Taylor Lautner Tagged Articles at Cinematical

While it came as little surprise to the fans of Stephenie Meyers' original books, the success of Twilight caught Hollywood and the rest of the world by storm when the first adaptation arrived in theaters late last year. A big part of the credit for the movie's crossover success must be attributed to screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who rendered the romance of Bella and Edward in dimensions that more than die-hards (or more accurately, Twi-hards) could understand and appreciate.

The Twilight sequel New Moon comes to theaters next Friday and offers even more tortured teenage romance than before, as well as a wealth of mythology about vampires, werewolves and other monsters that inhabit the series' supernatural universe. Cinematical recently spoke to screenwriter Rosenberg at the film's press day in Los Angeles; in addition to discussing the process of putting together a satisfying sequel, she talked about subjecting Bella to the universal disappointment of a bad break-up, and examined what audiences might take away from this latest installment in the series.

Cinematical: Is there an emotional core or some central theme that was guiding you through writing New Moon, or do you see this more as an installment in a larger narrative?

If you were anywhere within the Northern Hemisphere, we're assuming that you heard the euphoric outcry of fangirls who screamed and applauded at the sight of Twilight's Robert Pattinson, who appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con to help promote the upcoming sequel, New Moon. If however you were unlucky enough to experience it – and like us, lose all ability to hear in the process – Cinematical was there and is only too happy to offer a short overview of Summit's panel for the film. Remarkably, the film appears to be in far surer hands at least from a genre standpoint, which should come as no small relief to the fellows out there who will eventually be dragged to see it by their girlfriends or significant others.

Among the panel's high points:

Honestly, I have no idea why any fan of Twilight would film themselves in full fan-girl mode and put it out into the world to open themselves up for ridicule and contempt on a global scale, but that's is precisely what they have done. To date, hundreds of fans have posted videos of themselves giddy with the prospect of a shirtless Taylor Lautner or a glimpse of the brooding 'deer-slayer' Edward Cullen in the first trailer for New Moon. The trailer premiered during the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, and was released on the net soon after, and the dedicated have been streaming/downloading it ever since. According to MTV, there have been, "4.2 million online views in the first 24 hours, contributing to a total of 7.8 million streams in the first seven days." And those fans are showing no signs of stopping.

I don't know why, but watching these videos is fascinating; I mean, this is like a tween version of the 2 Girls 1 Cup Reactions. You have your choice of seeing girls watch it in stone faced silence (but you know their inner fan-girl is squealing) and then there are those who frankly you just kind of feel bad for them (if you want to see an exercise in humiliation take a look at some of the comments that follow these videos). Personally, I like to play a game where I try and pinpoint the exact moment that Lautner or Robert Pattinson appear on screen by the glazed look that slowly takes over, but I've got a strange sense of humor.

Check out our picks for the five greatest New Moon trailer reactions after the jump ...

Alright, let's get the Twilight out of the way first. Entertainment Weekly has a couple of new images from the set of New Moon, and if anything, I suppose it's small solace that director Chris Weitz looks like he has this shoot on schedule for a November 20th release. For those of us who didn't know, this sequel concerns Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her divided love for both vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson - SQUEE!) and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Maybe Kate Beckinsale should give her some advice on how to handle this...

Now, in somewhat related news, the rumor du jour as to which villain will play a part in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 has turned to Morbius, the well-meaning scientist (natch) who unwittingly transforms himself into a psuedo-vampire (no, thank you, Wikipedia!). The notorious showman plays coy when asked in this FearNET interview (that's hosted on... CHUD?), but then goes on about the appeal of vampires in a way that doesn't rule the possibility out...

Spider-Man 4 is scheduled for a 2011 bow, so let me use this as yet another opportunity to nudge you to support Raimi's very fun Drag Me to Hell this weekend.

Click image below to view entire poster

Summit Entertainment has released the first official movie poster for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which, as you can see above, is all sorts of mysterious and daunting and, like, "Pshhh, fine -- go with him; I don't care!" Thankfully the studio didn't throw up the film's title in a different font and, instead, decided to give us some actual characters this time. And it's not hard to figure out what the main to-do in this film is; the poster makes that pretty clear. Bella (Kristen Stewart) is devastated when her boo Edward (Robert Pattinson) up and bolts ... and so, naturally, she begins to grow closer to someone else. That someone is Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), and Jacob comes from a long line of ancient werewolves.

(I know, right -- this chick Bella likes to swing with the weird ones, totally. Tell me about it.)

Of course, as Bella grows closer to Jacob (and the werewolves, who are the vampires' mortal enemies), Bella soon finds her loyalties tested ... and something tells us she can't just drop both these dudes for Kenny, the video store clerk and part-time Nintendo champion. (Note: The character of Kenny does not exist in the books, but I'd be glad to write him in for the next film if Summit will let me.) Check out the full poster below, and watch the MTV Movie Awards on May 31 to see the first full clip from New Moon, which hits theaters on November 20th.

Think what you will about the Twilight franchise -- they know how to give, young, hormone-ridden girls sexy boys to yearn for -- even the werewolves. In fact, this is just plain unfair. I don't have a werewolf fetish by any means, but I think it's a bit jerky that children of the '80s got Michael Jackson, Michael J. Fox, and Jason Bateman looking either scary or ridiculously hairy (in both the amount and look of the hair), while girls these days get washboard-abbed, shirtless hotties.

USA Today has nabbed a look at the wolf pack set to terrorize in New Moon, which you can see above (and over there with more leg). The chesty mens in question: Alex Meraz (Paul), Chaske Spencer (Sam), Bronson Pelletier (Jared), and Kiowa Gordon (Embry) ... plus, of course, Taylor Lautner who isn't pictured. (I wonder -- does Jacob Black dig Harry Potter and think of Sirius Black as a doggy idol?)

It might seem a bit silly to show all of their chesticles, but it's a big part of the job description: "It's not pleasant for the actors," says director Chris Weitz. "But they have all been good-natured. They show up on location in drenching, cold rain, and I say, 'OK, off with the robes.' "

While Twilight and Robert Pattinson fandom was busy watching the Oscars for a glimpse of the immortal heartthrob (and I was frightened by just how, er, undead he actually looks when not wearing fangs), a very important decision was being made. Clear your calenders, ladies (and some gents) -- according to Variety, Summit has not only made its plans for the third installment definite, they've given you something to hope for. Not only is the third Twilight installment officially on the pre-production runway, it has a release date.

So, without further ado: Eclipse is scheduled to be released June 30, 2010, a departure from the broody fall dates of the previous two installments. This also means Eclipse and New Moon will shoot back to back. On the upside, the actors won't age appreciatively between films. On the downside, the films may end up rushed and sloppy.

Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner will return, of course -- although as we all know, Lautner narrowly won back the part of Jacob after adding some necessary bulk. Melissa Rosenberg, who penned the scripts for Twilight and New Moon is even now putting fingers to keyboard, and working on the script.
It's assumed by the trades that replacement director Chris Weitz will helm Eclipse but hey -- everyone kind of assumed Catherine Hardwicke would come back for New Moon, so there could always be a change up behind the camera.

Now you know your plans for June 30, 2010. It will be here before you know it.

That's good news if you loved him as Jacob in Twilight, anyway. If you didn't, well, I guess it sucks to be you, because he ain't going anywhere.

Taylor Lautner was one of the youngest Twilight cast members, not quite 16 years old when the film was shot (he turns 17 next month), making him essentially the same age as his character -- a rarity in teen films. His character, Jacob Black, is the Native American boy whose forefathers' anti-vampire streak, coupled with his own fondness for Bella (Kristen Stewart), made him wary of dreamy teenpire Edward (Robert Pattinson), and while Jacob played only a minor part in Twilight's story, he becomes much more important in the sequel, New Moon. I haven't read it, but evidently (and this is no spoiler) he goes through some physical transformations befitting a lad of his werewolfy ancestry.

Lautner's youth and baby-facedness made some people question whether he'd be the right choice to continue playing a beefed up Jacob. At 5'9", Lautner is taller than lots of Hollywood leading men -- but most Hollywood leading men aren't required to play 6'7" lycanthropes. Rumors swirled that he would be replaced, and a representative for New Moon director Chris Weitz confirmed back in December that "the casting decision in regards to the character Jacob Black has yet to be made." Actor Michael Copon, a 26-year-old Lautner lookalike, was being considered at one point, going so far as to say on his Facebook page that he had been locked to take over the role.

No, Twilight fans -- it's ok! This is good news and it isn't going to result in a delay of the movie. Summit wouldn't break your hearts like that. Even though the clock is ticking, the studio is taking a bit of time to smooth out the movie's kinks. According to MTV, they're going back and filming some extra scenes, months after principle photography wrapped -- a move planned long before Twilight snagged the vacant Harry Potter date.

It isn't because anyone's dissatisfied with the film -- the cast insists the opposite is true. "They liked it so much, they are bringing us back for some encore time - to beef it up," says Peter Facinelli, who you all know better as the vampire Carlisle Cullen. "A little salt and pepper." Taylor Lautner, the head of this whole "Team Jacob" thing, says that rehearsals for the new scenes were "a ton of fun" and that they're just to clarify a few plot points. "I know they've been showing it to some people, and some people go, 'I want to see a little more of this,' or, 'I don't quite understand this,' " he explained.

None of the cast members could reveal what the new scenes were, but you Twilight fans can probably guess from the hints, such as Facinelli's being a flashback. "It gives us a little bit of history of the Cullen family. They are just shooting a couple of different added scenes, and the scene I'm in, I can tell you it's me and Robert Pattinson ... Rosalie and Emmett are in that scene."

The ending is also being tweaked to include Lautner. "I am going to be in the prom scene now, at the very end of the film," he said. "At first we didn't film that, and now some people are saying they want to see a bit more of Jacob, and they want him in the prom scene at the end."

It drives me nuts not to know what any of this means, which means it's time to borrow the book from someone. In the meantime, Twilight fans, discuss these developments among yourselves.