Twilight already huge

I’ll be honest: I don’t really understand the appeal of TWILIGHT (and I’m betting a lot of you readers don’t either), but I certainly recognize its phenomenon.

The movie’s release shifted to fill the slot vacated by fellow teen-fantasy property HARRY POTTER (which moved to next summer), and although the high-school vampire love story has only sold a fraction of the books as the boy-wizard, its fanbase can only be described as rabid.

For example, the other day a mob of fans (Twilighters? What will they be called?) stampeded a San Francisco mall for a chance to see the movie’s odd-looking yet dreamy male lead Robert Pattinson, causing several injuries among the screechers.

The vamp-lovers can’t wait to see it, but also hear it. The TWILIGHT soundtrack, filled with appropriate brood-rock (I assume) from bands like Muse, Paramore and Linkin Park, already opened at #1 on the national album sales chart.

But perhaps more telling is the pre-sales figures for tickets — as of the other day, TWILIGHT accounted for two-thirds of all sales through Fandango, the country’s biggest movie ticketing outlet. And it still has over another week before it hits screens.

So I suppose we should all prepare for its inevitable blockbuster status, and some crazy crowds at the theater on Thanksgiving weekend.