Initially , director Chris Weitz wanted to recast the role of Jacob Black for '' Twilight '' 's sequel , '' The Twilight Saga : New Moon '' , due to the major physical changes that occur in Black between the two novels , and have an actor that would accurately portray " the new , larger Jacob Black . " Black 's role in the novel also increases significantly , with him falling in love with Bella and becoming a werewolf , putting the actor in a starring role . Representatives for Weitz had stated that they were make a full effort to recast the " high-profile gig , " and MTV News confirmed that Weitz was looking at Michael Copon to take on the role ; however , Summit Entertainment said a decision had not been made . In an attempt to keep the role , Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds of muscle . In January 2009 , Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in the sequel . In an interview , fellow cast member Kristen Stewart talked about Lautner 's transformation saying , " He 's an entirely different person physically . " Stewart later said , " He gets a lot of attention because he 's buff , but I think as soon as the movie comes out , people are going to realize that 's not why he got the job . " Co-star Robert Pattinson said after seeing Lautner 's body , " I saw him and thought ' Jesus , I 'm going to get fired . " In an interview with '' The Wrap '' , Weitz said Lautner deserved a lot of credit for the movie 's box office , stating , " If you look at the movie , it should have been the weakest in the franchise , because Robert Pattinson does n't play as big a role . " Weitz said Lautner had to " pick up that slack , and if his character had n't been emotionally , not just physically , appealing , the movie would n't have been as big a hit . " The commercial performance of the film outpaced the first film , setting several box office records including the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada and the biggest single-day opening . The opening weekend of '' New Moon '' is the third highest opening weekend in domestic history with $ 142,839,137 . '' The Twilight Saga : New Moon '' also has the sixth highest worldwide opening weekend with $ 274.9 million total . Critical reception was less favorable , with the movie getting a 4.6 / 10 average from Rotten Tomatoes , and a 44 on Metacritic . Lautner won Favorite Breakout Movie Actor at the 35th People 's Choice Awards
35th People 's Choice Awards
35th People's Choice Awards
Taylor Lautner