'Twilighters' set to sink teeth into movie

For better or worse, fans can get a bit carried away — especially when they're extremely enthusiastic about something.

And there currently are perhaps no other more enthusiastic fans than the devotees of LDS author Stephenie Meyer's best-selling horror/fantasy "Twilight" saga.

In fact, a Bay Area mall was nearly overrun by thousands of fans of the four books, who were there to see "Twilight" movie star Robert Pattinson. The 22-year-old British actor was supposed to appear and sign autographs when things got out of hand.

Ironically, Pattinson was a controversial choice for the part of the vampiric Edward Cullen in the movie version of Meyer's first novel. Especially since he had just finished playing Cedric Diggory in two "Harry Potter" movies.

"At first, I had a hard time with it. I kept seeing him as Cedric Diggory, which is not how I pictured Edward at all," said Utah County resident Melissa Clark.

A self-described "thirtysomething mother of three," Clark might not seem like the typical fan of the Meyer books, which look at the forbidden romance between a Pacific Northwest teen, Bella Swan, and the perpetually young Edward.

And at first, Clark says she resisted reading the books, though she eventually "fell under the spell of the story and these characters."

She's even organized events for fans, including hosting an "engagement party" for two of the characters when the latest novel, "Breaking Dawn," was released.

Fellow "Twilighter" Linnea Pugmire estimates she's read the Meyer books "dozens of times" and says she checks news at various fan Web sites daily.

The Orem teen also reports being "thrilled" once the movie version of the book was announced — even if she had her own ideas about how it should be done.

"It's hard not to have your own idea of what these characters should look like. That's part of reading," she said. "But you have to remember that a film and a book are not the same thing."

Pugmire calls herself a fan of 16-year-old actor Taylor Lautner and the similarly popular character he plays in the movie, Jacob Black. "He's perfect," she sighed.

Speaking of Lautner, he said he was "really glad once my name was announced in the cast and people didn't freak out about it."

"I try not to check those sorts of things, but it was impossible to avoid it," he said. "As soon as they said they were doing the movie, everyone and their dog had an opinion about what they should do with it, and who should be in it."

Meyer fan sites have been abuzz since, with fans debating about which scenes had to appear in the movie — such as a prom scene and the depiction of a fight between Edward and another vampire, James (played in the film by Cam Gigandet).