New Moon, the sequel to the guaranteed money earner Twilight, is now officially director-less after the studio announced that Catherine Hardwicke won't be directing the second in the series.

Apparently there was a fair bit of friction between the director and the studio, something that you might not have been too surprised about when you consider the Twilight franchise and Hardwicke's previous films Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown.

In fact you wouldn't be told off for being surprised at the alleged conflict between director and studio in the first place, and you might be forgiven for thinking that the studio are a little naive for expecting anything less.

The Twilight series is incredibly teen-friendly and romanticised, more than anything it's The Lost Boys for the girls, tone down the scares, edginess and vampire factor and pull up the love interest and cute looking boys and plenty of angst on both sides.

Then there's Thirteen, an uncompromising look at a thirteen year old and her relationship with her mother as she begins to experience life including drugs, drink and sex. Or Lords of Dogtown which follows the origins of skateboarding in California, a fictionalised account of real life.

Neither of those two fit the image of Twilight, in fact what they do suggest is a Twilight series with a bit of edge and reality. While many thought that Hardwicke was a bold choice for the series, I'm thinking she was a perfect choice.

However from the sounds of the announcement in The Hollywood Reporter it's far from a friendly relationship, and if the studio originally thought she would bring an edge to it, they obviously changed their minds and wanted more and more teen angst and romanticised vampires.

The announcement doesn't cite differences though and says that the reasons behind the film were scheduling. The proposed date of release doesn't fit with Catherine Hardwicke's plans and they've decided to employ a new director for the next step in the franchise.

There's no doubt that New Moon will do well, especially considering that the two leads are back and Twilight earned so much in the box office. Wouldn't a slightly edgier and more realistic look at the story be more interesting?