Twilight Moves In On Potter Vacancy

TWILIGHT, the first film in Summit Ent.'s thriller romance franchise, has moved up its North American release date to Friday, November 21, 2008. The film, which was previously planned to be released on December 12, 2008, is taking advantage of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE moving to next summer.

The new release date for TWILIGHT allows the studio to both bring the film to the written-series' enormous fan base sooner, and to present the film in more theaters prior to the holiday movie-going season where traditionally screen time for any popular film is limited.

"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," said Rob Friedman, Co-Chairman and CEO of Summit Ent. "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."

Starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in the thriller-romance based on Stephenie Meyer's publishing phenomenon, the film is directed by Catherine Hardwicke from a script by Melissa Rosenberg (STEP UP). Karen Rosenfelt (DEVIL WEARS PRADA), Greg Mooradian and Wyck Godfrey will produce along with Mark Morgan via his Maverick Films banner.

TWILIGHT tells the story of 17-year-old Bella Swan (Stewart) who moves to the small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father, and becomes drawn to Edward Cullen (Pattinson), a pale, mysterious classmate who seems determined to push her away. But neither can deny the attraction that pulls them together ... even when Edward confides that he and his family are vampires. Their unorthodox romance puts her in physical danger when Edward's nemesis comes to town and sets his sights on Bella.