Harry can flash his little Potter all he wants: it's not going to stop the Twilight train.
How could it? The story is a classic one. One of love.
Girl moves to town, meets boy. Boy saves girl from runaway van, girl suspects boy is hiding something. Girl consults local wolf-boy, discovers other boy drinks blood. Girl bitten on hand by another vampire, boy saves girl by sucking venom from hand.
It could happen to any of us, really.
Stephanie Meyer's vampire phenomenon was published in 2005, followed by three additional subsequent novels. It sparkled onto the big screen in 2008, its sequel in 2009, and took over Burger King, Posters.com and the hearts and minds of young girls (and some guys) worldwide somewhere in between.
Though I suspect Taylor Lautner had something to do with it. Especially post hair cut.
Still, there was a time when the only vampire in Hollywood was Joan Rivers, Robert Pattinson was just that kid from The Goblet of Fire, tweens didn't yet hate Zathura star Kristen Stewart, and Lautner was "the one that wasn't Robert Pattinson."
"It's been a while since I was really able to read Twilight," author Stephanie Meyer told Entertainment Weekly. "There is so much baggage attached to that book for me now."
"It seems like all I can see are the mistakes in the writing," she continued, though one can infer that the baggage could have something to do with the hype around Pattinson's cheekbones or Lautner's abs. Even now, I hear, a Creative Loafing contributor began an article with a picture of Lautner from Rolling Stone rather than the cover of the first novel.
Perhaps that's the benefit of the next adaptation to be released in March. All without Pattinson. Without Lautner. And without the ever-so-sad-looking Stewart. (Maybe she misses Zathura co-star Tim Robbins? I'm sure he'd rather be in your shoes, Kristen. Smile.)
On March 16, Yen Press will unleash the first volume of Twilight: The Graphic Novel.
This article appears in Jan 20-26, 2010.