Thursday, January 13, 2011

Another Twilight Star Turns to Spying

Ready for it? Deadline reports that ubiquitous werewolf teen heartthrob Taylor Lautner will receive eight figures to star in "an as-yet-unnamed international spy thriller set up at New Regency" described as “The Bourne Identity for the next generation.” (Of course it is! You can't pitch a spy movie in this day and age without putting the word "Bourne" in there somewhere.) Upon reading that much, I was hoping it would be a remake of If Looks Could Kill (that would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?), but according to the trade blog, "the story is loosely"–and I bet that "loosely" is the operative word!–"based on the exploits of Juval Aviv, a former Israeli Mossad agent who was the inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-nominated Munich." Presumably, this will be a Mossad agent with a penchant for cut-off jeans–or at least an aversion to shirts. Not only will he star; Lautner (who will be 19 next month) will also produce, along with New Regency's Alexandra Milchan.

Last year we learned that Lautner's Twilight co-star Jackson Rathbone was starring in a McG-produced web series about a spy school called Aim High. (I guess that seems kind of small potatoes compared to an eight-figure payday for a big international spy thriller. Oh well; I'm excited about Aim High.) Now Robert Pattinson (who starred opposite Pierce Brosnan in Remember Me) just needs to get himself a spy movie for a Spylight trifecta! I know that would actually get my sister into the theater for a spy movie on opening day. Maybe this Lautner vehicle will have the same effect, broadening the spy audience to giddy fangirls...