Chris Weitz Officially Named Director of 'Twilight' Sequel, 'New Moon'
However, looks like Taylor Lautner was given his pink slip
As rumors indicated, Summit has officially named Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass, About a Boy, American Pie) the director of the sequel to the box-office hit Twilight, New Moon. Summit issued a press release today via Erik Feig, Summit's President of Production saying, "We love Stephenie Meyer's fantastic Twilight series. Thinking long and hard about how to turn New Moon into the amazing movie we know it will be, and working with Stephenie Meyer to find the right candidate, we are thrilled to announce Chris Weitz as director of the film. Chris very much understands the world of New Moon and has the skill set required to bring the book to glorious life as a movie. We think he will be an excellent steward of Stephenie Meyer's vision."
"I am honored to have been entrusted with shepherding New Moon from the page to the screen," said Weitz. "The extraordinary world that Stephenie has created has millions of fans, and it will be my duty to protect on their behalf the characters, themes and story they love. This is not a task to be taken lightly, and I will put every effort into realizing a beautiful film to stand alongside a beautiful book."
In New Moon, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested. Production on New Moon is scheduled to begin in the coming months and the studio is planning to release the film towards the end of 2009 or early 2010 with rumors pointing to a November 20, 2009 release.
Of course the one thing Twilight fans are sure to notice is the absence of Taylor Lautner's name from the above synopsis. Lautner played Jacob Black in the first film and it appears rumors are true and he will not be reprising the role in New Moon. Stay tuned as production is rumored to be getting underway on Monday and I am sure the casting process will be fast and furious.
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I think they should keep Taylor. We are already familiar with him. He has been doing interviews and fan appearances and fans are used to him. I like him. They better not replace him with that lame Michael guy that I have been hearing about.
Keep Taylor or lose fans and money.
Taylor Lautner is Jacob Black. any other actor will just ruin the movie and be confusing.
I honestly probably will not see the movie with another actor playing Jacob.
New Moon is my favorite book and I don't think any other actor would do justice to the role of Jacob.
I don't want to see the book ruined.
Ohhhh Boyyyy, Geeky fangirls are going to go nuts….
I hope that's just an exceptionally unflattering picture of the director. Dude looks like a chimp with no neck. Creepiest damn thing I've seen all day, and I just came from a white elephant Christmas party.
@aerinpegadrak: Lol, he does look like a chimp with no neck!!
Sharkboy can't act. A new Jacob Black can only make things better.
Drop Lautner. Cast Steven Strait! Lautner looks way too young to play Jacob, who is supposed to grow immensely from book one to book two. He was great in Twilight, but New Moon needs a new Jacob.
According to one studio exec: “You’d have to have a very high standard for art, hate the movie business, and hate money to walk off this sequel.” So with Weitz, they get the hack they wanted! The movie is doomed, indeed, to not satisfy any "standard for art." Mabye it's a good thing Taylor Lautner might be able to skip out on this dud. (Although the obvious move would be to have Taylor play Jacob pre-werewolf and Steven Strait play Jacob post-werewolf. But I don't want either of those stellar actors sullied by Weitz. They should play brothers in a Catherine Hardwicke movie.)
the movie wil suck with out taylor.
I might not watch it without taylor.
the series is not a joke played by different characters.
i want taylor to play!!
Just as fans were initially disatisfied with the casting of Robert Pattinson as Edward, they will surely have growing pains when it comes to any changes with the second film. However, in time they will likely grow to love the new direction just as they did Rob.
Personally, I enjoyed a big sigh of relief with the release of this news.
It's admirable that Summit is admitting a little defeat in the final outcome of Twilight (as they should, it was diplorable) and attempting to make things right. I, for one, am deeply optimistic.
oh my gosh! if taylor lautner doesnt cast a lot of people are going to be mad. just hearing about it makes me furious. everyone is already familiar with him as jacob and there might be a loss of money and a major loss of fans. taylor is perfect for the role and i refuse to see the movie if he isnt in it!
I will be SO mad if Taylor Lautner does not play Jacob. I may not even go see the movie. I am SO mad at chris weitz. the Golden Compass didn't even get good reviews… :'(
@lacey: I'm pretty sure that's because the story line of Golden Compass sucked, anyhow. The directing was pretty great, but the plot didn't have any heart to connect the viewer. Probably why the reviews tanked.
@Emily: IT ONLY MAKES SENSE TO CAST STEVEN STRAIT AS THE OLDER JACOB THEY LOOK JUST ALIKE AND THERES NO WAS TAYLOR WILL GROW THAT FAST BY THE TIME THEY START FILMING
@Masta Batang Dollar Billz: The script was butchered so badly it was bound to doom them all. None of the actors were given a fair chance to show their acting capabilities. They need to follow the book with the lines Stephenie gave everyone. Plenty of movies are 3 hours long. Sometimes it needs to be to make sense. Taylor Lautner is a great Jacob Black. Their personalities match perfectly, Jacob's actual age is the same as Taylor's despite the maturation level, and movie magic transforms age and height all the time for movies with pixies and giants. Summit needs to NOT BE SO CHEAP on their budget so they can pull it off.