‘New Moon’ Rising Early

The second Twilight film, “New Moon,” slams into theaters in nine weeks. Fans of the Stephanie Meyer-penned series don’t want to be left out in the cold, so they’re buying advance tickets in droves.

Both MovieTickets and Fandango are reporting that the first screenings of “New Moon” on November 20 are either sold out, or are close to sellouts, in many major metropolitan areas. Fandango says tickets to the vampire / werewolf fest account for 57 percent of recent online sales, and 50 theaters nationwide are sold out of inventory for the first two showtimes available.

“New Moon” is expected to easily beat the first weekend gross of its predecessor, “Twilight,” which earned $69.6 million in its first three days. It went on to gross over $191 million domestically, with a global take of $383 million.