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
24 Comments, Comment or Ping
HAZMAT_LIKES_VAMPIRES
dude its not insane to make a movie if the books are great…if you have no time to read them because youre busy thats fine…but that means you can freaking say the storys stupid! it just makes no sence to say a book is just like dracula or that other wanna be movie from germany or w.e. if you havent READ it. the story might be the same if you wiki twilight but if you havent read it then wtf..i dont get it…its not a john campea-ish thing to say and im shocked to hear that
btw theres 4
twilight
new moon
eclipse
and breaking dawn
i love twilight..and im not a teenage girl that likes romance and likes to be swept off my feet by dudes i actually love gore and action so there goes your theory on that… and every part of the article you just posted was completely off if you dont count the
“Twilight has the fastest selling licensed merchandise since — you guessed it — Harry Potter”
and your opinion abotu the trailer which you may talk about hence you SAW the trailer (i personally didnt liek the trailer that much)
…im a big TMB fan…not being a dick..just showing my opinion on why i think your wrong about twilight being for teenage girls and telling you why i feel that way…and that its “just like every vampire story” which makes me want to tell you the ending of ll the books but that would be a dick move
Oct 14th, 2008
John
Hey HAZMAT,
Dude, you really need to learn to read the article more carefully before trying to scold me.
#1 - I never said making the movie was insane. I said the amount of hype it’s getting is insane.
#2 - I already said there are 4 books.
#3 - I never said the story was stupid. I said it’s an over done premise (which is a FACT) of a Vampire who is actually a GOOD vampire and falls in love with a mortal.
#4 - The primary target of these books IS teenage girls. That is a fact. Doesn’t mean it’s ONLY for teenage girls, but that is the main target audience.
#5 - Every part of my article was completely 100% ON. :P
Oct 14th, 2008
Dragonslayer
I LOVED Eragon!
Oct 14th, 2008
PADTHAI
I think they added the action sequences to get the teen boys (and John Campea) interested. I mean, this is supposed to be a romance series, right? I doubt they had that action stuff in the books. Or, maybe the movie use very little of the books like the James Bond series. This doesn’t look like a romance movie.
Oct 14th, 2008
Kristina
FUCK TWILIGHT!
Oct 14th, 2008
Darren J Seeley
This does not surprise me.
While I’m rooting for Summit, it won’t shock me either if the film tanks and the sequel is called off. In any case, it hasn’t been the first film to announce a possible sequel before the film’s release.
However, there is at least one red flag. Did anyone catch it? I’ll repeat it:
“When your soundtrack isn’t even completed”
What’s the matter? Not enough “inspired by” songs that aren’t heard in a film and/or problem finding filler? Or are folks still working like hell to get the post done in time for the release?
Oct 14th, 2008
total jiu jitsu
maybe you don’t understand all the hype because you’re not a teeny-bopper school girl. have you ever seen any guy on the mtv movie blog talking about twilight? they’re all chics. they are the target audience. although i don’t fit that demograph i’m only wanting to see this on dvd just for kirsten stewart.
Oct 14th, 2008
Marco
I have a good story, get a girl to be a good vampire and let her suck a blood “latte”out of many guys’ staves until she falls in love and eventually sucks the life out of the guy. Great drama!
Oct 14th, 2008
Tripp Van Easille
No interest in this over-hyped series whatsoever. Next….
Oct 14th, 2008
Meli
The soundtrack not being finished isn’t a lack of track list. The track list was released last week and some of the songs on the list have been published for a long while, but a few were/are recorded specifically for the movie.
It does/doesn’t surprise me that New Moon has already been given the greenlight. While the majority of Twilight fans are chopping at the bit for Nov 21st are they enough to make this movie a hit? I’m not sure how many people outside of the book reading community will go see this movie, not counting parents who will take their teens.
As a fan of the books I’ve seen news on fansites, movie blogs/news sites and MySpace, but in the real world I’ve seen little. I went to the movies this weekend and there wasn’t even a poster hanging up in the lobby. The movie is just over a month away and I’ve seen no TV spots, so I wonder if Summit will pony up some cash for those or if they’re going to solely rely on the rabid fan base.
The 3.5 million viewings of the trailer in 48hrs is an impression number, but that isn’t a figure of 3.5mil people having watched the trailer. I can attest to my daughter having watched that trailer at least twenty times in the first couple of days.
Summit will without a doubt make their money back on this movie, which had a budget of $37-40mil, in fact, I believe they’ll make it back on the first weekend. I think it’ll make modest money, and will be a big hit for Summit as a small studio. So, I guess greenlighting a second movie is probably an easy decision considering the budget for the first movie and the money the fans will give this flick in the first couple of weekends. Whether or not New Moon gets a heftier budget will rely on how much Twilight pulls in at the box office.
Oct 14th, 2008
Phil Gee
Sweet Jesus, those are some impressive statistics I suppose. Even though I find that nothing makes me more rattled than some of these physcotic fans, I suppose its nice that young girls (and some significantly older, clinically obese and lonely women) have a film that they are craving for on the same level as I am for Quantum of Solace…….
…..and all us folk will be watching that in the theatre next door. Except for Kristina, who is not a Bond fan i think, and clearly not a Twlight one either. She might stay home.
Oct 14th, 2008
HAZMAT_LIKES_VAMPIRES
john
actually i reread it 3 times very carefully because i just had to know for sure that you said that lol
i just thought you said it was horribly over-done and i thought that meant..that you thought it was horribly over done…which is weird cuz you havent read it..but w.e.
and that you didnt understand why a book based on a tired idea was getting so much attention…which also kinda killed some of my brain cells when i read…because its really not like dracula at ALL..which ive read and watched movies about…after READING it myself i can tell you its not like dracula
oh and- im talking about the book! i mean the movie might SUCK…the trailer wasnt great…but the book was amazing…all of them were and if it can be made right itll be a kickass movie. it looks like theyre NOT making it like they should be but thats beyond the point ive been trying to make
like harry potter and i see youve already pointed out eragon
i cant talk about the movie because i havent SEEN it..hopefully we wont waste 10$ on it…but the books..were amazing, and i can say that
Oct 14th, 2008
George
this will have a decent opening weekend and then tail off.
as much as people love to label something the next so and so this is not the next harry potter.
potter was gigantic in its crossover appeal. this thing does not have that same thing.
Oct 14th, 2008
Meli
-clear throat- Phil Gee ….It’s not nice to sterotype! There are well adjusted women looking forward to the movie too! There might not be a lot of us, but we exist. :P
Oct 14th, 2008
BobaFett
Hmmph…Twilight will probably do extremely well. A lot of people forget that Titanic was basically a fictional love story with a hstorical ship sinking in it, with all of the effects to go with it, and the teen girls saw it over and over and over….
So that type of genre, especially with the success of Sex and the City. I believe that Hollywood is trying for that type of genre again.
Any book series has a following, and because the medium of books continue to remain for hundreds of years after publication they continue to build. (A factor in the continuation of both Star Wrs and Star Trek’s continuations)
I remember when I was a teenager (vaguely), the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles were extremely popular, especially with the goth girls. The Twilight hype reminds me of that.
Other book series I’d like to see: Some of which had a movie or two…
Ender’s Saga (Orson Scott Card)
Alvin Maker (Orson Scott Card)
Amber (Roger Zelazny)
Xanth (Piers Anthony)
Alex Cross (James Patterson) REBOOT plz (Maybe with Chwitel Ejifor?).
Martin Vail (William Diehl)
The Corps (WEB Griffin)
Kinsey Milhone aka Alphabet Series (Sue Grafton)
Myron Bolitar (Harlan Coben)
I think that a cool concept would be to do some of these as TV series, with each book being a season long (possibly as cable 12 episode seasons).
Oct 14th, 2008
Phil Gee
I am humbled Meli, and beg forgiveness.
Oct 14th, 2008
Meli
LoL! It’s all good Phil. :)
Oct 14th, 2008
HAZMAT_LIKES_VAMPIRES
if i had a movie blog and talked abotu star wars liek this id get eaten alive
such bullshit
=]
Oct 14th, 2008
duca
@Hazmet_Likes_Vampires
I am constantly amazed when fans of a book series comment in such a fashion that I question whether or not they are actually literate. Everything that John stated in his article is a fact. And no, he was not dissing Twilight. In literature there are certain ‘themes’. You’ll find them in every genre, regardless of age. The older a concept or genre the more repeating themes you will see. For example, almost every fantasy series has some sort of ‘quest’ that the main characters (often a ‘party’) must complete in order to save their mystical land. What makes each story unique is how the author decides to present the theme.
Vampire novels traditionally have a forbidden love aspect to them. It is part and parcel with the vampire lore. Vampires are traditionally very sexual creatures, with many metaphors existing around the concepts of eternal life and blood; the sexual contact and ‘penetration’ of a victim, the euphoric effects of the blood once drunk. When I think of the vampire genre the most obvious example of a vampire turned good falling in love with a mortal has to be the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. It IS a common theme and HAS been done a great many times. However, a author can take such stereotypes and make them unique by interpreting it in their own style. John was simply pointing this fact out. The CONCEPT is horribly over done, which it is. Google it and see how many books you get.
Everything has a target audience. As a 23 year old female I am almost NEVER in the target audience for the majority of movies/games/books that I enjoy. I don’t take it as a insult, it’s just how things work. Apparently I’m the target audience for this series but I think it looks like a pile of pooh. For each their own I suppose, I’m going to be next door in Quantum of Solace thank you.
PS You should perhaps look at the last few articles John has written about Star Wars, eh? I’m sure we’ll all agree that he had much harsher words to say about that particular series then about this one.
Oct 14th, 2008
HAZMAT_LIKES_VAMPIRES
Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
you have got to be shiting me….
i see you also havent read twilight yet youre comparing it to..ugh..
and by the star wars thing i meant that i dont go around saying “what!? another space movie? like star treck wasnt enough? well i havent SEEN star wars but its deffinatedly an overused topic about flying spaceships im going to go ahead and compare it to starship troopers”
if i fucking google vampire, duca, im going to get 10000 books, and same thing if i google superheroes, but that doesnt mean that the spirit will be like the dark knight!
it IS about vampires but i just saw something i love being compared to buffy the vampire slayer, cracula and some stupid ass german movie and its just getting downright retarded and insulting hence im a twilight fan
if you havent READ watchmen…you cant say its an overused topic because of all the superhero movies…there ARE alot of superhero movies- but theyre not like watchmen! how do i know that? becaue i READ watchmen and i know that it looks nothing like superman or spiderman
Oct 15th, 2008
John
Hey Hazmat,
You’re totally missing the point.
The overused issue isn’t just VAMPIRES. That’s your subject. What I’m talking about isn’t as general as just “vampires”. It’s a specific premise:
A vampire… who also happens to be a GOOD Vampire… who falls in love with a mortal.
That’s a SPECIFIC premise that’s been done 1000 times.
Don’t compare that to star wars. Do YOU know of 10 other movies about Jedi Knights who were once slaughtered to make way for a galactic Empire while the son of the main henchman is destined to be the salvation of the universe? No???
Oct 15th, 2008
RonSalon
I read all the books. I read all Ann Rice’s vamp books too.
Is the movie and book for everyone? No. The books are unabashedly, unrealistically romantic, but that is the simple fun of it. Come on. This movie has target, young girls and gay boys. And it will work. It will double its money, which is not a bad investment. If the movie even gets it half right, watch out for a greenlit third and fourth installment too.
Oct 15th, 2008
HAZMAT_LIKES_VAMPIRES
i never said that about star wars i love star wars im saying it would be stupid to say that if u never saw star wars (which i did..all of them..50 times each)
NO there has never been anything like star wars- an ignorant person would compare it to star treck and maybe even starship troopers(a REAL ignorant person), and you defended star wars because you know thats just retarded…nothing is even close to star wars.
WELL
twilight isnt like dracula!
yes it has a good vampire in it….but van helsing has a good werewulf in it as the protagonist..and that wasnt what van helsing was about
so if someone that hasnt seen star wars says that its a cliche story about outer space wars (whihc it isnt) then why is it fair for you to say twilight is just liek dracula?
Oct 15th, 2008
John
You still aren’t getting it Hazmat.
“Outer Space Wars” is a GENERAL idea. Vampires is a GENERAL idea. You can’t compare movies by general ideas.
But…
“A vampire, who also happens to be a good vampire, who also happens to fall in love with a mortal” is not a GENERAL concept. That’s a more specific one and one that has been done a thousand times before.
Yes, Twilight is about more than that, but that is the premise, and that premise has been done over and over and over and over again.
I’m not saying it won’t be a great movie. I’m just pointing out the fact that it is a premise that has been used a thousand times.
Oct 15th, 2008
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