Summit Entertainment announced Saturday that The Golden Compass director, Chris Weitz, is set to direct the Twilight sequel, New Moon.

Just a few days after the company announced its severance from the film series’ first director over what she believed was rushed development, Catherine Hardwicke can move on and New Moon can move ahead.

Weitz issued a letter to Twilight fans saying:

Dear fans of Twilight, New Moon, Bella, Edward and Jacob,

In the past few days I have been involved in a whirlwind romance with Stephenie Meyers’ extraordinary books.

And I am very grateful to have received her permission to protect New Moon in its translation from the page to the screen.

For fans of the books and of the film of Twilight, this may come as an unexpected twist. So I want to write briefly to try to put you at ease, and to give you reason to hope for and expect the best.

For the last decade of my career as a director, I have chosen to make adaptations of complex and involved works of literature. This has always begun with the love of a book and its characters, story, and theme; and it has always involved a respect of and responsiveness to the feelings of other people who loved those books.

When I saw the film of Twilight, I was alternately entranced and left hungry for more. I was also struck by the extraordinary passion for the characters, story and theme that was evident in the people sitting in the seats around me. My job is to live up to that devotion.

Like many of you, I am a fan of Catherine Hardwicke’s work. I can’t really say much about why she is not doing New Moon because I wasn’t involved in those decisions. But I can say that I will devote myself to making the very best and most faithful version of New Moon that can be brought to the screen. To those who doubt that as a male director I can capture Bella’s experience, I can only say that emotion is universal and that my work has often involved working with some of the most talented actresses in the world.

For the rest, the proof will have to be in the pudding. But I promise to remain responsive to your hopes and fears.

I thank you for this opportunity and for your faith.

Very best,
Chris Weitz

Twilight screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg, is on board for writing the sequel.

Summit says production on New Moon is scheduled to begin soon, with a release at the end of 2009 or early 2010.