Harry Potter and the Rival Teen Franchise
Alicia Penner, a 13-year-old from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, read the “Harry Potter” books 57 times. She watched the “Harry Potter” movies. Then last fall, a friend lent her the teen vampire book series “Twilight”—and she was hooked. The “Harry Potter” poster that used to hang on her bedroom wall has been replaced by the “Twilight” poster she got for her 13th birthday.
As a new “Harry Potter” movie opens next week, the bespectacled wizard faces a new challenge: how to compete for the attention of a young audience that has been growing up—and is starting to prefer the angsty teen romances and cooler, edgier characters of the “Twilight” books and movies.
The film moves directly into territory where “Twilight” now rules. The sixth “Potter” movie, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” has a distinctly more grown-up tone than its predecessors and features a strong romantic plotline.
The movie’s timing may have helped its vampire rival. Last year Warner Bros. delayed the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to fill a hole in its summer-2009 schedule. Hollywood studio Summit Entertainment wasted no time pushing its teen vampire picture “Twilight” into the vacant November slot. The film, adapted from the best-selling book series about an epic love story between a vampire who looks 17 years old and a normal teenage girl, became an overnight success, grossing more than $382 million world-wide on a shoestring budget of $37 million.
“It’s the only franchise that we ever pay attention to,” says Rob Friedman, chief executive and co-chairman of Summit Entertainment. “We are very cognizant of where they are, and we’ve always been wary of being in too close proximity to ‘Harry Potter’ because we know our fans cross over so much, and we definitely don’t want to compete with ‘Harry’ for attention.”
Haami Nyangibo, a 13-year-old girl from London, says that after years of reading “Harry Potter” she has come to find the “Twilight” books “far more relatable. They just engage in a more realistic way. A lot of my friends have gone off ‘Harry Potter’ and are onto ‘Twilight,’ ” she says.
For many girls, the appeal of “Twilight” lies in Edward Cullen, the gorgeous vampire who fights his own biological destiny to fall in love with Bella Swan, a human girl.
Robert Pattinson, the 23-year-old British heartthrob with unkempt hair and bedroom eyes who plays Cullen in the “Twilight” movies, has added to Edward’s mystique. Mr. Pattinson also has a history with the “Harry Potter” franchise: He played Harry’s onetime rival, Cedric Diggory, in the past two “Potter” movies.
Summit will release the “Twilight” sequel, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” on Nov. 20, the same time of year it released the first “Twilight” in 2008. The first trailer for the $50 million film prominently features action-packed werewolf sequences, which could appeal to male fans. While teen girls seemed to be the target audience of the first “Twilight” film, Summit says 40% of its audience was male, with most of those viewers under 25.
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A famous actor himself, Daniel Radcliffe has nothing but praise for fellow British heartthrob Robert Pattinson, claiming the "Twilight" leading actor as "a sex symbol" and "a genuine sexy guy." The Harry
Though so, Daniel admitted he rarely gets in touch with Robert. "I've said probably three words to him in the last three years and that was before
Prior to his breakthrough role as Edward Cullen in hit vampire flick "Twilight," Robert
"Obviously, I know Rob. I'm just gob-smacked by the level of excitement and hype around 'Twilight.' I'm very happy for Rob that it's been so successful," Emma told MTV. "He is a very, very handsome man, so I'm not too surprised."
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Twilight Battle: New Moon Star Robert Pattinson vs. the True Blood Hunks
Robert Pattinson vaulted to the top of the heap of Hollywood men with his Twilight role as Edward Cullen and his star is now very bright with the New Moon sequel shot, and awaiting a fall promotion and release. But while Rob Pattinson has many of the ladies interested what about the HBO series "True Blood"? While the women of the show are stripping put of their clothes to earn that "R" rating on the HBO series, the men are certainly steamy in high definition television as well.
Us Weekly Magazine reports, "The men of HBO’s hit vampire drama are a feast - for the eyes describing Ryan Kwanten as "lusty, oft-shirtless Jason Stackhouse, the Australian native, 32, effortlessly beds a bevy of woman." Oh my. In real life, however, Kwanten doesn’t have it so easy. The actor (who declines to say if he has a mate) laments to Us, “Dating is hard!”
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