VANCOUVER — It’s Vancouver’s worst-kept secret.

New Moon, the sequel to the teen vampire hit Twilight, is slated to shoot here beginning in March, though the local industry remains tight-lipped about the ‘top-secret’ shoot.

‘It is certainly happening,’ said one person familiar with the local film industry, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ‘Production people here in Vancouver have been interviewed for positions by the movie’s producers.’

Would-be crew were reportedly not told what movie they would be working on until after they arrived at the meeting with producers.

Entertainment Weekly also says the film will shoot in B.C. and one of the stars has also spilled the beans. Edi Gathegi, who played the vampire Laurent in Twilight, confirmed to Access Hollywood that New Moon begins production in Vancouver this March, with location shooting in Italy.

Further, local casting agency Aikins/Cossey has announced a call for an untitled ‘major motion picture’ shooting mid-March through the end of May — seeking young First Nations/aboriginal actors and actresses between the ages of 15 and 25. New Moon‘s story includes a native American who, along with the other members of his community, is a werewolf.

Neither the Directors Guild of Canada B.C. District Council nor the Union of B.C. Performers make mention of New Moon in their production listings. However, both indicate an ‘Untitled Sports Movie’ set for Vancouver Film Studios March 23 to May 29 and (here’s the giveaway) list New Moon‘s Chris Weitz as the director.

It’s understandable why efforts are being made to keep the production under wraps. Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, unleashed fan fervor among tweens and their moms when the film was released last fall — blogging about every minute detail and camping overnight at malls for a chance to get up-close with the actors during media tours.

The movies are adapted from a series of Stephenie Meyer novels and center on teenage Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who moves to a small town in Washington and falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). They are set in the Pacific northwest. Summit Entertainment shot Twilight in Washington and Oregon in early 2008 for US$37 million. Spurred by the young fan frenzy, the film has gone on to gross around US$340 million to date.

New Moon is reported to be budgeted at US$50 million, so while it’s not one of the biggest movies to land in Vancouver of late, compared to some recent Vancouver shoots like the US$200-million Farewell Atlantis, it is definitely high-profile.

While the B.C. film industry may want to trumpet this project, keeping the movie under the radar is important to ensure the producers have a good experience shooting in Vancouver, especially since unconfirmed reports indicate that the third installment in the series, Eclipse, may shoot in Vancouver immediately following the wrap of New Moon.