His first post-Twilight movie, 2011 action thriller “Abduction” seemed like a no brainer to capitalize on his “Twilight” fan base. But it failed miserably.
The film only earned $28 million against a $35 million budget. Such a shame. Lautner seemed like a natural for the genre with his good looks and extreme athletic ability.
But critics gave the film absolutely no mercy. It received a 4 percent rating on rottentomatoes, which tracks reviews. Even most fans who saw it hated it. Fortunately — for Lautner — Director John Singleton got most of the blame.
“[Lautner’s] not a terrible actor, but if he wants a career after the Twilight fades, he’ll pick better films,” wrote Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman , summarizing the majority opinion.
Although the jury is still out on his ability to carry a film, Lautner is getting the benefit of the doubt from “Twilight” producers Mary Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill Entertainment. They’re behind “Tracers” and still high on him, according to deadlinehollywood.
“We had a remarkable experience with Taylor on ‘Twilight’ and look forward to bringing Cam to life,” said Godfrey in a statement, referring to Lautner’s character.
Cam is a bike messenger in New York City who is a wiz on two wheels, but he’s in debt to an organized crime gang. That sounds real “plausible.”
In any event, he crashes his bike into a sexy stranger and she introduces him to the world of parkour. Lautner takes it from there.
Unless parkour is the next big thing, like break-dancing, does this sound like film you want to see?
For the record, parkour is a “sport” that involves a lot of vaulting, rolling, running, climbing and jumping over obstacles while free running.