Hold on to your hats, Twilighters. A couple of weeks ago we learned from trusted sources (actress Ashley Green [who played Alice Cullen in Twilight] talking to People magazine, MTVNews) that High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens had auditioned for the role of Leah Clearwater in the upcoming Twilight sequel New Moon. That news sent shockwaves thru the Twilightverse and was a source of much strife among fans of the Twilight Saga. Today we have more casting news … and it might cause the same sort of reaction from fans. The absolutely reliable Marc Malkin, of E! News, is reporting exclusively that Dakota Fanning is in talks to play Jane (one of the main vampire characters from the European Volturi clan). Even more surprising, I think, is that the report claims that Dakota didn’t even have to audition for the role … she was merely offered the part and both sides are now in negotiations to see if they can seal the deal. Be warned! The following report may contain spoilers for those of you who have yet to read the Twilight books:

Dakota Fanning…with fangs? It’s possible. I can exclusively report that the 14-year-old child star—she turns 15 on Feb. 23—is in talks to play Jane opposite Robert Pattinson & Co. in New Moon, the upcoming sequel to box office megahit Twilight. “There were no auditions,” a source reveals. “They just offered it to her outright, and now they’re in negotiations. They’ve been going back and forth.” Jane is a member of Italy’s Volturi, the most deadly group of bloodsucking killers in author Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling series. In the casting notice we got our hands on earlier this month, Jane is described as a petite blonde with a “Botticelli angel-like face…[and] crimson irises.” While fellow Volturi guards Demetri & Felix “are three times the size of her, they are terrified of her,” the casting notice reads. Coincidentally (or maybe not), an online petition started by a Twilight fan already asks the studio, Summit Entertainment, to cast Fanning because she would be “perfect” for the role. Early last month, Entertainment Weekly suggested Pushing Daisies star and Broadway diva Kristin Chenoweth. “Her voice is certainly high enough, and at 4’11”, she’s also short enough,” writer Amy Wilkinson proposed. Director Chris Weitz is expected to start shooting New Moon in March in the U.S. and Italy. If all goes as planned, the movie will hit theaters on Nov. 20.

I suppose we can forgive Malkin for thinking that the vampires in Twilight have fangs … but I absolutely believe his reporting on this casting news. He is very much in the know about these things and he is not one to post unsubstantiated information just to get attention. Whether or not Dakota gets the part remains to be seen but, it sounds like the role is hers if she wants it. I hadn’t considered Kristin Chenoweth as Jane … she’s prolly a bit too old to play the part but Malkin is right, she is short enough. I know that many Twilight fans were really upset at the prospect of Hudgens joining the cast of New Moon … but mebbe Fanning will be better received because it’s feasible that her casting sprang from an online petition started by a fan? What do y’all think? Is Dakota right for the part of Jane? Would you like to see her get the part?

[Source]