Lautner Still in New Moon

After the success of "Twilight" Summit Entertainment quickly greenlit the sequel and bumped up the financing for the second film called "New Moon." Some things were all hearts and moonbeams though, Catherine Hardwicke the director of Twilight was released of her services and replaced by The Golden Compass director Chris Weitz. Rumors also swirled that Taylor Lautner would not return in the role of Jacob Black for the sequel. The worry was that Jacob's character, who undergoes a dramatic growth spurt in the second Stephenie Meyers novel, would not work with the doe faced Taylor Lautner.

Well two days ago Chris Weitz posted a blog on Meyers website, stating that faith has been restored in Taylor and he would continue on in the role of Jacob Black. "I'm very happy to announce that Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black in New Moon and that he's doing so with the enthusiastic support of Summit Entertainment, the producers, and Stephenie Meyer. The characters in Stephenie's books go through extraordinary changes of circumstance and also appearance; so it is not surprising that there has been speculation about whether the same actor would portray a character who changes in so many surprising ways throughout the series. But it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob, and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally right for the part. I think that fans of Twilight the book and the movie will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to the screen in New Moon; and I'm looking forward to working with him and the rest of the cast in realizing the film." It seems that Lautner stepped up his game and convinced producers and directors that he should remain. The young actor better known for his role as Sharkboy, from "Sharkboy and Lava Girl" has beefed up adding 19lbs to his physique and promises another 10lbs before shooting begins. Let's just hope that is not fat!

Before seeing "Twilight" I could have cared less about who was in the sequel, but after watching it, I am hooked on the series and am glad Launter will still be in the sequel. He was a strong character in the first film and it seems he has the chops to live this role out, even if it means growing a foot taller and aging 5 years! What I can't do is, get myself in the mindset to read the tween romance gargabe, (some pretty sappy stuff), but the film was strong and definately has me intrigued for more. What's better is that Bella comes to learn alot more about the werewolf clan of Jacob Black in "New Moon" with Edward taking a bit of a departure. So were in for more of a werewolf rather than a vampire story.

What say you? Have you seen "Twilight"? Does Taylor Lautner sticking mean anything to you? Can he pull it off?