(OK, so the announcement isn't exactly "just in." But until I can program RSS feeds to set off my alarm clock, I'll typically be as useful as dead-tree papers in terms of reporting breaking news.)

So, my dear Twilight fans: Taylor Lautner will be back, despite being toyed with by Summit Entertainment and the People Who Make Decisions these last few weeks that they may not want him for the franchise's second installment, New Moon. It's a pleasant surprise, considering that the widely reported rumors were practically eulogistic.

That's right, I said PLEASANT. I may have picked on director Catherine Hardwicke, writer Stephenie Meyer, and star Robert Pattinson for Twilight's tediousness.

But I blame Lautner for nothing -- as Jacob, the Native American complication in the Bella-Edward love story, the erstwhile Sharkboy did good. He smiled, he charmed, he made the young girls cry. (Or at least squeal.) Way to go!

And now, let's hear from you. Don't be shy!

Twilight fans now have reason to hope that Edward Cullen will be even more perfect the second time around.

Summit Entertainment announced that Catherine Hardwicke, who directed the first big-screen adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer saga to middling-to-awful reviews, won't be returning to helm New Moon, the second of Meyer's four sparkling-vampire novels.

In a joint statement, Summit and Hardwicke claimed that New Moon's targeted winter 2009/spring 2010 release "does not work with Ms. Hardwicke's required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen."

I'm sure Twilight's second-week box-office drop of 62 percent has nothing to do with it.

New Moon, new chance to make the vampires not look like this