Stephenie Meyer and Chris Weitz confirm that Taylor Lautner will be back as Jacob Black in New Moon

January 7, 9:50 PMBook ExaminerMichelle Kerns

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EW.com

After months of speculation as to whether fresh-faced Taylor Lautner would get to keep the part of Jacob Black in New Moon, the next installment of the Twilight movie series due out in November (and after a good deal of working out and packing on the pounds on Lautner's part), Stephenie Meyer confirmed in a post on her website today that Lautner's effort paid off:

Good news about New Moon from director Chris Weitz:

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.

very best

Chris Weitz

I'd just like to add that I was very much a part of this decision. My first priority was always what was best for New Moon—what was going to give us the best possible movie. I'm truly thrilled that Taylor was the one who proved to the director, to Summit, and to me that he is the best possible Jacob we could have. And I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he's going to bring to Jacob's character this year.

Now, all Twi-hards have to worry about is who will be tapped to play Leah Clearwater. According to the MTV Movie Blog, two undisclosed Disney Channel stars are currently in contention for the role.

So what do you think Twi-hards? Is it a good thing that Taylor Lautner will stay on as Jacob Black? And who would you cast as Leah Clearwater? (and please, don't say Miley Cyrus).