More Twilight Goodness

Posted by Michelle Graham (michelle@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 30, 2008

Twilight is generating a complete flood of buzz at the moment, and it seems that there’s a new story every day (well, actually more like two a day) so in order to get everyone up to speed, there’s gonna be a whirlwind blitz here, so keep up!

First up, there’s a slew of photos available from over on the Twilight Lexicon (a site which sent huge quantities of traffic our way yesterday, after we posted our Twilight 101) to get you in the Twilight frame of mind and really establish the scene. These guys really know their Twilight (incidentally, does the series have a title, a la His Dark Materials, or is it just referred to by the title of the first book? I’ve only seen it referred to as Twilight) and it’s a great way to enter the community. It’s also chock full of interviews!

Over on MTV there’s too much to mention, from snippets of tv concerning their own day dedicated to the story (Twilight Tuesdays!) to news of Stephenie Meyer’s cameo in the movie (MTV classes it as a very Hitchcockian wink and a nod to the fans) and the very cute news that the actor playing Edward Cullen, the smouldering and sexy “teen” vampire is actually composing the song his character writes for the love of his life, Bella. I have to admit, that little piece of news did get to me, it’s such a nice touch!

Finally, the Times has a great piece on the obvious comparisons being drawn between Meyer and that of another (possibly the only other?) major teen and children’s writer, J. K. Rowling. It’s something many bloggers have commented on, the story of a modern mother, whose head is suddenly filled with the image of a character so real to them that the only way to express it is to let it flow onto the page. Yes, Meyer’s characters came to her out of the blue in a dream, not too different from Rowling’s story of Potter walking fully formed into her head whilst she was staring out the window on a train. Both authors write books with enormous fan bases in the teenage and parent demographics, both deal with extraordinary worlds living somewhat harmoniously beside the world we know, and one has already smashed records worldwide. So it’s understandable that there might be some who draw parallels between the two, and even more understandable to wonder if this book, this heavy tome with quite an emotional punch, will make the leap from a single movie to a true franchise. This debate has angered many a fan on either side of the divide, Potter fans saying how Twilight cannot ever hope to achieve what Potter is and Twilight fans saying that Potter’s story is meek and mild in comparison. I’m not taking sides in this until I actually read the book (this week’s my week!), but I have read Potter, and from my point of view, it’s not a bad thing to be compared to.

We’ll be trying to keep on top of all the Twilight news as it breaks, and with 7 months to go until it’s released, we may be looking at an Iron Man level of press!

Read more articles by Michelle Graham