January 15

Twilight Candy
New England Confectionery Co.’s Sweethearts Conversation Hearts are going from “I Love You” and “Marry Me” to “Bite Me.”

The Revere candy company wants to make the 143-year-old line more relevant to teens and tweens with a tie-in to the popular “Twilight” film based on the best-selling vampire romance novels.

NECCO will release softer, sparkling versions of the pastel sugar hearts in March, when the film is released on DVD. The printed messages will include “Bite Me,” “Secret” and “Soul Mate,” and flavors such as “orange obsession” and “tempting apple.” More Sweethearts will hit stores for the November release of the “New Moon” sequel.

Sweethearts are billed as the best-selling Valentine’s candy, with more than 8 billion produced annually in Revere. NECCO yesterday unveiled its 10 new Valentine’s Day messages, which have a “Menu of Love” theme.

And the 70-year-old Sky Bar will jump on the “Twilight” bandwagon with custom-molded shapes tied to the characters’ crests.

“We have a great opportunity in this business,” Krause said. “We have some really iconic brands. We’ve done a lot of research, and our consumers want us to take these brands into new directions.”

Source

Twilight Movie Totals as of 1.14.09
Total US Gross $182,172,744
International Gross $116,000,000
Worldwide Gross $298,172,744

Source

Stephenie Meyer Update
I really liked both of these articles that came out yesterday in the USA Today:

Sellers basked in Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' in 2008
New star authors made, old ones rediscovered in 2008

I love stats like those. And while I'm posting I thought I would add that tonight (Thursday) the band Mutemath (contributor to the Twilight soundtrack) is going to be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno doing a live performance of "Spotlight." Just FYI.

--Seth

Source