the buzz log

March Madness erupts Friday midnight. No, not the hoops kind: We're talking about the midnight March 20 DVD release of "Twilight."

Invitations to release parties at retailers have been free-flowing in the Buzz. Also big: suggestions on how to throw a party of one's own. (Shopping list: body shimmer for that healthy vampiric glow).

A quickie primer for cave-dwellers: "Twilight" centers on teen Bella Swan, who moves to a tiny, damp Northwestern town to live with dad. The girl-meets-vampire romance unfolded over four books, patterned after literary classics ("Pride and Prejudice," "Wuthering Heights," "Romeo and Juliet," "Midsummer's Night Dream"). The 2008 movie starred relative unknown Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart  (strong acting cred in flicks like "Panic Room" and "Into the Wild"). For more, see Vanity Fair's huge December spread on the phenom.   

Numbers like $35.7 million (opening day box office) and $190 million and counting (U.S. take so far) give a hint to the “Twilight” film phenom. And yes, "Twilight" is saving the economy and a convention is in the works. Witness how the the madness has mutated on the Web:

• People (read: 82% female) have been combing the 'Net looking for "twilight pics," taking "twilight quizzes," watching the "twilight new moon trailer," checking for deleted scenes, searching for the soundtrack, playing "twilight games" and getting waaay into the "twilight fanfiction."


• The movie came out in November, and the title has squatted in the top 200 terms on Yahoo! pretty much since then. In the past 7 days, the teen goth romance has been more popular than “The Watchmen.”


• Pattinson, even before he admitted to being discomfited by hot scenes in a non-"Twilight" project, has reigned as most-searched male—bigger than Chris Brown, President Obama, and the Jonas Brothers. (Yes, Stewart gets some Web love, although only a fourth of her co-star)

So, where might brooding boys want to go on the prowl for goth-struck girls at this Friday's witching hour? Well, nearly every state in the union has been be all atwitter about the DVD, but the top five states intensely leading the "Twilight" have been Utah, New Mexico, Kentucky, West Virginia, Oklahoma. Yes, Utah: Author Stephenie Meyer, a Mormon, attended Brigham in the Beehive State. Happy hunting.