Lautner Gets Pay Raise in Aerobatics Movie

Published by Jeff Leins on January 6, 2010

New Moon has raked in $682.8 million worldwide and in large part because of the shirtless star power of 17-year-old Taylor Lautner.  Once thought to be too scrawny to stand up to Robert Pattinson (by the way, even Dakota Fanning could take him), Lautner has buffed up and branched out while the offers are hot.

The latest cast to gain his abs is the one for Northern Lights, a story about four young pilots flying in the extreme sport of aerobatics.  Tom Cruise was attached to return to the cockpit at one time, but that is no longer the case according to Entertainment Weekly.  The rest of the pilots have not been chosen.  Might I suggest The Situation from “Jersey Shore.”  How’s that for extreme?

Nikki Finke learned Lautner is getting a sizable salary increase and he stands to make $7.5 million for the movie, which would make him the highest paid teenage actor in Hollywood.

Chuck Russell was originally set to write and direct the movie in April 2008, but a producer must have realized, “Hey, wait a minute, wasn’t your last movie The Scorpion King?”  Production is now scheduled to start in Louisiana two years later, April 2010, under the direction of John Moore (Max Payne), so a minor upgrade.

Lautner is also attached to Cancun, a Taken-style kidnapping movie; Max Steel, an action figure turned action hero; and possibly a remake of 80’s wrestling movie Vision Quest.  Plus he’ll be returning for the fourth Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn, which Summit still hasn’t confirmed as two movies.  Lautner picked up the People’s Choice Award Wednesday for “Favorite Breakout Actor.”