Apparently a Summit insider says Hardwicke was "difficult" and "irrational" during the making of the first film. Um, duh, she's a director! The good ones tend to fall somewhere between eccentric and insane.

On the record, Summit's CEO Rob Friedman said that Hardwicke's vision of the films differed from Summit's. In particular, they want to rush the movies into theaters to capitalize on the current Twilight frenzy sweeping the nation, and Hardwicke would have preferred to spend a little time making a movie that people might actually, you know, like. Geez, Catherine! What were you thinking?! According to a statement from Summit, the studio's "targeted end of 2009 or early 2010 release of the film, New Moon, does not work with Ms. Hardwicke's required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen."

(Oh, and they want us to think it was a mutual and amicable decision; Hardwicke even released a statement to that end: "I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct New Moon," it said.

Summit brass should probably realize that Harry Potter has managed five box office hits so far, despite taking enough time between films to make them good (and despite the fact that, as with Twilight, fans are growing older as this is happening). They should have enough faith in its franchise to believe it's capable of the same box office glory. They might also want to consider that old saying, "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Because making the kind of money Twilight has made so far? Not really a problem in need of fixing.