She called the cinema for tickets the first instant she knew the books were going to be in theaters. She needed to get a ticket to that first movie at midnight. That was four years ago, when the first “Twilight” movie came out. Now, this University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student will be seeing the final movie of “The Twilight Saga”.

“The books were so compelling and written so well that I couldn’t put them down,” Jordyn Anderson said. “I had to see the movies.”

According to GPA Media Corp, college students in the United States spent $887 million on movies this past year. That is about $61.50 per student. The big blockbusters such as “Twilight”, “Hunger Games”, and “Avengers” are just some of the popular movies that get college students to keep going.  Eau Claire students can go to the final movie of “The Twilight saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2” this Friday.

In the Eau Claire area, theaters have been preparing themselves for the final “Twilight” film. This is the first time they are having the film available at 10 p.m. instead of the normal midnight showing. This makes it more accessible for students to attend the film at a reasonable hour. Dan Olson, from Micon Cinema in Eau Claire knows how big of an effect that movies such as, “Twilight”, have on the theater.

“We have two auditoriums sold out,” Olson said. “We are expecting to have around 4-5 sold out for opening night.”

Micon cinemas have two theaters in Eau Claire, Micon Cinemas Eau Claire on Mall Drive and Downtown Cinema on Barstow Street.  According to Olson, most of their revenue comes from the concessions that people have during the movie, because the film companies take a very large percentage of the ticket cost.

Beth Weise, who is a junior at University of Wisconsin-River Falls and a “twi-hard” or twilight fanatic, is planning to go to the opening show at 10 p.m. for this last “Twilight” film.

“Well, I’ve gone to the opening night showing with my friends for all the (Twilight) movies, so it is kind of a ritual,” Weise said.

Chelsey Kaas, who is a junior at UW-Eau Claire, has not read the “Twilight” series, but she still decided to go to the movies. She said that a large number of the fans of the “Twilight” movies are also fans of the book, but it can interest anyone to go as long as they like that type of film.

“I think that the readers make up the majority of the fan base,” Kaas said. “They are the fans who already know how the saga ends, yet they can’t wait to see it all come to life on the big screen.”

Some other students at UW-Eau Claire have not read or seen the “Twilight” movies.  Joyce Idarraga, a sophomore at UW-Eau Claire said she has now lost interest in going to the “Twilight” movies.

“I didn’t find out about the books until the movies were coming out. Then I kept waiting to watch the movies until I read the books,” Idarraga said. “But I didn’t hear a lot of positive comments about the movies so I lost interest.”

Brandon Johns, a senior at UW-Eau Claire, has not read or seen “The Twilight Saga” and has no plans to do so in the future.

“I haven’t seen the movies or read the books, because they are chick flicks,” Johns said.

According to GPA Media Corps, 78 percent of college student listen to their friends before purchasing a movie. This is similar to Johns’ take on when or why he goes to the theater.

“I wait to buy the movie and see what other people think about it to see if the movie is good or not, before I would go and see it in the theater,” Johns said.

Each college student has different priorities on why they go to the movies. Olson said that everyone should go to the movies to get away for a couple hours.

“Movies are a great escape from real life,” Olson said. “They can bring out so many different emotions in everybody.” “Whether you want to laugh, cry or fall in love, there is something for everyone.”