Fans line up to see the sold-out premiere of Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 2
Whether they were on Team Edward or Team Jacob, Twilight fans united hours early anticipating the premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2 at Celebration! Cinema Thursday night.
Onsted sophomore Jordin Dilyard said her boyfriend purchased tickets for her a month ago and made sure she got there an hour early to get a good seat.
“I’m Team Edward for sure,” she said laughing.
After reading all the books, Dilyard said she was hooked. Her boyfriend, Zeeland junior Nate Miles, said he wasn’t a fan until he met Taylor Lautner downtown Grand Rapids over the summer. Although he was a “nice guy,” Dilyard said he has to remain Team Edward for his girlfriend.
“Yeah, so what? I am one of the only guys in the theater,” he said as he looked around.
Not knowing what to expect, Dilyard said he hopes he is entertained and it lives up to the hype. His girlfriend made sure he would not have any questions and interrupt her movie experience and had him watch the previous four movies before the big night.
Staring Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, the fifth and theoretically final film showed 116 minutes of romance and adventure in a vampire-themed fantasy.
The Twilight Saga craze started in November 2008 when the first movie "Twilight" was released and grossed more than $392 million worldwide. The second installment, "New Moon," which was released in November 2009 broke box office records for the biggest midnight screening and opening day in history, with an estimated gross of $72.7 million. The third film series, "Eclipse," was released June 30, 2010, followed by "Breaking Dawn Part 1" released in November 2011.
While the couple only had an hour before the first movie started at 10 p.m., others were waiting in line by their theater more than two hours before the start time.
Lake Orion sophomore Sara Henry said she wasn’t expecting to be first in line, but it makes her feel like a die-hard fan arriving at 8:30 p.m. for the 11 p.m. movie.
“I’m expecting Jacob to be shirtless,” she said.
With a Twilight book in her hand to make the time go by, Henry said she needed to take in the moment, as the final series is released.
Krista Haddock, assistant manager of Celebration! Cinema, said the 10 showings were sold out with the exception of the last showing at 12:45 a.m. on Friday.
The tickets for "Breaking Dawn Part 2" went on sale Oct. 1 and were all sold out by last Wednesday, she said.
“We expected it to be very popular,” Haddock said. “We started adding show times for the premiere once more were selling out in November.”
To have room for the die-hard fans, Haddock said most of the 9 p.m. showings of the other movies at the cinema were cut out to make room for the "Twilight" movies.
“We do a lot to prepare,” she said. “We are very well-staffed, every concession is open and there are lines we set up for people to line up.”
People could also buy marathon tickets to watch the four prior Twilight Saga movies before the big premiere, which were also sold out.
Livonia junior Katie Panyan said she got her tickets the day they were available for purchase.
“I was anticipating this for so long,” she said.
