An actor from “Harry Potter” summons a little magic of his own
By Jeffrey Jolson
Pattinson as Edward in Twilight
SAN FRANCISCO (Hollywood Today) 11/10/08 — San Francisco Police cancelled an appearance of red-hot 22-year old British actor Robert Pattinson. Huge crowds of teenagers saw cops shut down the Stonestown Galleria mall event as if the Stones themselves had shown up.
Pattinson, who has yet to star in a major release, is nonetheless apparently a major draw, mostly known in the States as Cedric in two of the “Harry Potter” movies and Dali in “Little Ashes.” Teens always recognize star-power first, and the adults at the mall were unprepared for a rock star-like turnout.
He was set to sign autographs at the mall’s Hot Topic store at 6 p.m. as a promotion for his next film, the vampire film “Twilight.”
Hollywood notes crowds began forming at dawn and soon stretched around the building to get a signature from the handsome young Brit.
The event has since been canceled, said Michael Dwyer, an employee at the mall’s management office.
An employee answering the phone at Hot Topic said around 10:15 a.m. the event had been shut down by San Francisco police but declined to comment further.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Dianna // Nov 10, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Get a clue! “…the vampire film “Twilight” — and he doesn’t even have top billing in this film.” have you been living on mars or something. He is the star of Twilight. It’s all about Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. Read the books then you’ll understand the obsession of the fans.
2 Hollywood Today Staff // Nov 10, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Check imdb. He’s not even on first 12 credits.
3 Elizabeth // Nov 10, 2008 at 9:05 pm
It doesn’t matter where he is on the IMDB list, go to the Twilight site and watch the trailers. Actually just google him!
4 Dianna // Nov 10, 2008 at 9:07 pm
check it out:
http://www.twilightthemovie.com/
who do you see most in the tralier?
5 Hollywood Today Staff // Nov 10, 2008 at 10:01 pm
IMDB is what the producers and studio choose as their credits order. That is likely to change, but only the studio can change the order. Now, Pattinson is the undisputed star of the trailers — and the number of commercials will grow, partilly based on the S.F. mall incident. The film co., Summit Ent., will know they have a Heath on their hands, lol…
6 Michelle // Nov 10, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Maybe it matters to you that he’s playing Edward, but clearly some people don’t care. It’s true that he hasn’t had a starring role in a film that has been released yet. So what if he “is” Edward? (Though he in actuality hates the character. Ha!)
There are many people in the world who simply don’t care about Twilight. This guy was just writing a little news story, so don’t jump down his throat for not knowing much about some teen girls’ cult following. He was probably annoyed that he had to write about something as inconsequential as this; I know I would be.
7 Hollywood Today Staff // Nov 11, 2008 at 4:41 am
Not inconsequential at all. “Teen cults” are what started the Beatles, Beethoven and every mega-movie ever… thanks
8 A Clue // Nov 11, 2008 at 2:14 pm
First, they weren’t forming at dawn. We got there at almost 12am and crowds had been “forming” earlier than that. Second, it wasn’t shut down, nor was it ever going to be. Hot Topic flat out lied on SEVERAL occasions, going as far as to say SFPD has cancelled the event and refused to allow it to continue. The SFPD officers told us that was bunk. Hot Topic kept playing games and telling all sorts of “stories” just to build up more hype. What ended up happening is that people who’d waited patiently for hours and hours got screwed out of it by people who showed up at 1pm and later.
Hot Topic AND mall security/management were called repeatedly during the week regarding the fact that they had NO plan whatsoever in place and people knew there would be a huge problem before the wristbands were issued. They had one security guard on duty and 3,000 people showed up. They had no line, no plan, no order. People freaked out and they ended up with a riot on their hands. Many people got hurt, kids got trampled, and the 10 or so police officers that responded couldn’t even control things at that point. It was the scariest thing I have ever been through.
Hot Topic had SO many people go to the news media and complain regarding just the danger alone they were put in that later Hot Topic had employees take media to the line outside (waiting for the actual event) cheering and making it look like everyone was happy. It was unbelievable and something I’d never go through again.
9 Gabby // Nov 11, 2008 at 8:23 pm
FYI the Twilight following was huge before the S.F. mall incident. That is merely an indication of how big it’s actually getting. Poor Rob Pattinson had no clue what a huge following the books had when he signed up for the movie. I think he’s a little overwhelmed by the fans.
I hate that it got so out of hand at that mall and people got hurt. That is horrible. I’m a huge fan but I would never go to anything like that. I hate crowds, I’ll probably wait until the second day of the movies release to see it just to avoid the crowds.
10 Hollywood Today Staff // Nov 12, 2008 at 12:19 am
Gabby- Why would Pattinson be overwhelmed by a popular book turned into a movie, after being a “Harry Potter” hero? Just asking… And to “A Clue,” thanks. Did Hot Topic just run a deal, or victims of the crowds?
11 Gabby // Nov 12, 2008 at 5:42 am
Pattinson wasn’t the big star of Harry Potter like he is of Twilight. He had a fairly small roll in Potter. I heard that when the Twilight cast was at Comic-con the fans wouldn’t even shut up the screaming long enough for him to answer questions. And I saw an interview where he said his publicity tour for Twilight was just a series of mobings. You can tell he’s surprised that it’s made him so popular.
see the links below to find out about Twilight at comic-con.
http://blog.zap2it.com/scifi/2008/07/twilight-produc.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hdCjwdD3r8
The Twilight following was even huge before the movie, these books are amazing. I’m worried the movie will be disappointing in comparison but it looks promising. I was doubtful at first but I think they may have done a good job. I certainly hope so.
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