Berkshire County Twihards Embrace 'Eclipse'
Editor's Note: Melanie Rancourt spent nearly nine hours steeped in the "Twilight" zone on Tuesday. We gave her time to recover. Fans were lining up at 8:30 for the midnight showing in North Adams. |
The third Stephanie Meyer novel on film brought to the forefront the love triangle between the three main characters: Edward Cullen, Bella Swan, and Jacob Black. Together with an army of newborn vampires terrorizing the city of Seattle, an alliance with the Quil wolf pack and an action packed fight scene which finally brings an end to Bella's bitter enemy, Victoria, the movie was to say the least amazing! (Editor's note: We assume most people reading this story understand that paragraph.)
The Beacon Cinema on North Street in Pittsfield and North Adams Garden Movieplex 8 showed the first two movies in the franchise: "Twilight" and "New Moon" prior to the release of Eclipse.
Adam Chait, one of the managers of the Beacon Cinema, said the crowd for "Eclipse" was wonderful. "Everything went very smoothly considering we sold out six theaters and sold 752 tickets," Chait said. "There was a better showing for this movie than there was for the last one, 'New Moon,' when it hit theaters last November."
According to John Rivard, manager of the North Adams cinema, 65 to 70 people bought tickets to see the double feature at the low price of two movies for the price of one. "Twilight" began at 6:30 and "New Moon" at approximately 9.
"We sold out all 185 seats for midnight showing of 'Eclipse' by 5:30 on Tuesday evening," Rivard said. "People began lining the hall by 8:30 waiting to get in for the big premiere."
It wasn't just in the Berkshires. Fans packed into theaters around country, making "Eclipse" the recordholder for midnight showings with a gross of $30 million, surpassing "New Moon's" $26.3 million. But it fell short of its predecessor's opening-day tally, pulling in only $68.5 to "New Moon's" $72.7 million. Still, both films now hold the top two spots for opening day records. With the four-day holiday weekend approaching "Eclipse" is expected to bring in an astounding $200 million in sales.
Friends Maeve Denning and Jaci Aubin, arrived prior to the double feature and made a night of it.
"I have not read the books, I just watch the movies," said Denning. "This is the first time I will see 'New Moon' but I wanted to come here to support my friend Jaci."
Aubin, on the other hand, is a true Twilight fan. "I have read the books multiple times," she said. "I read the first three books and when I got to the last book, 'Breaking Dawn,' I read one chapter. Then I decided to reread the other three. After that, I read a few more chapters of 'Breaking Dawn' and reread the other three books again and so on until I finished the fourth book."
With a laugh and an obvious enjoyment for reading, Aubin joked that she didn't have a life.
 Fan Sonia McWhirt visited Forks, Wash., where the books are set and picked up a sweatshirt from nearby La Push, another Twilight setting. |
Jen Vanuni, another Twilight fan, viewed the movie with her sister, friends, and even her boyfriend, who joked around about falling asleep during the movie like he did during "New Moon." This time he was told he'd be woken up.
"I am very excited about seeing the movie," Vanuni said. "I am especially excited about seeing how the love triangle between Edward, Bella and Jacob plays out on screen. 'Eclipse' is a very passionate book. I cried while reading it so I am sure I will cry during the movie, too."
After viewing the 124-minute movie at the Beacon, Heather Benlien, from Dalton, critiqued the film later. "I cannot even believe how well done it was. The movie was so awesome," she exclaimed. "It was my favorite of all the books so I was VERY nervous ... but now I am very pleased!"
"Eclipse" is being shown eight times during the day at the Beacon Cinema, beginning at 12:25 and a last showing at 9:20. Running times for the North Adams cinema are 12:30, 3:30, 6:30 and 9:30. You can find all the movie times listed on iBerkshires.
Fans of the series will be both overjoyed and disappointed with the movie news surrounding the release of "Breaking Dawn," the finale of the series. The 786-page novel will be split into two movies (giving fans an extra helping of Twilight) but the fourth film will not hit theaters until late 2011, more than a year away. Knowing that there will be two more movies, though, makes it worth the wait.
