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Vampire romance "Twilight" moved to Nov. 21 opening

August 19, 2008

-Click here to see Twilight photos

With " Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" moving to the summer of 2009, a new release date opened up for another big screen adaptation of a publishing phenomenon, the vampire romance " Twilight." Summit Entertainment announced that "Twilight," the company's adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's best-seller, will now open Nov. 21, zap2it.com reports.

"When Warner Bros. decided to move 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' to the summer of 2009, we saw a unique opportunity to slot in our film which has been gaining tremendous awareness and momentum over the past several months," says Rob Friedman, co-chairman and chief executive of Summit Entertainment.

Friedman took great pains, though, not to alienate fans of a certain boy wizard, who have been quite vocal in their frustration at the "Half-Blood" delay.

He states, "We by no means are trying to fill the shoes of the incredible 'Potter' franchise for 2008, rather we are just looking to bring the fans of Stephenie Meyer's incredible book series the film as soon possible from a programming perspective."

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke ("Lords of Dogtown"), the big screen "Twilight" will introduce Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), an awkward 17-year-old girl who moves to a rainy town in Washington and falls in love with the utterly dreamy Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).

She's a mortal. He's a vampire. Swooning ensues.

"Breaking Dawn," the fourth and final book in Meyer's franchise, was released earlier this month with the sort of pomp and midnight buying parties that typically accompany the release of a " Harry Potter" tome.

"Twilight" had previously been slated to open against 20th Century Fox's remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still." In its new release slot, it will face off with the animated feature "Bolt," which recently shifted to Nov. 21 from Nov. 26.