Hey Twilighters….the who-is-gonna-be-Jacob-Black frenzy has come to an end… Stephanie Meyer just confirmed that Taylor Lautner will continue on as Jacob.

The official statement on her website says:

January 7, 2009

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.

- Steph

Well, I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed.  We’re supposed to kind of fall in love with Jacob in New Moon and based on what I saw in Twilight there was no part of Lautner’s portrayal of Jacob that I could ever find myself falling in love with…but, I could be wrong.  Hopefully, Steph, Weitz, & Summit Entertainment really did choose the best Jacob Black for the job.

 You know him as Eric Yorkie in Twilight and Tony in Nickelodeon’s Just Jordan, but we got to know Justin Chon, the cool, soft spoken dude from OC… with the sweetest smile we’ve ever seen! 

He grew up in Irvine and went to University High School (aka: “Uni”), the same school that Will Ferrell attended.  Apparently acting was not in his list of career goals as a young adult; in fact, he earned an MBA from USC. After a moment of clarity, he decided he was not one for the Monday through Friday 9 to 5 gig, and took some acting classes. The move wasn’t too far-fetched since his father was an well known actor in Korea.

Though my dad was an actor, he was still weary of me following in his footsteps.  He didn’t want me to live as a struggling artist, Chon admits.

Well, no worries there, Papa Chon! Your baby boy hit it BIG with Twilight! Watch as we caught up with Justin during his visit to Laguna Beach Jean Company’s showroom, where he was hooked up head-to-toe in the newest collection.  Nice little early Christmas gift!

A little known fact: He’s quite the business entrepreneur. He owns a popular clothing store in Orange County called the Attic.  Despite the economy, he says he’s been lucky.  Check out the online store, and you’ll see why it does so well.

One thing we forgot to ask was if he was Team Edward or Team Jacob, but we would bet he’s for Jacob!

You’ll be seeing a lot more of Justin once the indie film Crossing Over with Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd and Sean Penn releases (date TBD)… so stay tuned–we can’t wait!

Credit and thanks to:
Kicked Out for providing the music for the video.

Laguna Beach Jeans Company for allowing access to their showroom.

Justin Chon for doing an impromptu interview way too early in the morning!

Hey Twilighters, look at this pic!  Michael Copon would be awesome for the role of Jacob Black in New Moon… hot…hot…hot!

Here’s some pics for comparison between Taylor Lautner and Michael Copon.  You be the judge.  Right now Lautner is beating out Copon on an MTV poll.  So, if you wanna weigh in and give Copon the boost he deserves, go vote!

Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black

Michael Copon-- possibly the new Jacob Black

Michael Copon-- possibly the new Jacob Black

Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black

  

So, we just so happened to run into Michael Copon and his publicist Steve at Katsuya in Hollywood last night.  While we felt a bit rude for interrupting their dinner, how could we possibly have passed up this opportunity?  We HAD to ask him about all the rumors swirling through Hollywood about him portraying Jacob Black in the next Twilight film: New Moon.  Michael was a good sport and he gave us the low-down on all the rumors.  Watch & enjoy!  (Oh, and in case you’re wondering, that’s ‘Albacore with Crispy Onions’ that he’s munching down on–delish!)

Well, there you have it straight from the source.  What do you think?  Is Michael Copon the right man for the role of Jacob Black? Should Summit Entertainment cast him? You know we think he’s a hottie and can pull it off! But it looks like Taylor Lautner is beating out Michael in an online poll started by MTV for the next Jacob. Hurry and vote here, so our boy Michael wins!

Hey, Kristin, I’m sure that’s medical marijuana right?  Just to take the edge off your sudden stardom?

We’ve heard through the grapevine that Kristin doesn’t particularly care for the fame that’s suddenly come her way; really preferring to do Indie films mostly.  She’s been a good sport then by making all those appearances and pumping the movie marketing machine.  So, maybe she has anxiety now and just maybe she had to make her way over to Venice Beach to get a prescription, right?  I’m sure it’s all legal.

Oops!  Did you drop some of that precious green bud?  You can see all the photos at TMZ.com.

Regardless of the legalities, let’s talk about her choices here–maybe she hasn’t fully realized how famous she is now or perhaps she’s in denial of her fame?  If she recognized her level of stardom, she’d surely not be sitting out on a porch, wearing sweatpants & a tank, barefooted nonetheless, toking up, ya know?  Kinda looks like she’s having a hangover day…a bet they ordered pizza right after this.  Oh, those days of lounging with the munchies…

In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Robert Pattinson (Twilight) says that even though he is single, he wants to be in a relationship.  The only problem is, “No one else seems to want to get into a relationship with me,” Pattinson stated.  You can see the video of Pattinson’s interview at bittenandbound.com.

So, ya, I’m a total fan girl.  I’ve read all the Twilight books.  So, of course, I was at the midnight showing of Twilight last night–all amped up and ready to be entertained.  Instead of entertainment, I got the most overwhelming feeling of disappointment ever experienced from a book-turned-movie.  What a disaster this movie was!  I don’t know how a movie could miss the mark on so many levels.  I left the theater in complete and utter disbelief.

I know there is usually some disappointment associated with seeing a movie made from your favorite book; but, that kind of disappointment is usually because they left out some of your favorite parts or just kinda had a character a bit off from how you imagined him or her.  But, this movie, it failed on EVERYTHING…the ultimate in failure.  I’m sorry, but I’m not exaggerating.

If you have not seen Twilight yet, please DO NOT see this movie!  Just read the book!  This movie literally played out like a made-for-TV special.  The dialogue was horrible, the music was atrocious, the photography was horrid, the effects were unrelentingly disappointing.  Sparkling vampire–ah, more like sweating vampire.  The sparkle effect probably had to be the most disappointing aspect of the not-so-special effects.

You know a movie is bad when you’re noticing the music and saying to yourself, ‘What is this?’ The music did not fit the feel of any of the scenes.  The filming/photography could only be defined as amateur at best–felt like a film student’s project, or like I said before, a made-for-TV movie.  BAD BAD BAD!

I know I might get a lot of criticism from other fan girls out there, but anyone who happened to be at The Bridge Theater in LA last night will know exactly what I’m talking about:  the crowd was all excited, screaming out, “Edward, I love you!” or “Team Jacob!”… even a dude shouted, “Team Bella!”  Then, as the movie plodded along, the excitement slowed, and slowed, and slowed…and then literally crawled to a pathetic ending with absolutely no response from the audience.

I’m telling you– I am (unfortunately) NOT exaggerating.  You know how if you see a Star Trek or Potter film, the crowd usually applauds and gets a little energized at the end?  All still excited to have been a part of the premiere movie-going excitement and energy?  This film?  Not one clap from the audience–it was almost as if we were all sitting there stunned;  just sat there in complete silence.  And not because it was an impactful ending or anything like that.  It was more like we were just sitting there thinking, ‘What? … Did the movie just end?’ — in that moment, I know, we were feeling so cheated.

The disappointment was like nothing I have ever seen in a movie theater before.  We just sat through 2 1/2 hours, at a midnight showing, of a really bad NBC or ABC Family Special and these horrible movie makers  really really duped us, trying to pass this off as a real movie.  Boy, were we dumb to get caught up in the Twilight movie frenzy.  And how awful were they to let us down so blatantly?  I think they knew it was this bad and that’s why they put so much effort and money into the marketing–get people to pre-buy their tix, cuz once the word is out on the steet, it’s gonna be bad.

It’s too late for me, but maybe not for you–if you haven’t read the book, please please please don’t see this movie–it’ll only turn you off.  And, if you have read the book, I know that you’ll likely still see the movie because you’re curiosity and hope will drive you to, but I’d be shocked if you actually reported back that you liked it.