Alum's "Twilight" is cult vampire romance

In its special issue “Youth Impact Report,” Variety, alum Catherine Hardwicke is identified as one of Hollywood’s leading “Bigscreen Chaperones,” adult filmmakers with a gift for interacting with young performers, and a clued-in understanding of youthful tastes in entertainment.

After establishing serious cred directing teencentric pics “Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown,” production designer-turned-helmer Catherine Hardwicke chose to apply her adolescent-savvy sensibilities to a trickier project, high school vampire romance “Twilight” – a film that not only stars teens, but appeals to them as well.

That’s an understatement of course, considering the rabid success of Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling four-book series, whose fans call themselves “Twihards.”

“The book is incredible. It draws you in. You feel what it feels like to be this teenage girl,” says Hardwicke, who met Summit’s Eric Feig and Patrick Wachsberger by chance at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where she was a juror. At the time, “Twilight” had only a small, albeit devoted, fanbase. “I don’t think any of us had any idea it was going to turn into this,” she says.

The Hollywood Reporter splashed the film on its cover for an article about the marketing plans of its distributor, Summit Entertainment, which aims to transform this modestly budgeted project with a surprisingly devoted fan following into a mainstream blockbuster that could launch a franchise.

A year ago, few took notice when Summit said that it was developing a movie based on the first of young-adult writer Stephenie Meyer’s four-book series detailing a tragic high school romance between Bella, who comes to a small town after her parents split, and Edward, her secret crush who as it turns out is a vampire.

That Summit had attached Catherine Hardwicke, director of the arty “Thirteen,” confirmed for many that the studio saw the film as a niche play.

But in the months that followed, a cultlike obsession about the film project grew.

Fans analyzed casting moves, especially leads Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, like investors monitoring the Dow. They whipped themselves into a frenzy over reported reshoots (mostly weather-related, it turns out). And they followed with skeptical eyes the script’s faithfulness to key book scenes.

Even the city where the story takes place — Forks, a real-life depressed timber town in rural Washington — saw a spike in tourism as tween girls arrived by the minivan.

Summit, at first surprised by the hoopla, began to play along…

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