- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Vampire romance "Twilight" premieres in London
- Date: 4th December 2008
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 3, 2008) (REUTERS) FEMALE FANS CARRYING COPIES OF "TWILIGHT" BOOK SCREAMING PEOPLE IN VAMPIRE COSTUME WALKING THE RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICK, MEXICAN FAN, SAYING: "Because I love the story and I wanna see all the stars, it's a great cast. And I just wanna meet them and say they did a great job." WIDE OF FANS CHANTING "WE WANT ROB (PATTINSON)!" ACTRESS KRISTEN STEWART TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS KRISTEN STEWART SAYING: "It's good, we didn't expect this at all. We all started, you know, working really hard on the movie because we really loved the movie. This was not expected, so."
- Embargoed: 19th December 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVAOWTTT9R3WYGLKBIWS31X0CJZ
- Story Text: Vampire flick "Twilight" -- dubbed America's answer to Harry Potter -- premieres in London.
Actors Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart arrived to much fanfare for the UK premiere of their film "Twilight" on Wednesday (December 3) night.
Fans waited from as early as midnight to catch a glimpse of the stars in London's Leicester Square. Some of them even brought blankets and tea to see them through the freezing temperatures.
"I'm freezing, I'm freezing," said Brazilian fan Daniela who had been waiting since 4am.
"Yeah we haven't slept in about 40 hours, it's a bit crazy,"
added another fan, Hannah, who camped out from 2.50 in the morning.
"Twilight" is a film adaptation of the best-seller book of the same name by American writer Stephenie Meyer. It tells the story of a 17-year old girl who falls in love with a vampire boy.
Actress Kristen Stewart, popularised by her role as Jodie Foster's daughter in the 2002 film Panic Room, plays teenage Bella Swan. Stewart said she was surprised at how well the film's been received after it premiered in the U.S. last month.
"It's good, we didn't expect this at all. We all started, you know, working really hard on the movie because we really loved the movie. This was not expected, so," Stewart said.
The actors also said the London premiere seemed bigger than the Los Angeles one. Even Director Catherine Hardwicke was amazed at the turnout.
"I think it's thrilling you know, to see this much response, and all these girls reading, and being creative and meeting their friends, I love it," she said.
British actor Robert Pattinson, most known for his role as Cedric Diggory in a few of the Harry Potter films, plays the fangless vampire Edward Cullen who Bella falls in love with. It appears that Bella is not the only one whose heart he's won.
"Oh my God he's like the hottest... he's English as well, he's English as well! Just everything about him is hot," said Amy, a fan from London.
The actor is shocked at how many fans he's gained through playing Edward.
"I guess it would feel the same for you if you had, if you had crazed teenage girls screaming at you... I don't know. It's just completely, it's completely surreal. You don't know what to make of it," said Pattinson.
The film made it to the number one spot in the North American box office on its opening weekend last month, earning close to 70 million U.S.
dollars (USD). This is the best opening weekend for a movie since "The Dark Knight" launched with a record 158 million USD in July.
The lead actors shared their thoughts on why the film has become a blockbuster hit.
"It's very unique, I mean it's kind of... people say it's a vampire movie but I don't think it's a vampire movie at all. It's, and it's not really just a love story -- well it is a kind of love story. But it's a very, it's very unique. It's kind of, I don't know, it's very operatic, it's a sort of melodrama and not a lot of movies are just serious melodramas anymore.
So yeah that's kind of what it is, I think, and it's very personal. I mean if you ask anybody here, I bet 50 percent of the people will think the characters are actually real people. I mean it's so strange," said Pattinson.
"It's a very fundamental story, it's quite simple. I mean it's an impossible, strained love story. And to watch two people fight so hard for something and put themselves in that much danger for like, just each other, is, I don't know, it's engaging," added Stewart.
The film's success has caught the cast and crew completely off-guard that they have already begun working on the sequel "New Moon", also based on the book by Stephenie Meyer.
"Twilight" opens in cinemas across the UK on December 19. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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