 The series , originally titled Twilight , was commissioned by Warner Bros. Television as a presentation lasting 14 – 20 minutes . Alex O 'Loughlin , Shannon Lucio , Rade Šerbedžija and Amber Valletta were cast in the lead roles , and Rod Holcomb was hired as director . The project was renamed Moonlight when picked up by CBS for the 2007 – 2008 American television season . David Greenwalt joined the staff in May 2007 as showrunner and executive producer alongside Joel Silver ; however , health reasons forced Greenwalt to leave the series . All of the original actors save for the male lead role were recast in June 2007 , and Sophia Myles , Jason Dohring and Shannyn Sossamon replaced them . With an almost entirely different cast , a retooled , full @-@ length pilot for television audiences was re @-@ shot . 
