New director for Twilight, major role possibly recast
 

Entertainment Weekly confirmed today that Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) will direct the next installment of the Twilight film series.
Summit is also looking to recast the part of Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner in Twilight. Black's part in the sequel is significant.

I think Taylor Lautner is cool. Im a fan, hes a martial arts champ, i was hoping hed get to show some skill in the next movie. I did notice that his part on "My own worst enemy" was expanded. Figured it was due to his new Twilight visibility.

As I've written elsewhere: MAJOR bummer on all three counts. Hardwicke was the bomb, Weitz is a TERRIBLE filmmaker, and Lautner was the bomb too!

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 will 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.)