Bella came dressed in Oscar de la Renta. Edward Cullen wore Gucci. Even young Jacob Black looked sharp in Calvin Klein. The entire Twilight universe sparkled in full force for Monday’s premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon -- well, with the exception of one flame-haired vampiress -- for a red carpet celebration that proved that this Twilight thing is only going to get bigger with each new installment.
In case you weren’t one of the thousands of screaming fans camping out for hours on the streets of Los Angeles for a glimpse of the New Moon cast, here’s a rundown of what you missed: celebrities, vampires, werewolves, rock stars, a few thousand-plus of the most devoted Twilighters and Twi-hards in the world, and the ever-present, ear-piercing sounds of unadulterated fan adoration. Start gearing up for next summer’s Eclipse!
Last year’s Twilight premiere was insane, but New Moon was even bigger.
Last year’s Twilight premiere brought an estimated thousand fans to the streets of Westwood, CA, for a mass love fest that showed the rest of the world that this Twilight thing was a bona fide phenomenon in the making. This year, the cat was out of the bag and the fever pitch multiplied even further. Fans arrived as early as Thursday to camp out for five days to nab a spot at the front of the line, just for a chance to see New Moon’s stars up close and personal. They didn’t even get to see the movie! Now that’s dedication.
Think teenage fans are the craziest? Think again.
Kids skipped school. Adults called in sick. Some drove in from Oregon and flew from New York and Canada just for the three-hour event. There were more fans, more paparazzi, more desperation was in the air, and more pitiable security guards attempting to rein it all in. There was pushing, shoving, yelling, threata of sabotage; it was every Twi-hard for herself. One little girl told us that a grown women pulled her hair to get her out of the way, and that’s just wrong. And yet, not all that shocking.
Stephenie Meyer made a rare public appearance, but lost points for fashion.
After writing her Twilight novel series, author Stephenie Meyer retreated into the safety of her bubble of privacy to take time off from making public appearances and doing interviews. So it was nice for fans to see her hit Oprah’s couch last week and walk the red carpet at the New Moon premiere, where she met fans and spent time talking with a number of fan sites.
Unfortunately, at an event so saturated with meticulously styled designer gowns, where even 15-year-old Dakota Fanning wore Valentino, Meyer’s old timey updo and Victorian-style dress did not fly with the fashionista set.
Anya Marina on the red carpet: A delight or a disaster?
Soundtrack artist Anya Marina co-hosted the live MySpace red carpet stream to mixed reactions – some fans dubbed her "Annoying Anya," which is not generally what you want to go for when making your talking head debut. Her song, Satellite Heart, appears on the chart-topping soundtrack to New Moon, and it’s pretty good; unfortunately, Marina took every opportunity to tell exactly that to the stars she was interviewing throughout the night. Watch for yourself and decide.
Coolest celebrity of the night: Joan Jett
The New Moon cast brought plenty of their famous friends along for the big night, including Rob Pattinson’s Remember Me co-star Emilie de Ravin, the cast of Fox’s Glee, Emma Roberts, Brett Ratner, Kevin Smith, Grey’s Anatomy’s Justin Chambers and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and So You Think You Can Dance hostess Cat Deeley, who came on the arm of Eclipse actor Jack Huston. Basically, everyone in Hollywood who’d been pestered by a girlfriend or a child to get into the premiere. But all bowed down to one star’s black biker boots: Joan Jett, the rock star and role model for Kristen Stewart’s next film, The Runaways.
Nicest celebrity of the night: Kellan Lutz
Twilight’s Emmett pulled the best move of the night when, after signing autographs, he pulled two fans wearing 'Nutz for Lutz'shirts out of the crowd and escorted them into the premiere screening as his impromptu guests.
Random celebrity of the night: 50 Cent
Red carpets draw a lot of random stars, but who would have guessed that Fiddy himself would show up to support New Moon? Coincidentally, he just released a new album, but we’re sure that had nothing to do with it.
Rob and Kristen and their red carpet distance.
The rumored off-screen couple arrived separately at the end of the red carpet, just hours before MTV aired a special program investigating their real-life romance. Pattinson strolled through first before Taylor Lautner and Stewart pulled up the rear to do a quick sweep with the press and fans, and the trio posed for photos – just not all together. It seems Robsten was avoiding the red carpet 'couple' poses that would inevitably be picked apart by curious fans, although they were snapped together, along with Lautner, at the after party.
Rachelle Lefevre was “too emotional” to attend the premiere.
The only no-show of the night was actress Rachelle Lefevre, who lost the role of the vampire Victoria to Bryce Dallas Howard after playing her in the first two Twilight films. With her beloved dog in the hospital, Lefevre Tweeted her explanation to fans during the premiere: “'2 fans at the premiere: w/ Honey in hospital & being fired from Eclipse tonight was just 2 emotional 4 me & I couldn't manage it. So sorry.'
The after party had real live wolves. That’s right, wolves.
The premiere’s well-heeled crowd headed to the after party at the Hammer Museum, where real, live wolves had been brought in (and kept in cages) to enhance the New Moon vibe. Wonder how PETA spokesmodel Christian Serratos felt about that? Or New Moon’s Wolf Pack, who only transform into wolves with the magic of CGI?
