The Times

Issue date: 11/24/08 Section: Entertainment

A young girl in a strange new place tries to blend in, but as she walks through the cafeteria, she looks up to see a pair of eyes staring at her with intensity, passion and an underlying emotion she can not place, an overwhelming hunger.

The movie Twilight, based on the first installment of the successful series by Stephanie Meyers, opens in theatres Nov. 21.

The movie follows the life of Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart as she moves to Forks, Wash. from Phoenix. On her first day in her new school, she sees a strange boy staring at her, Edward Cullen played by Robert Pattinson. The rest of the film involves their relationship and the trials and tribulations involved.

Stewart's breakthrough role came in 2002 when she nabbed the part of Jodie Foster's daughter in Panic Room. She continued to work after that role, but it was not until 2007 when she portrayed the hippie love interest opposite Emile Hirsch in Into The Wild that people started to take notice.

"Kristen jumped off the screen for me in Into the Wild," Director Catherine Hardwicke said in an interview with film.com. "I thought she was sensational. I couldn't believe what expression she had, and how palpable I felt her yearning and desire. How much she wanted Emile."

Pattinson takes his first lead role as the undead heartthrob Bella swoons over. Before Twilight, played his most noticeable role as the tragic hero Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. When he first showed interest in the role, Hardwicke who had seen him in Harry Potter, was underwhelmed. It was not until he came to California and auditioned with Stewart that Hardwicke made up her mind. The scene consisted of a very intimate moment between Bella and Edward, which they performed on Hardwicke's bed.

"It was electric," Hardwicke told Entertainment Weekly. "The room shorted out, the sky opened up, and I was like, this is going to be good."

Fans of the books did not jump on the Pattinson bandwagon at first. Sites and blogs ripped apart Pattinson and demanded that he be fired and replaced.

"I stopped reading after I saw the signatures saying 'Please, anyone else,'" Pattinson said in an Entertainment Weekly article.

After the studio released the teaser trailer in the summer, fans began to change their tune about Pattinson's portrayal of Edward.

If teen romance was not hard enough, Meyer threw in a ravenous vampire out for Bella's blood.

The vampire James, played by Cam Gigandet, stops at nothing to get what he wants. Gigandet has had minor success in television, appearing in hits like CSI, The O.C. and the popular soap The Young and The Restless.

The $37 million adaptation, whether it generates Harry Potter success or bombs like book adaptation Eragon, has already become a staple in pop culture history.

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