Twilight
Fans of all ages are hoping their lucky stars will give them an edge in obtaining “New Moon” premiere tickets this weekend.
Regal’s Pinnacle 18 theater at Turkey Creek saw a steady stream of “Twilight” fans come through the doors Friday to register for the chance to purchase tickets to the Nov. 17 premiere of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” Fifty pairs of $100 tickets will be available for the public to buy to the event, which is a fundraiser for Variety — The Children’s Charity of Eastern Tennessee. Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella, and Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob, will attend the screening, which takes place three days before the film’s official opening.
The “New Moon” premiere has stirred more public interest than any other Variety has held in Knoxville, even over events featuring Will Ferrell, Jessica Simpson, Johnny Knoxville and Brendan Fraser. The charity expects to raise more than $400,000 through ticket sales and sponsorships.
Nicole Tipton, 20, and her grandmother, Lionel Sands, came into the theater to register while Tipton’s husband, Sam, who has served tours in Afghanistan and Iraq but couldn’t face the craziness of the “Twilight” phenomenon, waited in the car. Tipton says she has read all the “Twilight” books “three times.”
“I saw the (first) movie when it came out and became obsessed and ordered all the books on Amazon,” she said. The cost of the premiere tickets didn’t make her think twice.
“I would sell my kidney on the black market” to get them, she said.
Sands teased her granddaughter that she might not let her have the tickets if her name is drawn: “Beg me,” she said with a smile before adding, “Sure I will.”
Fans can register for the drawing through Sunday at Pinnacle and other Knoxville Regal theaters: Downtown West, West Town, Riviera and Knoxville Center, but registration is not available online. If Tipton wins the chance to buy tickets, she won’t be bringing her husband with her. She has a friend who’s dying to come.
“My friend Paige — she’s at Auburn, so she couldn’t sign up,” said Tipton.
Tipton figured she’s overdue for a lucky break like this.
“The only thing I’ve ever won is a doll from Dollywood,” she said.
Alicia Campbell, 38, a pharmacy technician at Food City, dropped by the Pinnacle on her lunch break to register for the drawing. She hopes to be able to buy tickets so she and her boss’s daughter can attend the premiere.
“She’s a big ‘Twilight’ fan,” said Campbell. “If I win, I’ll take her.”
Campbell says she owes her boss.
“My boss is the one who got me hooked into it (‘Twilight’),” she said. “She read the books before her daughter. I asked what she was reading, and she told me. It’s a great book. I couldn’t put it down.”
Campbell said she thinks the “Twilight” saga appeals to people of all ages because “it’s almost like Romeo and Juliet except that one’s human and one’s a vampire.
“Every woman or every girl would like to find that person who will love her and treat her well. Every woman’s had heartbreak.”
Even though the story comes from a teenager’s perspective, Campbell says it’s relevant for all women.
“Bella is wise beyond her years,” she said. “She had insight into everybody.”
Campbell isn’t sure whether she or her boss would pay for her boss’s daughter’s ticket.
“I don’t care,” she said. “The money goes to a good thing.
“Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, I give them great credit that they want to give back to the community and people they don’t even know because they’ve been blessed with being in this movie.”
She’s excited at the thought of seeing movie stars.
“They never had these things when we were growing up,” she said. “With the opportunity to see stars, you get a little bit of a glimpse into that world.”
Not all of the people registering for the drawing were female. Alan Berry, an industrial-supply salesman from Kennesaw, Ga., signed up to win the opportunity to buy tickets for himself and his wife, who teaches in an elementary school’s gifted program.
“My wife is obsessed with the ‘Twilight’ series,” he said. “I’m trying to get brownie points.”
Berry said he heard about the premiere a month ago, and he made the 200-mile trip to register, though he found some work to legitimize it.
“I came to register and scheduled some business around it,” he said. If he wins the chance to buy tickets, he’ll accompany his wife to the premiere.
He’s already survived one female-centric pop phenomenon — he took his 13-year-old daughter to see the Jonas Brothers.
“That’s the loudest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said.
While Berry would prefer to see Clint Eastwood or Sandra Bullock, he’s OK with gawking at Stewart and Lautner, even if they don’t get premiere tickets.
“We’re gonna come regardless.”
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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