The minute tickets went on sale for “New Moon,” I bought them. Two weeks later, I found out that the Xtreme 107.1 FM radio station was hosting a premiere party; I exchanged my tickets. I preordered the soundtrack on Amazon two weeks before it came out. I reread the series for the second time this year just to make sure it was fresh in my mind. I watched every new trailer the day it came out, and I hushed my fiancé when they played on TV. I’m a “Twilight” fanatic — but I’m clearly not the only one.

According to deadline.com, examiner.com and IMDB.com, “New Moon” has smashed the advance ticket sales of all previous movies putting it at the top above “The Dark Night,” “Star Wars” and its own predecessor, “Twilight.” Entertainment Weekly predicted an opening weekend of $105 million and the L.A. Times predicted $90 million.

Platteville’s Millennium Cinema was packed Nov. 19 for a 7 p.m. showing of “New Moon.” My friends and I arrived at the theater at 5:30 p.m. and watched as tweens, teens, twenty-somethings and moms filtered in and filled the seats of theater six. Some audience members were avid readers and supporters of the book, but others had not even seen the first movie. Declarations of Team Edward and Team Jacob were made on T-shirts and in front of our camera. My unlucky friends waiting for later shows were madly texted me demanding spoilers as soon as possible. The anticipation was almost tangible.

As Xtreme’s Brent Johnson started drawing for free T-shirts and an iPod around 6:30 p.m., my friends and I decided it was time to find our seats. I counted about seven brave men in the audience among hundreds of girls and women. The trailers could barely hold in the suspense before the Summit trademark hit the screen.

The movie had something for every “Twilight” lover, young and old. It stayed true to form and some argued it was better than the first.

My friends and I decided that “New Moon” was better than “Twilight” – it was more like a book on screen than a movie adaptation of a book. We are Team Jacob, by the way.

When we walked out after the credits the lobby was already full for the not-advertised 9:30 p.m. showing, and even more would come to fill the midnight show. Millennium Cinema was sold out for the 7 p.m. and  midnight showing by Nov. 16; Star Cinema in Dubuque, Iowa, was sold out in all four theaters it was showing in a couple days later.

“New Moon” has left its mark and made a statement that will be difficult to ignore and forget. The next installment of the “Twilight Saga,” “Eclipse,” hits theaters June 30, 2010 – seven months from now.

And I can’t wait.