If there were any thoughts in Robert Pattinson's mind that Twilight was a one-off, these were swiftly banished when its sequel, New Moon, opened in the US last month.
The second film taken from Stephenie Meyer's series of teen-vampire romance novels, it raked in US$142.8 million over three days, making it the third highest movie opening ever behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3.
Meanwhile, the British-born actor, who plays lead vampire Edward Cullen, has gone from virtual unknown to household phenomenon in little under a year.
Right now, as he reclines on the cover of Vanity Fair in a white T-shirt like a latter-day James Dean, there's no escaping Pattinson. But there's also no escape for him.
'Whenever I'm going out of a building, I'm literally carried!' he says. Like today: we're at a hotel beachside restaurant on the French Riviera and, outside, legions of fans - the 'Twi-hards', as they're known - have gathered to get a glimpse of their idol. Every time he drifts into view, hysteria breaks out. 'He's coveted,' his co-star Kristen Stewart tells me. 'The girls are ravenous. I don't know what it is. It's Edward Cullen ... that's what it is.'
There's some truth to this. In the flesh, the 23-year-old Pattinson is polite and personable. But a pin-up? Boasting a mop of unkempt brown hair, Pattinson's boyish features carry a permanent air of bewilderment about them, as if he can't believe all this is happening to him. So, how's he coping?