Final Twilight Book Sinks Teeth In, Sells 1.3 Million on Day One

Posted by Adam Sweeney (adam@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 5, 2008

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie MeyerIt seems that just about everyone knew that Stephenie Meyer’s latest vampire novel would be a bloody success, but “Breaking Dawn” is even bigger than anyone expected.

The 4th and final installment of the “Twilight” saga easily broke first day sales records for the Haggette Book Group, largely due to midnight book parties in bookstores and libraries on Friday to help boost figures. The success of the book was so overwhelming that Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, released a second printing of 500,000 copies prior to publication., which puts the in-print figure currently at a ridiculous 3.7 million copies.

“These record-breaking figures prove that Stephenie Meyer is a pop culture sensation,” said David Young, CEO, Hachette Book Group USA.” In my years in the industry, I’ve never witnessed such a rapid ascent to bestselling celebrity.” Hmm, has Young heard of J.K. Rowling? Young went on to say “Stephenie has created an extraordinary world that readers of all ages have embraced and we couldn’t be happier to be part of the Twilight phenomenon.”

But will the astounding success of “Breaking Dawn” serve as a catalyst for further success on the big screen? All reports, including a huge reception at Comic-Con, lead me to say yes. The “Harry Potter” saga has made a ton of cash at the box office. The success of the “Twilight” saga is very similar. I just better not have to sit next to kids who call themselves Raven and Misery.

Do you think the success of “Breaking Dawn” will translate to box office gold? Are you excited for the “Twilight” films?


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  • alex
    i love the twilight books!!! i am a boring person normally only becuase i never stop yalking about them
  • Not to be nitpicky, but it's Hatchette Book Group that owns Little, Brown who published the book. I used to have to order from them in another lifetime ; )

    I don't think the book will translate into box office gold simply because it seems a good half of the Twihards are actually vastly disappointed in it, to the point where the main debate right now is do you return it to the store or burn it in disgust.

    If the first movie is a resounding success, then they might manage to get New Moon and Eclipse made, but from what I've read of the plot, Breaking Dawn can't be made into a teenage friendly movie without taking out large parts of the plot, which in the end might make it a better story, but I don't know that it would be worth a studio's time.

    It'll all depend on the success or failure of the film when it comes out. But based on the books alone, no, I don't think so.
  • David
    Its hard to admit i like these books,what with the majority of the following being teen females but they are great books.I dont really care how the movie comes out anymore cause by now u realize3 no movie is ever as good as the book or true to it.
  • @ Elizabeth
    Yeah, I know Little, Brown is owned by Hatchette, just forgot to put that in there. Thanks for the correction. :)

    The success of the book may not translate into gold for the "Breaking Dawn" film, however, the last Harry Potter book got mixed reviews and the other movies still seem to be doing okay, yes?
  • I used to do special orders for a bookstore, and I remember about every third company I called was actually Hatchette, it started to get amusing to guess which of the big three publishers I would end up at ; )

    I think that the mixed reviews of the book probably won't affect the box office for Twilight, but I really think it's going to make it harder for the film itself to even get greenlit if the movies don't do well on their own.

    I'm actually surprised by the continuing success of the HP films, because most people agree that the books go down in quality after the midway point, and that the movies haven't been too perfect at translating the books to screen. And yet the people turn out and the money is made. So it's entirely likely that the Twilight movies will do the same. I just suspect that it won't.
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