source: MTV

The hoopla began Friday night with a series of midnight events. Or rather, the craziness began hours earlier as young fans and their parents lined up at retail stores across the country to be among the first to take home a copy.

In Salt Lake City, 2,500 devotees braved lines, while 2,000 attended in Los Angeles and 700 showed up in New York. Several "Twilight" actors made appearances at the events, including Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Nikki Reed (Rosalie Hale), Rachelle Lefevre (Victoria) and Edi Gathegi (Laurent). Director Catherine Hardwicke held court in Dallas, even though she will not be helming the next film in the series, "New Moon." Not in attendance, however, were the film's biggest stars, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

The opening sales make "Twilight" one of the five best-selling DVDs of the last two years, joining blockbusters "The Dark Knight," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and "Transformers."

Now that Meyer's love story has conquered bookstores, box offices and living rooms, attention will only increase on the young-adult series that has already been swamped by media scrutiny, Internet gossip and a rapid fanbase with a seemingly insatiable hankering for all things "Twilight." Since 2005, the series' four books have sold 42 million copies across the globe and the "Twilight" movie has grossed more than $370 million worldwide.

"New Moon" has just begun filming in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is set for release in the fall. Last year may have been a good for Bella and Edward, but 2009 is shaping up to be even more impressive. And, of course, don't count out 2010, which will see both the DVD release of "New Moon" and the theatrical release of the third film, "Eclipse." Love them or hate them, those gothic lovers are here to stay.