Theaters prepare for 'Twilight' storm

Lebanon’s Roxy Theatre is preparing for a “Twilight” storm.

“Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” officially opens in theaters Friday, but the Roxy Theatre will begin showing the much-anticipated film Thursday at 10 p.m. Ticket sales for the showing opened Oct. 1.

“Pre-sales have been great,” said Summer Hicks, manager at the Roxy Theatre. “We’ve sold close to 600 tickets, and I probably have about 300-400 left.”

Four screens will show the film simultaneously.

“That the most prints that we’ve ever had, so they apparently think it’s going to do really good,” said Hicks.

The Roxy will feature a day of Twilight. All of the films in the series will be shown consecutively, beginning at 11:30 a.m. and continuing until the new film premiers at 10 p.m.

While fans are waiting, they can watch the DVD extras on the earlier movies in the series or play trivia. Employees will also hand-twirl cotton candy and offer giveaways.

“It’s just to keep everybody entertained,” said Hicks.

Hicks said she expects the crowd to really begin rolling in between 4-5 p.m.

Carthage’s Kecia Silcox will join the crowd later in the evening.

Silcox has attended the opening night showings of every “Twilight” movie released.

“I’m a huge ‘Twilight’ fan,” said Silcox, who has already bought about 25 tickets for the 10 p.m. showing.

For Silcox, the draw for the upcoming movie is not the mystery of ‘What comes next?’ The story simply has her enthralled.

“It’s a love story, and it’s a fairy tale,” said Silcox, who has read the full series seven times.

According to Hicks, she has heard that sentiment echoed frequently among Twilight fans.

“It’s mostly the love story that gets everybody,” said Hicks.

She said the movie appeals strongly to women, and not just youth.

“Surprisingly, it’s more of teenage daughters, moms and friends,” said Hicks. “I have a lot of women in their 20s and 30s who bring huge groups of friends…Regardless of your age, you can appreciate a guy who cares for somebody like that.”

Staff writer Sara McManamy-Johnson can be reached at 615-444-3952, ext. 16 or sjohnson@lebanondemocrat.com.