Summit Entertainment has pushed up the release date of its hotly anticipated vampire romance Twilight to Nov. 21, taking advantage of the B.O. opening left by Warner Bros.’ surprise decision to move Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to July.
The vampire romance, based on the first of four bestselling vampire novels by Stephenie Meyer, had been skedded to open Dec. 12 opposite Twentieth Century Fox’s sci-fi remake The Day the Earth Stood Still, starring Keanu Reeves. After WB confirmed its Harry Potter shift on Thursday, Summit rushed to move Twilight into holiday prime time.
“With a giant franchise like Harry Potter in the market, we had to stay clear of it,” said Summit Entertainment co-chairman and CEO Rob Friedman. “Their move created an opportunity to bring the movie to fans three weeks earlier, who have continued to show their enthusiasm, from Comic-Con to the giant ‘Breaking Dawn’ book sales. We felt we had to take that opportunity.”
While the Twilight books have not sold on the level of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, many observers have made the comparison between the two fantasy series and their passionate devotees. The Twilight books fall in the young adult realm and boast a strong femme following. Pic adaptation has been generating strong Internet buzz for months.
At Comic-Con in July, young British actor Robert Pattinson was taken aback when women screamed at him in the San Diego Convention Center. He co-stars with Kristen Stewart in the romantic thriller directed by Catherine Hardwicke (thirteen) from a script by Melissa Rosenberg (Step Up). Karen Rosenfelt, Greg Mooradian and Wyck Godfrey produce along with Mark Morgan via his Maverick Films banner.
Twilight is the first film in Summit’s thriller romance franchise. Summit plans a wide release of Twilight in more 3,000 theaters, Friedman said. Twilight will face competition from Walt Disney Pictures’ animated film Bolt, which moved from Nov. 26 onto the Nov. 21 date.
Credit: Variety
