Fans of “Twilight” will be lining up tonight to sink their teeth into “Breaking Dawn,” the first film installment of the saga’s final book.
Cinemark Perkins Rowe manager Kurt Jackson said the theater has sold 1,350 tickets so far and has sold out eight screening rooms. The theatre has opened a ninth room and will open more if the demand continues.
Jackson said he believes the theater has sold more tickets for “Breaking Dawn,” which was partially filmed in Baton Rouge, than the other premieres in the series because the theater recently switched to all-digital screenings. Previously, the theater screened from actual film and the number of screening rooms was limited by the number of physical copies of the film. Now the theater can sell more tickets and open as many theater as needed.
Cinemark will show a marathon of the previous films starting today at 4 p.m., and Jackson said he expects the crowd to begin arriving at 2 p.m.
Jackson has worked at Cinemark for the previous three “Twilight” premieres, and he said usually five to six people will show up as soon as the theater opens so they can be first in line, and the rest of the crowd shows up around 3 p.m. for the midnight showing.
Bobby Taylor, manager of Rave Motion Pictures on Bluebonnet Boulevard, said the theater has sold about 2,800 tickets and at least nine screening rooms are sold out for tonight’s premiere. Taylor said every screen in the building will be showing “Breaking Dawn” at 12:01 a.m., and those who miss it will have a second chance with an additional 3 a.m. screening.
Taylor has experienced the chaos of several midnight premieres.
“It’s bigger than ‘Transformers,’ but not as big as ‘Harry Potter,'” he said.
Elementary education senior Erin Smith is excited about the premiere. After watching “Twilight,” the first film in series, Smith caught the fever. She read all four books and attended the midnight premieres of the second and third films.
Smith said the best part about going to the premiere is that everyone in attendance is a fan of the series, so no one will be making negative comments.
She also said she likes that the final book was split into two films because too much would have been cut out of the story if only one film were made.
“It gives me another midnight premiere to go to,” Smith said.
She said she is eager to see several parts of the book on the big screen, including a wedding between the protagonists of the series and their honeymoon.
Graphic design sophomore Sara Granados has been to all the midnight “Twilight” premieres.
Another scene fans are eager to see involves Bella giving birth to a half-vampire child. Granados said she wants to see how the filmmakers portray the child.
“Breaking Dawn” will be accounting sophomore Nicole Slack’s first midnight premiere of the “Twilight” series. Slack is a fan of the books and said she prefers them to the films.
She said she thinks the films are poorly cast and better actors could have been chosen. She disliked the first film so much that she didn’t watch the second or third films but plans to see this film because she heard it has a better director.
Slack said the best part of attending the premiere will be seeing the film when it first comes out because everyone will be talking about it, and she wants to be in the know.
She and Granados both said they are most excited to see the epic battle scene from the end of the book, which will be in the next installment of the film.
 
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Contact Haylie Navarre at [email protected]