The stars and writer will be the same, but the person in the directors chair will be different. Director Catherine Hardwick will not be back to direct the second installment in the “Twilight” series according to the Hollywood Reporter.

After opening to a big box-office success in its first weekend, Summit Entertainment immediately green lit production on the next two installments in the best-selling series by Stephenie Meyer. When announced, it wsa assumed that Hardwick would be back to direct at least the second installment, “New Moon.”

However, in the past week, word has circulated that the relationship between Harwick and Summit Entertainment has not always been a smooth one. Yesterday, Summit confirmed that Hardwick will not be back for the sequel.

The studio said in a statement that its targeted end of 2009 or early 2010 release of the film does not work with Ms. Hardwicke’s required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen. Thus, as has been done before with many successful film franchises, the studio will employ a new director for “New Moon.”

“Moon” will bring back writer Melissa Rosenberg to adapt Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling novel for the big-screen and see the return of actors Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. A new director hasn’t been named yet, but Summit is expected to move quickly to fill the void. The studio wants to strike while the iron is hot for the next installment. In just over three weeks, “Twilight” has taken in close to $140 million at the U.S. box-office.