This week's cover: 'New Moon' and our Fall Movie Preview

With a new director, a new level of fame for stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, and a new set of washboard abs for Taylor Lautner, the second film in the Twilight series, due Nov. 20, promises even more swooning-opportunities for its fans. This week’s double issue of Entertainment Weekly places Stewart and Lautner on the cover, while revealing secrets from the New Moon set inside.

New Moon, a far different beast than Twilight, is steeped in heartbreak, focusing on the recovery Bella (Stewart) undergoes after Edward (Pattinson) breaks her heart and her new feelings for her friend Jacob (Lautner). Pattinson couldn’t be happier with his downsized role: “It was a stress-free job for three months,” says the actor. “All the pressure was on Taylor.”

There were some minicontroversies surrounding the set – director Chris Weitz replaced Twilight helmer Catherine Hardwicke, Lautner had to publicly campaign to keep the role of Jacob, and actress Rachelle Lefevre was replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard for the soon-to-be-shot third film in the series. Lautner ultimately secured the spot thanks in part to Stewart. “It’s completely understandable why they wanted to make sure he was right,” says the actress. “He was so young, 16, so I got it. But I knew he had [to do] it. Just because of how I felt around him.” And how did the Bella-Jacob best-friend chemistry play out on set? “We have that relationship,” she says. “It’s lamely cute.”

Taylor trained hard to bulk up for the role of the budding werewolf. “My body fat got so low that we actually needed to increase it a little bit,” he says. “My trainer would be like, ‘Go have a huge milk shake just so I can get a thousand calories into your body.’”

Stewart thinks the new film will be beefier, too: “[Making Twilight] was much more of a fight,” she says. “We needed to make something commercial but stay true to the book. We didn’t have enough money. It was all very impulsive, and that’s what I love about that movie…But I think New Moon is gonna be even better.”