As ‘New Moon’ breaks box office records — earning $258 million worldwide over its opening weekend — director Chris Weitz can pretty much have his pick of projects.

And Variety says he is in discussions with Summit Entertainment for his next flick. Weitz said he plans to go to work right away on ‘The Gardener,’ a movie about a hard-working immigrant living in Los Angeles.

“There are no werewolves or vampires, just a Mexican gardener in Los Angeles,” Weitz said.

If you read Weitz’s recent interview with Moviemaker magazine, you might think this will be his last film, as he told the mag he had one more film in him before he planned to call it a day and move onto non-moviemaking ventures. In the interview the director expressed frustration with the filmmaking process and its bureaucracies, particularly his experience making ‘The Golden Compass.’

Weitz maintains that ‘The Golden Compass’ was a difficult experience, saying, “It was an utter violation of my status as a director and the worst thing that has happened to me professionally.” He explained that the film was taken away from him and that heavy-handed editing by New Line eliminated 30 minutes of footage and neutered any of the edge evident in the Philip Pullman books.

However, he was reportedly reinvigorated by the experience of making ‘New Moon.’ Weitz said Summit Entertainment and author Stephenie Meyer trusted him to honour the books while adding his own stylistic touch.

“This was a wonderful experience by comparison,” said Weitz. “I got to work with terrific young actors at the top of their game, and see Taylor Lautner perform so well.”

Weitz said he was very happy to see ‘New Moon’ surpass grosses of ‘The Golden Compass.’

(Photo by PR Photos)

Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation