Valley fans line up for first ‘New Moon’ screenings

With nearly every ticket for the 25 scheduled Thursday midnight showings of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” in Fresno and Clovis selling out long before the doors opened, local theater managers scrambled to add last-minute screenings to meet the demand.

It wasn’t enough to have a ticket for the latest chapter in the love story of Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire beau, Edward (Robert Pattinson), based on the four-book series by Stephenie Meyer. Ticketholders began forming lines as early as 8 a.m. Thursday to get choice seats. Many fans purchased tickets when they went on sale in September.

Melissa Soriano was first in line at Regal Manchester 16, arriving at 8:30 a.m. to stake out a spot for herself and 17 friends. the 23-year-old Fresno woman, dressed in a black T-shirt adorned with Edward’s face, asked for two days off work so she could be one of the first to see the movie.

“I didn’t become a fan of the books until I saw the movie ‘Twilight’ last year,” Soriano said as she re-read “New Moon’ to pass the time.

Soriano’s group wasn’t the only one making an event of the “New Moon” opening. a survey by the online movie-ticket Web site Fandango showed 72% of ticket buyers planned to see the movie with a group of three friends or more.

The huge local turnout isn’t a complete surprise. last year, the Edwards Stadium 22 had the highest box-office totals in the country for midnight showings of the first movie in the series, “Twilight.”

The area in front of the Edwards theaters looked like a camp-out Thursday evening as moviegoers brought chairs, blankets, books and food to pass the time. Delaney Wiitala, a 16-year-old Sunnyside resident, was the first to arrive at 10 a.m.

The “Twilight” mania was repeated across the country. Fandango reported “New Moon” as the No. 1 movie for pre-sale tickets, passing such big film franchises as “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” and “The dark Knight.”

“For many fans, it’s clearly the year’s most-anticipated film event,” said Fandango Chief Operating Officer Rick Butler.

More than 90% of ticket sales on MovieTickets.com were for “New Moon.” the Web site reported hundreds of sold-out screenings nationwide.

“By landing the Number 1 spot on our advance-ticket sellers list, ‘New Moon’ has broken a record that has stood unchallenged for almost five years,” said Joel Cohen, executive vice president and general manager for MovieTickets.com.