News - Local News

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Bellingham fans eagerly await 'Twilight' movie

Sierra Gresham has been counting the days until the clock strikes midnight, Thursday, Nov. 20.

It's not a birthday or a holiday or a massive exam that the Bellingham 16-year-old and her friends have been so anxiously awaiting. It's "Twilight."

"I am so excited because I have read the books multiple times, and I just have this image of what each character is in my head," Gresham said of the movie "Twilight," based on Stephenie Meyer's 2005 best-selling book. "I'm excited to see how that matches with the movie, to compare what I pictured to the real thing."

Gresham will have to wait a little while longer, though. All four midnight and 12:20 a.m. showings of the movie at Regal Sunset Square Cinema are sold out, as well as several of the Friday shows. She and her friends will head down to Mount Vernon to catch a Friday night show, but it will be worth the drive.

"All my friends, that's all we talk about," she said. "We've had a 30-day countdown. It was a lot of fun to talk about, especially with it being a book. That hasn't happened in awhile."

The "Twilight" book series has become a literary phenomenon similar to Harry Potter, with jam-packed book releases and even a "Twilight" prom party at the Fairhaven Library. Though Gresham couldn't relate to Potter's magic skills, she can understand teen "Twilight" heroine, Bella, who struggles with her love for the vampire Edward.

"Edward and Bella, I was so intrigued by their relationship," she said. "They both saw themselves as something completely insignificant, but they saw each other as the most important people in the world. And I think that's everybody's dream, that you're the world to someone."

The romance and intrigue of the story have made it a hit among girls, but the action and adventure keep guys reading as well.

Even the climate of the story is relatable. The book takes place in the town of Forks on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, so Bellingham readers feel the rainy-day blues just like Bella.

Another Bellingham connection is actor Billy Burke, who plays Bella's father, Charlie Swan, in the movie. Burke spent most of his young life in Bellingham and graduated from Sehome High School in 1984.

The fan base for the book, and the movie, goes well beyond teenagers.

"I read it and I was 17 again, and I'm 38. I totally see why girls relate to it," said Jennifer Lovchik, teen and Web services librarian at the Bellingham Public Library, who has already bought tickets to see a Friday matinee. "They're incredibly sexy books and they're so chaste, so you can recommend them to anybody. There's a lot of tension and emotion brewing, but there's absolutely nothing you couldn't give a 12-year-old. I think it explains why it's so appealing to 11-year-olds and 35-year-olds."

Lovchik is nervous about how the onscreen movie will compare to the one she created in her imagination.

Bellingham 16-year-old Gabby Hall is anxious, as well. She doesn't have the highest hopes for the movie, she said, but that hasn't stopped her and a friend from buying tickets to the midnight show, even if it means getting picked up by her friend's dad at 2 a.m. and having a sleepy Friday at school.

"I think it'll be worth it," Hall said.