Original ‘Twilight’ to be re-released night before sequel ‘New Moon’ opens

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Wanting to capitalize on the teen vampire movie craze it stirred last year, Summit Entertainment is planning to re-release ‘Twilight’ in more than 2,000 theaters on Nov. 19, the night before the arrival of the highly anticipated sequel, ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon.’

Summit’s distribution executives have been in conversations with the nation’s theater owners about a one-night-only screening of ‘Twilight’ at 9:00 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. just prior to the 12:01 a.m. showings of ‘New Moon.’ Plans are just now being formalized, according to one person with knowledge of the matter, who said that exhibitors (who naturally have dollar signs in their eyes) are very high on the idea.

‘Twilight’ will likely wind up playing in many of the same theaters that will have those midnight screenings of ‘New Moon.’

Released last November, ‘Twilight,’ the first film based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling book series, became a runaway hit both in theaters and on DVD. The vampire movie, which stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as chaste lovers, grossed $383.5 million at the worldwide box office and is this year’s top-selling DVD, with about 8 million units sold in the U.S. and Canada alone.

Even though the film is out on DVD, Summit is banking on herds of bloodthirsty teens coming back out for the social experience of sitting in a darkened theater, especially as excitement builds for ‘New Moon.’ For theater owners, the two-for could be a huge windfall.

This would mark the second time Summit has re-released ‘Twilight’ on the big screen. In July, the movie had a one-night-only theatrical release during the annual Comic-Con Convention in San Diego on the night before the studio showed exclusive footage of ‘New Moon’ there.

--Claudia Eller