Taylor Lautner’s got abs of gold. “New Moon” has reeled in $288 million in just seven weeks in theaters, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year and climbing. Now the movie’s star is about to get paid. Big-time.
Lautner is set to earn $7.5 million for his next picture, according to a Deadline.com report, making him the highest-paid teen in Hollywood. The film, titled “Northern Lights,” will pair the 17-year-old with Tom Cruise. The plot is described as a story about “a gifted young aerobatics pilot who faces off with his controlling billionaire father and falls in love with a gifted female pilot.” Helmed by “Max Payne” director John Moore, the film is set to start shooting on April 1.
According to the Deadline.com story, young stars like Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus have not commanded a paycheck nearly as large as Lautner’s. And the “Twilight” werewolf might get even more cash for his future projects.
A December report in Variety indicated that “Breaking Dawn,” the final book in the “Twilight” saga, may be split into two films, which would force Summit Entertainment to reopen negotiations with Lautner and co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Based on the blockbuster success of “New Moon,” that would likely mean a monster raise for Lautner.
Lautner should also see a hefty payday for his starring turn in “Max Steel.” Based on a Mattel toy line and comic book tie-in, the action flick would feature Lautner as an extreme-sports star who encounters nano-machines that endow him with superpowers. The script is still being tweaked, though, leaving the actor free to jump into “Northern Lights” with Cruise in the spring, just a couple of months before the arrival in theaters of the next “Twilight” film, “Eclipse.” source
Taylor Daniel Lautner
