Now that the biz of selecting a new director for the Twilight movie sequel has been settled, the next step is to go about the biz of casting New Moon. With a new director comes the feasibility that character roles may be recast and actors who were hired to play a role in one movie may be axed from playing that same role in the next movie. Specifically, the role of Jacob Black — who undergoes a lot of change from Twilight to New Moon and plays a very significant role in the sequel — is, apparently, up for grabs as new chatter suggests that Taylor Lautner (the actor who portrayed the young Jacob in Twilight) may be replaced by a different actor. Enter Michael Copon, a beefy-looking actor best known from the film Scorpion King 2, who is said to be up for the role of Jacob Black which would thereby leave Lautner out in the cold. Additionally, Ben Barnes (who played Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia sequel) is said to be interested in playing a member of the powerful vampire “family” the Volturi. It sounds like production on New Moon is already getting into full swing and these decisions are likely to be made very soon:

Following last week’s dismissal and replacement of Catherine Hardwicke, this weekend began with a press release from Summit Entertainment officially appointing “New Moon” director Chris Weitz to the job. Suspicious in its omission of Taylor Lautner, the release seemed to all but confirm Twilighter whispers that Hardwicke won’t be the last “Twilight” talent replaced before the sequel. So where does the series go from here? MTV News can confirm that 26-year-old “Scorpion King 2″ actor Michael Copon [pronounced "COPE-on"] is one of several actors Weitz is considering to play the new, larger Jacob Black. A representative for Copon told us that they’re making a full effort to land the high-profile gig. And in a bit of 21st-century self-publicity, the actor has even recently updated his Facebook status with messages like: “Michael Copon [is] in a Twilight Zone!” and “Michael Copon is the older Jacob Black!” Copon’s representative confirmed to MTV News that the Facebook page is run by the actor himself and that those are indeed his words. Approached for comment on Lautner’s omission from the “New Moon” press release, Summit confirmed that it was not a typographical error. “The casting decision in regards to the character Jacob Black has yet to be made,” a representative told MTV News.

But even once Copon (or whoever else) is officially announced as the new Jacob, Weitz still has many other key casting decisions to make and an extremely brief amount of time in which to make them. With barely 12 weeks until cameras are due to begin rolling, the “Golden Compass” filmmaker needs to find faces to portray several key characters — including the peace-keeping, Italian vampires known as the Volturi. With the buzz building for these roles, MTV News has confirmed that 27-year-old “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” heartthrob Ben Barnes is throwing his hat into the ring. The actor is already quite popular with the “Twilight” fanbase and shares the same manager as both Copon and “Twilight” star Cam Gigandet. Barnes is believed to be campaigning for the role of Aro, a mind-reading vampire whose “New Moon” encounter with Edward and Bella helps shape their destiny together.

I mean, I get that sometimes characters have to be recast but something about giving Taylor Lautner the shaft and bringing in a new person kinda irks me. I really think that Taylor can do the job of playing Jacob in New Moon and I would love to see him be allowed to continue playing the part. That being said, I think his Michael Copon guy looks like he would make a pretty good older Jacob Black — in fact, he looks very much like an older and muscly version of Taylor Lautner himself. I would bet money that Ben Barnes will get the role of Aro and I’m sure we’ll be hearing very soon who else is up for playing other Volturi characters. New Moon is still about a year away from hitting theaters and the drama is already in full swing. What do y’all think … should Copon be cast as the new Jacob? Do y’all think that his Facebook announcement is pretty much proof that he already got the part?

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