“Miles traveled: 2,000. Cost of Flights: $600. Days spent on a sidewalk: 2. A chance to see the entire cast of “Twilight”: Priceless,” read the sign held by two women from Winnipeg, Canada as they waited in line Sunday night for the Monday premiere of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”.
They are just two of nearly 700 fans spread over five blocks who had lined up by Sunday night in hopes of seeing the stars of “New Moon” as they walked the red carpet Monday night at Westwood’s Mann Bruin and Mann Village Theaters.
Jennifer Romanoff, 29, and Puneet Chawla, 26, set up camp on the sidewalk of Tiverton Avenue with little more than their necessities on Sunday morning and slept on the pavement that night. Since their hotel was a 30-minute bus ride away, they had to bring all their sleeping gear with them to the premiere.
“We’re pretty excited. If we were 12, we would be screaming,” Chawla said. Chawla and Romanoff had never been to Los Angeles before, so they decided to center their trip around the premiere.
The movie is the second installment in the “Twilight” series, which focuses on the love story between a vampire, played by Robert Pattinson, and a human girl, played by Kristen Stewart.
The movie’s distributor hired a company that works security at movie premieres and red carpet events to help keep the peace and control the crowds, said Edward Vazquez, a security guard for the company.
University police said they were not handling the event and that the LAPD was covering the premiere instead. The LAPD was unable to be reached for comment.
People began lining up to see the stars from the barricades along Broxton Avenue Thursday night. Some fans slept out on the pavement with just a thin foam mattress and a blanket decorated with the faces of the movie’s main characters. Many had signs set up with sayings such as, “Don’t you wish your boyfriend had fur like mine,” with a picture of Taylor Lautner, the actor portraying werewolf Jacob Black.
Four sisters and their daughters came to Westwood from Selma, Calif. on Thursday after leaving work and school early.
“It’s a family bonding experience,” said Julie Picazo, one of the sisters. “And not only are the four sisters and their daughters reading (the “Twilight” series), we got grandma into it, too.”
Her daughter, Audree Picazo, 15, also attended the “Twilight” premiere last year. “I was first in line, and then three hours before (the premiere) I got sick and had to leave. But my cousin got Rob Pattinson to say “˜get well soon, Audree’ on video,” she said.
Over the weekend, multiple actors from the movie visited the fans camped out on the street. Some of the stars included Alex Meraz, who plays the werewolf Paul, Cameron Bright, who plays the teenage vampire Alec, and Kiowa Gordon, who plays werewolf Embry Call.
Gordon dropped by to visit the fans with his family on Sunday night after hearing that people were camped out to see the premiere. A stampede of fans ran up to him to take pictures, get his autograph and hug him as he arrived near Ralphs.
“(I came out) to let my fans feel loved. They’re the reason why I’m here (in Westwood),” he said.
Many of the fans who were sleeping on the streets Sunday night also have tickets to see the movie when it comes out on Thursday at midnight.
“You can’t buy tickets online in Canada for a movie in America … so we actually had to call the movie theater and beg them to give (the tickets) to us,” Romanoff said. “We got the last two seats.”