By Greg Ellwood
Special to MSN Movies

July 24, 2008

Having attended San Diego's Comic-Con for five of the last six years, I've seen the crowds cheer for Angelina Jolie, explode with joy after the "surprise" appearance of Spider-Man himself, Tobey Maguire, and rock out with Jack Black during a live concert with his band Tenacious D. Never, though, have I seen the insane euphoria that occurred this Thursday afternoon.

Remember the stories of when the Beatles toured the United States in 1964? Remember the reaction to Michael Jackson's wildfire Motown 25 performance in 1983? Fast-forward to 2008 and the 21st century's version of celebrity devotion came to life today when the cast of the new movie "Twilight," which is based on a literary phenomenon, took the stage in front of 6,500 fans in San Diego.

Most Americans wouldn't know the movie's stars -- Kristen Stewart, who plays "I really fell in love with a vampire" Bella, or Robert Pattinson, who portrays the love of her life and vampire with a good soul, Edward -- if they saw them on the street. But this crowd, some of who had camped out over 12 hours to see their heroes, continually greeted them with chants of "I love you, Edward!" "I love you, Kristen!" and "Marry me!" No matter how many hours of media training the cast, director Catherine Hardwicke ("Lords of Dogtown") and the novel's author, Stephenie Meyer, were given, you could tell by their bug-eyed reactions and fumbling responses (the ones they could get in over the constant screaming) that they never expected this.

Here's a typical exchange during the question-and-answer portion: A fan asks Pattinson, "What is it like to portray a super-hot vampire in a movie?"

Blushing, Pattinson replies, "Um, I mean, I dunno if I am playing that."

Cue the screams from the thousands of teenage girls in attendance. Seriously.

Or another fine example: A girl approaches the microphone and says, "Hi Robert, I wanted to talk to you too! 'Cause I want you, baby!"

The crowd roars, and this time Pattinson turns beet red, replying, "Um, most people talk to me for two minutes." Trying to laugh it off, he says, "It's filling a void in my life. I need the love. I think. I need something."

As for the movie itself, Hardwicke says she's spent the past 10 weeks in the editing room working on the music, the sounds and the special effects. She assures everyone, "The movie is looking really good, you guys."

In fact, as part of the presentation, Hardwicke provided a sneak peek at a fairly long sequence of the movie. Teased in the trailer, the scene begins as Bella enters her old dance studio, where she thinks she hears her mother's voice, fearing she may have been captured by "evil" vampire James (Cam Gigandet). It turns out it's only an old video of her mom playing with her when she was a baby -- an emotional trick by James. James attacks Bella and starts recording her pain with a camcorder, yelling, "Tell Edward how much it hurts. Tell Edward to avenge you!" That hardly seems necessary, however, as Edward arrives to save the day (we assume) and slams James across the floor. As they battle, James taunts Edward saying, "You're faster than the others, but you're not stronger. I'm stronger than you." Edward eventually breaks free and grabs Bella, trying to escape before James throws both of them to the ground once again. James then tries to suck Bella's blood until Edward attacks him. The last shot is of a sharp object in Bella's hand ... A foreshadowing of how the scene may end, perhaps?

The crowd ate it up, of course, and will no doubt dissect what they saw for days.

Not surprisingly, Meyer seemed the most at ease with her nation of "Twilighters," no doubt because she's seen her series' popularity skyrocket as she's continued the romance of Bella and Edward in subsequent books "New Moon," "Eclipse" and next month's newest installment, "Breaking Dawn." She admits she had a hard time when the project was first set up at Paramount, but is much happier with the movie under Hardwicke and Summit Entertainment's watchful eye.

She notes, "All these screaming people want to see the right movie. I learned my lesson early. I saw some bad scripts. I was careful about it the second time around."

Notably, the panel also showed that fans' enthusiasm can cross the line. When someone asks the men on the dais, "Is it boxers or briefs or nothing?" the crowd digs it, but the actors have no intention of going there and don't respond.

Ah, just another subject for the fans to speculate on until the movie opens this December. I'm guessing boxer briefs, you?

"Twilight" opens nationwide on Dec. 12.

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