Twilight Director Fades Into the Darkness

Vampires lose their head.

It's one and done for Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. Summit Entertainment, the company behind the vamp flick, has announced it will replace Hardwicke as director on the Twilight sequel New Moon.

Though Hardwicke received much praise for her direction, it seems she and Summit could not reach an agreement on scheduling. Given Twilight's big returns - the film finished second at the box office this weekend for a three-week total of $138.6 million - Summit is eager to release the sequel as soon as possible.

The late 2009/early 2010 schedule didn't work for Hardwicke, who wanted more time to prep. In a statement, Hardwicke said she was sorry the timing didn't work out and wished Summit the best with the sequel. Other people have different ideas about why things didn't work out.

But don't fret for Catherine; with the blockbuster under her belt, and well-respected films like Lords of Dogtown and Thirteen in her back pocket, we don't think she'll have much trouble finding work. How the Twilight fanatics will take the news, though, is anyone's guess.