Welcome to Twilight Economy

By Maggie Martin

Love it or hate it, Stephenie Meyer’s extremely popular Twilight Saga has been a high-grossing phenomenon for women (and some man) of all ages. With the sales of the books themselves, five movies, dolls, clothing, and even cars to match the character’s, the economy has benefitted beyond anything they could have imagined.

                                                            Author Stephenie Meyer

Twilight

                                                                       New Moon

                                                                        Eclipse

                                                                Breaking Dawn Part 1

The Books

Meyer first published Twilight in 2005 with little success to begin. But by December of 2011, Little, Brown Company (her publisher) had sold nearly $116 million in the four books along with a companion novella and an illustrated guide. Many times, Twilight has been compared to the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling who has made over $450 million dollars in the franchise (with seven books, eight movies, and over 15 years). In reference, Meyer’s sales have spiked faster, and made more impact per book sales-wise. The book was also claimed the fastest book to sell 1 million copies by Waterstone’s in 2006.

Below are the neweset editions to the Twilight franchise: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (novela) and the Twilight Complete Illustrated Guide

Works Cited

Alexander, Harriet. "Twilight: Book Breaks Sales Records - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/6590249/Twilight-book-breaks-sales-records.html>.

The Movies

Just two years after Twilight was published, Meyer’s series was picked up as a movie with Summit Entertainment. For the first movie, it was fairly low-budget and not expected to have much monetary impact. The first sale amounted to $397,923,934 surpassing the goals by a long-run. For New Moon the budget was much higher and the price jump paid off. The movie brought in $712,623,634 in revenue. The success kept skyrocketing, totaling in $2,392,279,319 for the entire movie sales of the saga (and counting, Breaking Dawn Part 1 is still bringing in revenue along with Breaking Dawn Part 2 next November).

The movie has surpassed many midnight ticket purchasing markers. When Twilight originally came out it was #6 on the all-time pre-puchased movie ticket list. The others have surpassed that marker as well.

 Get your tickets to The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 here http://bit.ly/rajJvp
Works Cited

"The Twilight Saga Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers." The Numbers - Movie Box Office Data, Film Stars, Idle Speculation. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2010/TWLI3.php>.

Weintraub, Steve. "Twilight Has Joined the List of Top Ten Advanced Ticket-Sellers on Fandango." Collider. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://collider.com/entertainment/tv/article.asp?aid=9908&tcid=1>.

The DVDs

No movie would be complete without its DVD sales. The first movie came out with many different types of DVD options (special editions, sold at different stores in different versions). The sales helped the franchise move even further in their economic growth.

The original Twilight 3 Disc Special edition sold only at Target came with a code to download the movie to iTunes. Since the growth in popularity in buying movies on iTunes, the option was no longer available for later dates, causing the Twilight Saga digital downloads to soar.

To purchase the Twilight DVD along with the others, you can download on iTunes or purchase DVDs here on Amazon http://amzn.to/tsLiGy

Works Cited

"The Twilight Saga Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers." The Numbers - Movie Box Office Data, Film Stars, Idle Speculation. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2010/TWLI3.php>.

The Sountracks

The soundtracks (and scores) to the movies were extremely popular companions to the movie. On the first week that the Twilight soundtrack came out, it debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 165,000 copies (29% digital). For New Moon, Hot Topic hosted New Moon soundtrack “listening parties” before the soundtrack ever came out as a marketing technique. It sold 153,000 copies in its first week. Eclipse sold $146,000 copies in the first week. Eclipse didn’t perform as well chart-wise. Breaking Dawn Part 1 sold $105,000 copies in the first week and received more unfavorable reviews.

                                               Twilight Soundtrack Billboard placing week 1

                                                  New Moon billboard placing week 1

                                                Eclipse billboard placing week 1

                                                  Breaking Dawn billboard placing week 1
Purchase the first Twilight Soundtrack (as well as the others) on iTunes or here on Amazon: http://amzn.to/rJj53K

Works Cited:

"Twilight Saga Sountracks." Wikipedia. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Saga:_Breaking_Dawn_%E2%80%93_Part_1_(soundtrack)>.

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The Twi-rock

Like other popular Fandoms (mainly Harry Potter) there are some Twi-rock bands that made it to the scene with success after the first novel was published. One band, The Mitch Hansen band, released two CD’s (Twilight Hour and Endless Days) inspired by the Twilight books selling on iTunes and on his personal website. Other Twi-rock bands found their audiences by speaking on Twilight podcasts available on iTunes like Bloodsuckers and Imprint. The CD’s are still available on iTunes for $9.99.

Listen to The Mitch Hansen Band here: http://bit.ly/vC7BVs 

Works Cited:

"The Mitch Hansen Band Rocked Dazzled By Twilight’s Twilight Lounge on Stephenie Meyer Day | Dazzled By Twilight." Dazzled By Twilight. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://dazzledbytwilight.com/the-mitch-hansen-band-rocked-dazzled-by-twilights-twilight-lounge-on-stephenie-meyer-day/>.

Hot Topic Success

The store Hot Topic took a huge leap when they decided to pick up the Twilight franchise in clothing, key chains, dolls, and even perfume. Comparing their sales statistics, in 2007, Hot Topic had a -2.1% increase in sales while in 2008 when they began carrying the Twilight line (the first store to do this) they raised their sales value to 6.5%, while the next year when the sales cooled down their sales revenue went down by -12%. Other franchises have attempted to bring back Twilight’s initial success (Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter) but sales never spiked again.

Interested in Hot Topic's Twilight merchandise? Visit the Twilight Hot Topic page here: http://bit.ly/tKoIGl

                                                          Breaking Dawn merch from Hot Topic

"Hottopic." Hot Topic Twilight Tshirts. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://search.hottopic.com/search?p=KK>.

"May 2009 Same Store Sales - Holiday Boosts, Shopping Budget Cuts, Tax Refund Spending and Charts Without Wal-Mart Confuse U.S. Retail Industry." Retail Industry - Retail Stores, Sales, Management, Marketing, Jobs, Companies, Trends and Analysis in the U.S. and Global Retail Industry. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://retailindustry.about.com/od/2009usretailanalysis/a/May_Same_Store_Sales_News_Analysis_2.htm>.