Fans line up for ‘New Moon’ premiere

>>> very much. now to the " twilight " saga, which has, of course, become a global phenomenon. the latest installment, "new moon," comes out at midnight, and its star, robert pattinson , is going to be here live later in the show. first, nbc's lee cowan has more on " twilight 's" die-hard fans.

>> reporter: hollywood premieres always have their screamers. but fans of " twilight " are different. these are tween screams.

>> robert pattinson !

>> it's nice to think that when i'm like 80, i'll be able to show these videos to my grandchildren.

>> it's the coolest thing i've ever had.

>> reporter: the first movie sucked in almost $400 million. the sequel, "new moon," may take an even bigger bite at the box office .

>> i mean, we drove 6 1/2 hours, and i left my kids at home and my husband for the weekend.

>> reporter: twi-hards, as they're called, have been lining up now for days, some in a daze.

>> obsessed, addicted, in love.

>> reporter: fitting, since " twilight " is about love.

>> i'm not scared of you.

>> reporter: it's heroine is bella. her boyfriend is edward, a vampire.

>> bella!

>> reporter: and her best friend is jacob, a werewolf. that makes for a complicated triangle, but a marketing miracle. the novels, written by stephenie meyer , have sold more than 70 million copies. besides the movies, there's now everything from books on how to date a vampire to " twilight " coffee. so, what does coffee have to do with " twilight "?

>> not a thing.

>> reporter: annette brut was such a wi-hard, she opened an entire " twilight " store.

>> everything i've done is from the position of a huge fan who has great love from the stories.

>> the cardboard people --

>> reporter: the demand for life-sized " twilight " cutouts is so great now that at this warehouse in salt lake city , there's a cardboard population boom .

>> you know when people start being obsessed and crazed over someone, they don't want to wait.

>> reporter: so, just how popular are they? the company has sold almost 40,000 of these two-dimensional stars just in the last six weeks, 30,000 of them have been edward. at that rate, he actually stands to out-pace their former best-seller. yep.

>> i've just never seen one person craved after so much.

>> reporter: part love story , part thriller, " twilight " has become a franchise that, like its characters, seems almost immortal. for "today," lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles .

>> and i saw lunch you had set up outside a movie theater .

>> i was there for two or three days. you know, it's killing me. but we're going to keep the mania going, because a little later, we're going to have --

>> yes, robert pattinson is here with us.

>> right here in our studio. his fans are already outside. some of these people have