It is rumored that Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) will be directing the next installment to the Twilight series, entitled New Moon.  Weitz has worked with Summit Entertainment before, notably when he directed his first film, which was the insanely popular American Pie.

Although reps have not confirmed Weitz taking over the project, it is certain that previous Twilight director, Catherine Hardwicke will not be returning.  It has been speculated that she was dropped due to not being able to keep up with the rapid shooting schedule. The film has already been slated for release on November 20, 2009, which means any director who takes on the project will have to be in Vancouver by December 15th to begin 12 weeks of preproduction film work.

There is another issue of heart throb vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) not being a prominent character in the second film. The studio is worried that Taylor Lautner who plays Jacob Black won’t be strong enough as one of the leads. In the second novel, Edward disappears, and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) finds comfort from werewolf Jacob Black. The studio will not make their final decision on whether or not to recast Jacob until they officially settle on a director.

Summit plans to announce the new director on Sunday, December 14th.

Check out what Gossipsauce had to say about the Twilight drama.

 —Jessica Delli Santi