Local, national theaters bracing for 'Twilight' mania

Stores around the world have sold millions of copies of LDS author Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" books — nearly equaling the success of J.K. Rowling's blockbuster "Harry Potter" series.

And Meyer may be rivaling Rowling on the big screen soon, as well. Theater owners around the country are expecting similarly huge things for "Twilight," the new film that's based on the first of her vampire romance novels. (Early projections for its opening weekend range between $60 million to $70 million, which may be too conservative.)

In fact, the local Megaplex Theatres chain has booked screenings at midnight tonight on 69 of its 70 screens between Thanksgiving Point and Ogden, and is nearing sellouts for all of those.

"It's going be super crazy," said Julie Withers, manager of Megaplex's Gateway Center location. Her theater has already sold more than 3,500 reserved-seating tickets for its 12 midnight shows.

In fact, Withers estimates The Gateway has sold nearly 5,000 for regular showings Friday and nearly 3,000 on Saturday.

"There are still tickets available, but I've never seen so many pre-sales before — not even for 'Star Wars' and 'Lord of the Rings,"' she said, adding that, in terms of pre-sold tickets, "'Twilight' has already beaten ('Quantum of Solace,' the new James Bond movie) and it hasn't even started yet!"

Demand for tickets is so huge that the Red Carpet Cinemas chain has scheduled "All Night Twilight," screenings around the clock at its three Utah locations: the Gateway 8 in Bountiful, the Spanish 8 in Spanish Fork and the 5-Star in Magna.

Officials at the SCERA in Orem say tickets are still available for the theater's midnight screening and for opening-day shows. Of course, the SCERA has more than 700 seats, and spokeswoman April Berlin says the theater is prepared for "Twilight" mania.

"I think we'll be fine. We always have lots of extra staff when we have sold-out shows," she said.

Like the Red Carpet Cinemas, the Megaplex Theatres are planning VIP events for the "Twilight" release. That includes pre-movie entertainment and contests at its five locations, as well as conducting blood and food drives at the Jordan Commons location in Sandy.

In addition to the Megaplexes and Red Carpet locations, in Salt Lake City the film is booked at both the Carmike 12 and Ritz 15 Cinemas, both Century 16 locations (Sandy and South Salt Lake), the Cinemark 24 at Jordan Landing and the Westates Holladay Center.

Information on showtimes and locations for "Twilight" is available at various chain theater sites, as well as movie ticket sales sites like www.fandango.com.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com