July 13th

Comic-Con 2009 - San Diego CA July 23rd
Comic Con 2009 has released the programming for day one of the convention, Thursday July 23rd. Why does this concern Twilighters? It includes the schedule for the Summit Entertainment panel which contains the New Moon sneak peek and panel. Read below for more details:

1:45-2:45 Summit Entertainment— Summit Entertainment presents a sneak peek of exclusive footage of some of its upcoming major film releases!Astro boy—A classic superhero origin story set in a futuristic world, Astro Boy is an all-new CG-animated feature film about a young robot with incredible powers and his adventure-filled journey in search of his identity and destiny. Join Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell as they premiere the final trailer for Astro Boy before it’s in theaters.

Sorority Row—When five sorority girls inadvertently cause the murder of one of their sisters in a prank gone wrong, they agree to keep the matter to themselves and never speak of it again, so they can get on with their lives. This proves easier said than done, when after graduation a mysterious killer goes after the five of them and anyone who knows their secret. Join the cast of Sorority Row as they debut footage from the film exclusive to Comic-Con 2009.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon—Summit Entertainment is proud to present the panel for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the highly anticipated sequel to last year’s box office smash Twilight. Surprise members of the cast will answer your questions about the second film in the series and debut never-before-seen footage from the new film.

The panel will be held in Hall H from 1:45 to 2:45 but remember to get in line as early as possible to guarantee yourself a seat in the hall! There is no official panel list of who will be attending, but you can read our post here for all the details we have right now.

Harry Potter vs. Twilight
As a new “Harry Potter” movie opens next week, the bespectacled wizard faces a new challenge: how to compete for the attention of a young audience that has been growing up—and is starting to prefer the angsty teen romances and cooler, edgier characters of the “Twilight” books and movies.

The film moves directly into the territory where “Twilight” now rules. The sixth “Potter” movie, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” has a distinctly more grown-up tone than its predecessors and features a strong romantic plotline.

The movie’s timing may have helped its vampire rival. Last year Warner Bros. delayed the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to fill a hole in its summer-2009 schedule. Hollywood studio Summit Entertainment wasted no time pushing its teen vampire picture “Twilight” into the vacant November slot. The film, adapted from the best-selling book series about an epic love story between a vampire who looks 17 years old and a normal teenage girl, became an overnight success, grossing more than $382 million world-wide on a shoestring budget of $37 million.

Warner Bros. and the team behind “Potter” say they didn’t take the “Twilight” franchise into account when designing their marketing materials for “The Half-Blood Prince.” Instead, they crafted a campaign aimed to resonate with previous “Potter” films, the executives and filmmakers say, dismissing the notion that there is a rivalry between the franchises among fans.

For its part, Summit Entertainment, the studio behind “Twilight,” says it has been careful to steer clear of the commercial juggernaut that “Potter” has become, especially because its “Twilight” fan base overlaps with the “Potter” audience. The studio says that its strategy has been to avoid releasing any “Twilight” material too close to big release dates for “Harry Potter.”

“It’s the only franchise that we ever pay attention to,” says Rob Friedman, chief executive and co-chairman of Summit Entertainment. “We are very cognizant of where they are, and we’ve always been wary of being in too close proximity to ‘Harry Potter’ because we know our fans cross over so much, and we definitely don’t want to compete with ‘Harry’ for attention.”

Haami Nyangibo, a 13-year-old girl from London, says that after years of reading “Harry Potter” she has come to find the “Twilight” books “far more relatable. They just engage in a more realistic way. A lot of my friends have gone off ‘Harry Potter’ and are onto ‘Twilight,’ ” she says.

To read the complete article, click here.


Edward Doll
The Tonner Doll Company has just announced a new Twilight doll, called “Hungry Edward”, that is exclusive to Comic Con 2009. The doll will sell for $129.99 in TONNER booth number 4148 and is only one of 200 made. This is a Comic Con exclusive, but if pieces are left over at the conclusion of the convention, they will be available online. Read/see more below:

Hungry, Edward from Twilight™

San Diego Comic-Con 2009 Exclusive! Hungry, Edward from Twilght™ will be available for purchase exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con. At the conclusion of San Diego Comic-Con, if any product remains it will be available for purchase right here on TonnerDirect.com!

TONNER CHARACTER FIGURE™

EDWARD must fight his insatiable thirst for BELLA, no matter how Hungry he gets. This latest incarnation of EDWARD CULLEN comes dressed in a soft knit long-sleeved t-shirt and dark wash jeans. Socks, faux leather lace-up shoes, and faux leather bracelet with the Cullen Family crest also included.