Expect Riley Lavalle to forever remember the birthday party she attends today.
Soon after Riley, 12, and her twin sister, Addie, finish their classes at George Washington Middle School in Alexandria, they will attend one of the first local screenings of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” as part of the friend’s birthday celebration.
“I hope that it won’t make me cry. It is sad,” Riley, a seventh-grader, said. “I want to see it and I’ll go again but not too much. I don’t want to see it more than 10 times.”
The blockbuster, which opens nationwide Friday, kicks off this year’s holiday movie season.
Since the publication of the “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer and the 2008 movie that followed, the story of a girl and a vampire who fall in love has taken on cult status. The first movie raked in more than $191 million at U.S. box offices, according to movie Web site Rotten Tomatoes. Industry insiders expect the “New Moon” sequel to match or exceed those numbers.
Madeline Miller, 13, of Alexandria, said she would wait a few weeks to see the movie, but already eagerly anticipated seeing the story she read on the silver screen.
“It gives you characters you can relate to,” Miller said. “Bella is the shy person, and then this wonderful, dazzling vampire comes along. Bella was a normal girl and she met her soul mate. You see that and it makes you think, ‘It’s out there for me, too, somewhere.’ ”
Those who think only teens or preteens are intrigued by the story need only look at the movie’s audiences.
Chiara Busa flew from New York City to Raleigh, N.C., to join 24 of her friends — ages 30 and up — to attend Thursday’s midnight premiere of “New Moon.”
“We can all relate to each character … not the least of which is Edward for embodying the essence of romance, seduction and the passion of a first love,” she said.
