There have been rumors for some time that Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black in the Twilight series, would be replaced by another actor for the second film, New Moon.  In the second film, he would play a werewolf – a part that requires sheer size as well as a different acting style than playing (in his words) a “happy-go-lucky” guy.  Lautner noted the difference between the character that he played in the first Twilight installment and the character that would be necessary for the second film:

Lautner told MTV News recently that, while he can’t automatically grow hair, he’s been bulking up in anticipation of continuing in the role.

“My job for Twilight was to bring Twilight Jacob to life—the friendly, happy-go-lucky little Jacob,” he said. ”My job for New Moon is completely different. I’ve been looking forward to that. I’ve been getting ready for it, and I can assure them I will follow through with that.”

[from E! Online]

Today, Stephanie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series, announced that Lautner would indeed continue to play Jacob, making many teenagers very, very happy.  Chris Weitz, the director of New Moon, writes that he always knew Lautner would be right for the part:

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.

[from StephanieMeyer.com]

That was a well-written letter Weitz’s personal assistant wrote for him.  The bottom line is, changing actors mid-stream in a series doesn’t bode well.  With the success of the books, studio execs must have anticipated that a second movie would be made, and should have taken into account the changes to his character.  But it doesn’t seem that the studio was all too worried about attention to detail.  Their hurry to make a buck may have also forced the original director to leave the series.

The speculation about Lautner’s casting change was reinforced by the fact that the director of Twilight, Catherine Hardwicke, is also not continuing on in the franchise.  Verified reasons for Hardwicke’s leaving have been few and far between, but because she cites “timing” as the reason, this probably means that Hardwicke wanted more pre-production while the studios were pushing for a quick turnaround with a 2009 release.

Both Chris Weitz and Taylor Lautner have challenges ahead of them, for different reasons.  But both are going to have to work hard to fulfil the fantasies of countless tweens.

Taylor Lautner is shown in a still from Twilight and at the premiere on 11/13/08. Credit: WENN