Twilight films Eclipse all others

Birch Caroll and Coyle Lismore manager Daniel McCabe and head duty manager Lucy Verrall get into the spirit of the Twilight Saga.

Jacklyn Wagner

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IT is the fang-tastic movie series that has sucked in fans Australia-wide to the tune of $60 million leaving many films pale in comparison.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight vampire love story based on the books of Stephanie Meyer, opened to a packed house at Lismore's Birch, Carroll and Coyle last night.

While many would question the science behind the Twilight series, none would question the enthusiasm of the fans who are expected to flock in their tens of thousands to local cinemas in the coming weeks.

“We sold out for our first showing (last night) a couple of weeks ago,” Birch, Carroll and Coyle NSW Country general manager Daniel McCabe said.

“The Twilight films are certainly top performing films at the box office. As the series progresses they seem to be becoming more and more popular.

“The fans are quite fanatical, in the same vein as the fans of the Harry Potter series. We will have fans dressed up coming along, kind of like the old days during the Star Wars Trilogy.”

The first film, Twilight, pulled in $22.1 million Australia-wide while the second film, New Moon, captured $38.1 million. Eclipse is expected to take similar amounts as New Moon.

However, the Twilight series has a way to go before it captures the James Cameron action-adventure series Avatar, which grossed more than $100 million in Australia during the past financial year.

Indeed, the popularity of the cinema continues apace despite the threat from new digital providers.

“With the likes of the 3D market and changes in cinema we have seen growth in the industry and Avatar was the biggest film of all time,” Mr McCabe said.