'Twilight Saga' Marathon Coming To Theaters Ahead Of 'Breaking Dawn Part 2'
by Sean Comer
Even for a franchise known for its midnight-premiere insanity, "The Twilight Saga" is going out on a massive scale.
Cinema Blend announced Monday that Summit Entertainment is marking the Nov. 16 midnight release of the franchise finale "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2" with a Stephanie Meyer devotee's personal paradise: marathon theatrical screenings of the previous four movies celebrating the tentpole franchise that made household names of Robert Pattinson, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart.
The marathon will reportedly start on the afternoon of Nov. 15 and lead right up to the "Breaking Dawn Part 2" premiere at midnight, complete with a special event lanyard for attendees to keep their tickets. What's more, ye with bladders of steel shall be richly rewarded. Staying put between films will reportedly mean glimpsing "interstitial content" made for the marathon.
That's not the only extra mile Summit is prepared to travel for some of the most fanatically devoted fans in contemporary movie history. The studio reportedly will being "Breaking Dawn Part 2" screenings in some theaters at 10 p.m. on Nov. 15 "to accommodate demand as well as making 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2' available to moviegoers of many ages."
Information regarding tickets, prices and participating theaters should be made available soon, according to CinemaBlend.com
With absolutely all due respect to Twi-hards everywhere, knowing midnight-release history as I do, I won't be coming within a mile of a movie theater Nov. 15 not out of disdain for the movies themselves - actually, I think they're some of the most enjoyable comedies ever made - but because this will admirably surpass every pantheon of premiere insanity. When it hit theaters on June 30, 2010, as the first "Twilight" installment released in IMAX, "Eclipse" became the then-reigning top midnight premiere of all time by taking in more than $30 million. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" surpassed it the following summer.
It was also the biggest Wednesday opening in movie history, its $68.5-million take surpassing the previous $62-million record for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."