With New Moon’s filming schedule at superspeed now that it’s getting the fast track, confirmation has come in that the recently shaved vamp Robert Pattinson has dropped from the indie flick Parts Per Billion that was supposed to begin filming this month.

Although co-star/producer Rosario Dawson had expressed enthusiasm about working with the “Twilight” heartthrob as recently as December 16, a representative for Pattinson confirmed that he is no longer involved.

“What you heard is correct,” the 22-year-old star’s agent, Nicholas Frenkel, replied to an MTV News query Tuesday (January 6). “Unfortunately, the prep time and production schedule on ‘New Moon’ haven’t left enough time for Robert to work on ‘Parts per Billion’ in the first quarter of this year.”

Although I would have personally loved to see him pushing his acting chops in Parts Per Billion, which promised “three stages of love; three stages of life; before, during and after the end of the world”, I would say this news comes as a relief for fans of New Moon–it indicates that Pattinson will be dedicating the necessary time in his schedule to getting New Moon right.

‘Twilight’ Star Robert Pattinson Drops Out Of ‘Parts Per Billion’