Aimed not only at the inevitable teen girls but also their ‘Twilight Moms’ — the vampire romance marks the largest release ever for Seville Pictures and arrives Friday amid mania reminiscent of Harry Potter‘s leap to the big screen.

The adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer’s bestseller Twilight arrives booked on nearly 500 Canuck screens, a number of which have already sold out, and will play on nearly 4,000 screens across North America; a wide release on the same scale as that of a summer blockbuster.

Cineplex reported early Friday that advance ticket sales have reached record-breaking levels, passing more than $1-million and eclipsing those of the summer hit The Dark Knight. Pre-release sales in the U.S. are the highest for any film since Dark Knight, according to Variety.

Seville VP of marketing Victor Rego says, despite the perennial appeal of the undead, there has never been a vampire novel targeted predominantly at teens.

‘What Interview with a Vampire did for an older audience, in terms of the issues that it touched on with the girl that can never grow up… here it’s about dealing with that issue when you’re a teenage girl who’s falling in love,’ Rego explains.

Twilight is ‘not about fangs and it’s not about them sleeping in coffins,’ he says.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), the story is about a misfit 17-year-old girl who falls in love and begins a dangerous relationship with a vampire. It stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Canuck Rachelle Lefevre (Fugitive Pieces). There is already a lot of talk about adapting the other books in the series.

While teen girls are a shoo-in, Seville is hoping for a large turnout of women in their late 20s to early 30s — so-called Twilight Moms who have perhaps found the series of books through their daughters. Rego notes Twilight has something for the guys as well.

‘We suspect the horror aspect will bring guys in, and there’s enough movement and action that it’s going to be satisfying for the male audience. The girls will see it by themselves the first time, and with their boyfriends the second time,’ he adds.

Film pundits expect the US$37-million film to take in between $40 million and $50 million in its first weekend, though it could go well beyond that given the mass fan turnout at cast appearances such as the one at Toronto’s MuchMusic headquarters last Saturday.

‘It’s a little bit more sudden than the Harry Potter mania — the first [Potter] book already had a lot of press. Twilight did as well, but over the last six months it has exploded because of technology… there’s more use of the web now than there was when the first Harry Potter came out,’ Rego quips.

Also opening this weekend is Michael Melski’s New Brunswick-shot comedy Growing Op, in Toronto and Vancouver through Mongrel Media, while Maple Pictures’ Repo! The Genetic Opera begins a quiet run at Toronto’s Bloor Cinema. Among other U.S. releases is the Disney family comedy Bolt, featuring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cirus.