Hey folks, Harry here... with TWILIGHT at around $138 million on an investment of $37 million - you might think that Catherine Hardwicke's directorial position on this franchise was secure. However, while the hardcore fanbase loves or intensely likes this first film... Hardwicke's indie sensibilities have kept the film from crossing over into a larger audience base. When I saw Catherine here in Austin at the preview screening of TWILIGHT, I found her take on the material as she spoke to be very limited. And her capabilities to direct action sequences were limited - and in the interviews about how to handle the Wolves of NEW MOON... well, it didn't sound fantastic. What she did do was put together one helluva cast - and most TWILIGHT fans that I know were hoping she would not be a part of the second film. The story broke here, but even though I liked the first film quite a bit, in my group of male friends, I was almost alone. I think I got hooked by the story and the actors more than anything, but I did like some of Catherine's sensibilites. At this point - this is not official, we'll be looking for an announcement from Summit sometime soon... or perhaps they'll hold off till finding a replacement. PERSONALLY - I'd go with Kathryn Bigelow. In my opinion she would ramp this series up to exactly where it needs to be.

Here's the official press release from Summit:

SUMMIT BEGINS SEARCH FOR NEW MOON DIRECTOR

Los Angeles, CA, December 7, 2008 – Summit Entertainment and director Catherine Hardwicke jointly announced today that the filmmaker will not be directing the next installment in the newly minted TWILIGHT film franchise. Summit’s targeted end of 2009 or early 2010 release of the film, NEW MOON, does not work with Ms. Hardwicke’s required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen. Thus as has been done before with many successful film franchises, the studio will employ a new director for NEW MOON.

"I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct NEW MOON,” said Hardwicke. “Directing TWILIGHT has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel-- it is a great story."

“Catherine did an incredible job in helping us to launch the TWILIGHT franchise and we thank her for all of her efforts and we very much hope to work with her on future Summit projects,” said Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Production. “We as a studio have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created. We are able to pursue an aggressive time frame as we have the luxury of only adapting the novels into screenplays as opposed to having to create a storyline from scratch.”