Times report.
Tickets for the midnight (premiere) shows made available on a couple of websites have already sold out, which leads to the logical conclusion that all hell will break loose in theaters once the films goes worldwide. Add to this the fact that hype is already beginning to build up for the third film in the series, “Eclipse,” which is still shooting and won’t be released until later next year, and it’s safe to assume that Summit Entertainment has on its hands one of the biggest – if not actually the biggest – hits of our times.
“Online ticket sellers MovieTickets and Fandango report that the follow-up to last year’s hit from Summit Entertainment, which sold $191.5 million worth of tickets in the US and Canada, is selling out screenings earlier than any other movie to date. ‘New Moon’ has sold out 50 showtimes of nearly 22,000 offered on Fandango and 13 showtimes of 2,912 offered on MovieTickets. Most of the sold-out shows are at or around midnight Nov. 20, when the movie debuts.” the LA Times report says, as quoted by the Twilight fansite.
Come to think of it, this kind of response from fans is nothing to marvel about, since the “Twilight” phenomenon has proven time and time again the kind of appeal it has for audiences. Speaking of which, while the first two films in the series had targeted female teens in particular, things would change once “Eclipse” dropped, actress Ashley Greene, who plays Alice Cullen, was saying in a recent interview, because director David Slade would make it darker and edgier while, at the same time, more action-focused.
“I think it’ll be different. I think it’s going to be a battle between the studio and the director, and it’s going to be a hard balance, ‘cause I think he’s... a little more focused on it being real and maybe it being gorier and a little dark and kind of dramatic. The first one was very focused on this love story and really sweet and it was beautiful, but it didn’t have a lot of stuff that guys would go, ‘Yeah, I want to go see that.’ There’s going to be a lot more focus on [action], and the fight scene will have more emphasis on it. I definitely think it will be a little more guy-friendly.” Greene was saying the other day, as we also informed you.