"Twilight" fans have sky-high hopes for movie

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The makers of teen vampire movie "Twilight" have seen fan excitement reach bloodcurdling levels ahead of the U.S. debut on Friday, but as expectations rise, some industry watchers are wondering if all the hype could be too much of a good thing.

After all, Hollywood is littered with movies that had huge expectations and media coverage ahead of their debuts, then flopped at box offices. Last summer's "Speed Racer," a $120 million-plus production that generated only $44 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, is just one example.

But executives at Summit Entertainment, the studio behind "Twilight," believe their vampire-meets-human romance has several factors in its favor. Most important, the film is based on best-selling books that are thought to be the next "Harry Potter" series, and it was made at a relatively low cost with two young actors who have won the hearts of "Twilight" fans.

"The movie has already been directed in the mind's eye of the reader," said Eric Feig, president of production for Summit. "That's always a challenge, to try to live up to those expectations," he said.

Fans of the books are extremely loyal. They camped out overnight this week to see the film's stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart at the movie's L.A. premiere, and last week, police shut down an event with Pattinson at a San Francisco mall when the unexpectedly large crowd got unruly.

Why the fervor? In her four-book series that has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, author Stephenie Meyer created a new world of vampire lore for young readers.

Set in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, "Twilight" follows the romance between a girl named Isabella "Bella" Swan who is a social outsider and an immortal vampire named Edward Cullen.

Their star-crossed love affair is complicated by the fact that other vampires are out to suck Swan's blood.

WHOLESOME VAMPIRE

"If there's such a thing as a wholesome vampire movie, this is it," said Liz Perle, editor-in-chief of Common Sense Media, an independent movie-rating nonprofit organization.

With its story of young love aimed mostly at teenagers and younger audiences, "Twilight" stands apart from many past vampire movies, including 1994's "Interview with the Vampire" and 1992's "Dracula" that had older audiences in mind.

The books are largely free of sex and gore, and told from Bella's point of view, which was a challenge for filmmakers.

"To try to put the audience in Bella's shoes at every single moment without having wall-to-wall voiceover is something that was very difficult to capture," Feig said.

Another challenge was picking the right actress to portray Bella, and initially the choice of Kristen Stewart, 18, was met with some skepticism from people who had a hard time envisioning anyone as the books' heroine.

Ken Kaplan, a partner at talent company The Gersh Agency who represents Stewart and other young actors, said loyal fans came to Stewart's side with the support of author Meyer.