In the dark of the night, “Twilight” will officially return to the North Olympic Peninsula.
“Breaking Dawn: Part 1,” the fourth of five movies in the “Twilight” series, will premiere at midnight Friday, Nov. 18, at Deer Park Cinema in Port Angeles, and later that day at the Rose Theatre in Port Townsend.
Twilight author Stephenie Meyer’s use of North Olympic Peninsula locations makes a big difference in creating a deep connection for fans, said Rianilee Belles, owner of Twilight Tours in Forks, which will offer a special tour for the premiere.
“Fans like to walk where Bella walked,” Belles said.
The books and movies about vampires and teen love are set in Forks, LaPush and Port Angeles.
Peninsula venues
Among the venues in the best-selling novels and movies are Forks High School — where the mortal girl Bella Swan and her vampire swain, Edward Cullen, meet and where all the Cullen vampire “siblings” attend school — LaPush’s First Beach — where Bella meets Quileute werewolf Jacob Black — and Bella Italia in Port Angeles — where Bella and Edward have their first date.
The newest installment in the tale of teen love, vampires and werewolves covers the first half of the fourth and final book in the series.
It includes the wedding of young Bella Swan and her vampire sweetheart, Edward Cullen, and their flight from both vampire and werewolf clans, each fearful of the child Swan carries.
“Life is serious enough. This is a fun way to escape from reality,” Belles said.
Hundreds of out-of-town “Twilight” fans are expected to fill the seats at the Port Angeles opening weekend showings.
“It’s a big thing to watch it in Port Angeles because that’s where Bella and her friends would have gone to watch movies,” Belles said.
Unlike the first three movies, “Breaking Dawn” will not be shown at Lincoln Theater in downtown Port Angeles, which is featured in the Twilight books.
Instead, it will show at the larger Deer Park Cinema multiplex, five miles east of Lincoln Theater at 96 Deer Park Road, just off U.S. Highway 101.
And unlike earlier years, fans won’t have to line up for tickets the day before the showing.
Tickets for the 12:05 a.m. and 12:10 a.m. Port Angeles premiere showings are available at the box office or at www.tinyurl.com/3kwbjuc.
They cost $10 for adults, $7 for children and $7.50 for seniors.
There are good points to the film’s move to the bigger, higher-quality venue at Deer Park, but the Lincoln Theater’s old, classic charm will be missed by fans, Belles said.
The midnight premiere will include a costume contest.
Port Townsend
The Rose Theatre, at 235 Taylor St. in Port Townsend, will not offer a midnight showing but will open the film later that afternoon, according to information provided by theater owner Rocky Friedman.
Showtimes for “Breaking Dawn” have not yet been scheduled.
Tickets will be available beginning Monday, Nov. 14, Friedman said.
Special tour
For 19 “Twihards,” the day will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in Forks, home to the fictitious Swan family and the Cullen coven of “good” vampires, and lead to the midnight showing of “Breaking Dawn” on Nov. 18.
The special $349 “Breaking Dawn” premiere tour, offered by Twilight Tours in Forks, will feature all of the Peninsula “Twilight” locations in Forks, LaPush and Port Angeles; and includes dinner at Bella Italia, a ticket to the midnight showing at Deer Park Cinema in Port Angeles and a hotel room at the “treaty line” between Forks and LaPush, where the Quileute wolf pack’s territory begins.
For more information or to book the tour, phone Twilight Tours at 360-640-8709.
Extra showings
For those who missed the first four movies or who want to experience the movies on the big screen again, there is one more chance to see them on the big screen before the “Breaking Dawn” premiere.
Deer Park Cinema in Port Angeles is showing each of the movies on Twilight Tuesdays.
The series review began Tuesday with “Twilight.” “New Moon” will show at 7:15 p.m. next Tuesday and “Eclipse” on Nov. 15.
Tickets for the showings are $10 for adults, $7 for children and $7.50 for seniors.
Jackson Rathbone, who plays the “good” vampire Jasper Hale in the “Twilight” movies, compared Bella and Edward’s relationship to the story of Romeo and Juliet at a sneak peek a week ago at the newest episode at Rome’s film festival, The Associated Press reported.
Meyer’s tale of vampire-human love is “almost as mythological as the Romeo and Juliet story,” Rathbone said.
Rathbone said he is still grappling with the reasons for the runaway success of the series.
“When I first came on board of ‘Twilight,’ I had no idea what was going to happen with it, and for it to be now a worldwide phenomenon is still baffling,” he said.
A co-star, Nikki Reed, who plays Jasper’s vampire wife, Rosalie Hale, mused about the popularity of the series, which has raked in more than $2 billion worldwide.
“This love between Edward and Bella is just out of the realm of possibility and reality. I mean, it’s unattainable, it’s not real, and that’s what makes it so magnetic,” Reed said.
She added that she thinks “that’s why there’s no specific demographics for this, because you know, 12-year-old girls fantasize about having this, and women in their 40s, 50s, 60s think about when they had that first love.”
Summit Entertainment has announced a Nov. 16, 2012, release date for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2.”
The first film, “Twilight,” was released in November 2008. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” followed in November 2009. “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” was released in June 2010.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
