Taylor Lautner Cast As Stretch Armstrong

[WyldeMan45]

I just don't even know what to say to this Lautner oversaturation.............Never seen anything he's in but since he's in Twilight he can't be very talented, that entire franchise has what one talented person, Kristen Stewart and all the boys are eye candy for 12 year olds, and single 35 year old women. I just don't know......................

"The Twilight Saga" star Taylor Lautner will star in Stretch Armstrong, and yes it will be made in 3D. Seems like that's the trend nowadays.

Below is the full press release from Universal Pictures.

Universal Pictures announced breaking news about two of its upcoming event films based on popular Hasbro brands, Stretch Armstrong and Battleship. The announcements were made today by Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson and Co-Chairman Donna Langley.

Taylor Lautner (the Twilight saga) will play the title character in the upcoming 3-D superhero adventure Stretch Armstrong, to be released in 2012.

The epic action-adventure Battleship has moved its release to May 25, anchoring the Memorial Day weekend of 2012.

"Universal has put all the elements in place to successfully launch two of our classic Hasbro brands on the big screen," said Brian Goldner, President and CEO of Hasbro, Inc. "The addition of Taylor Lautner and the 3-D twist to Stretch Armstrong, in addition to giving Pete Berg and the filmmakers the extra time and resources to make Battleship an even bigger summer blockbuster, is sure to pay dividends when the film is released in 2012."

Peter Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom) came aboard in Fall 2009 to produce and direct Battleship, which will unfold as a massive Naval adventure across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Originally slated for release in July 2011, the film was moved to give it the time and resources to thoroughly realize its huge-scale ambitions and position it for Memorial Day weekend in 2012. Scott Stuber (The Wolfman, Couples Retreat) is producing Battleship through his Universal-based Stuber Pictures, and Sarah Aubrey (The Kingdom, upcoming Dune) is producing with Berg for Film 44. Brian Goldner and Bennet Schneir are producing for Hasbro.

"We believe in Pete Berg and the incredible vision that he and the Battleship team have for this film," said Fogelson. "We're honored that Hasbro is partnering with us to turn one of its landmark properties into a huge summer box-office hit."

Stretch Armstrong is moving to 2012 to allot time to shape the project into a 3-D superhero adventure and to accommodate Lautner's existing commitments.

"In the past two years, Taylor has emerged as a real star at the global box office. He brings the perfect balance of energy and athleticism to the role of an unlikely super hero with a fantastic super power," said Langley. "We couldn't be more pleased that he has agreed to be our Stretch."

Stretch Armstrong is based on the iconic action figure made popular around the world beginning in the 1970s and re-launched in the 1990s. Academy Award®-winning producer Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile, American Gangster) will team with Hasbro to bring Stretch Armstrong to life. Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty) has written the screenplay, and Hasbro's Goldner and Schneir also produce.

So there you have it folks, what do you think?

Source

[JurassicMass88]

This movie will suck...Lautner does not have talent, his main claim to fame is that he gained a little bit of muscle(and by the way, the media is obsessed with his muscle gains. As an amateur bodybuilder I know what significant muscle gains look like and although Lautner gained a decent amount of muscle, he got way too much attention for doing so...the press made it sound like he really transformed into his character like Christian Bale did in The Machinist...not even close...get your facts straight Hollywood.) This small amount of muscle somehow transformed him into a god-like actor and his popularity became huge.

We'll see if anyone remembers who this kid is in 2012.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by JurassicMass88

We'll see if anyone remembers who this kid is in 2012.

Oh they will, as the kid who somehow managed to piss off the underground Stretch Armstrong fanatics living in their mothers basements, and ruined their dream movie

[dcowboy7]

Why would they do a movie about stretch cunningham who was archie bunkers co-worker in "all in the family" ?

[BD4ME]

That film premise sounds almost as good as Taylor Lautner's acting abilities. I'll let you interpret the meaning of this yourself. It's not positive though - I'll give ya that much...



Let's ask the Crap-O-Meter:



The Crap-O-Meter has spoken...

[connect42]

Originally Posted by JurassicMass88

This movie will suck...Lautner does not have talent, his main claim to fame is that he gained a little bit of muscle(and by the way, the media is obsessed with his muscle gains. As an amateur bodybuilder I know what significant muscle gains look like and although Lautner gained a decent amount of muscle, he got way too much attention for doing so...the press made it sound like he really transformed into his character like Christian Bale did in The Machinist...not even close...get your facts straight Hollywood.) This small amount of muscle somehow transformed him into a god-like actor and his popularity became huge.

We'll see if anyone remembers who this kid is in 2012.

Wow, I can actually see the jealousy through the screen.

[dcowboy7]

His nose is amost bigger than his entire head.

[Rob71]

ALS_LF_82079471_ALL_38136_050.jpg Taylor-Lautner-01.jpg

Umm...

[vegeta88]

Originally Posted by WyldeMan45

[...]Never seen anything he's in but since he's in Twilight he can't be very talented[...]

:laugh;
That said.
I don't think a Stretch Armstrong is a good idea. It can only be cheesy at best and there isn't a fanbase large enough to exploit. I don't know anyone who had that toy that still talks about it in high regard. Are an of Lautners fans old enough to know what the toy was? Not trying to hate here, just sounds like a very bad idea; worse than the Max Steel movie idea.

[masob98]

Originally Posted by Rob71

Umm...

Freeking hillarious

[hardcorefrokid]

This is terrible news.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by hardcorefrokid

This is terrible news.

Are you on of those underground Armstrong fans I mentioned earlier?

[Mumps]

Wait... We're all focusing on the actor who is playing Stretch more than the fact that they are making an actual Stretch Armstrong movie! Seriously?

Yeah... Stretch Armstrong could be played by Arnold, or George Bush, or Barney the Dinosaur for all I care, I am still gonna go 'WTF!' over the fact that they are making a Stretch Armstrong movie O_o

*imagines Barney the Dinosaur as Stretch Armstrong*
*locks himself in basement*

[P@t_Mtl]

Why not pick Ioan Gruffudd? He's already strech for the role

[SillyMammo]

Originally Posted by Mumps

Wait... We're all focusing on the actor who is playing Stretch more than the fact that they are making an actual Stretch Armstrong movie! Seriously?

Yeah... Stretch Armstrong could be played by Arnold, or George Bush, or Barney the Dinosaur for all I care, I am still gonna go 'WTF!' over the fact that they are making a Stretch Armstrong movie O_o

*imagines Barney the Dinosaur as Stretch Armstrong*
*locks himself in basement*

Exactly, if you had Daniel Day-Lewis playing Stretch Armstrong that movie would still stink(ok it might not stink as much). Who's green lighting these projects? And why must every toy from my generation be made into a movie. I'm still waiting for 'Slinky! The Movie.'

[OrlandoEastwood]

I'm ashamed of everyone who decided to make a Stretch Armstrong movie. Steve Oedekerk who made Kung Pow is the writer. I'd rather have Kung Pow 2 than this! It's a damn shame.

[WyldeMan45]

Oh excellent.........

Forget Team Edward versus Team Jacob, Taylor Lautner found himself in the midst of a bigger rivalry in toy-obsessed Hollywood: Team Mattel versus Team Hasbro. And Vulture has learned that Hasbro just won this round; Lautner had originally been signed on to do both Paramount's Max Steel (based on the doll by Mattel, the world's biggest toy company) and Universal's Stretch Armstrong (a classic character for Hasbro, the world's second biggest toymaker), with Steel up first. But insiders tell us that Lautner has just dropped the Mattel movie.

But how did Hasbro triumph? It all started back on December 4, when an Internet report billed Lautner as "Paramount's Next Big Action Star" after the studio made the Steel deal. While the action figure is not particularly well-known in the States (though it was turned into a cartoon on Kids WB from 2000–02), Steel is a huge toy worldwide for Mattel. Former Revolution Studios chairman Joe Roth was set to produce the film, in which an orphan exposed to nano-technology becomes imbued with superhero powers.

Just days later, however, on December 12, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner watched Lautner do backflips and crack self-deprecating jokes as the host of Saturday Night Live, and the exec was impressed. Moreover, Goldner's company also just happens to be a corporate client at Lautner's agency, WME Entertainment. Goldner soon contacted WME's top agents about casting Lautner as Stretch Armstrong, in a project Hasbro had set up two years earlier at Universal, and on February 5, official word came that Lautner had signed on to star as the rubbery seventies action figure. For a brief time, it seemed as though the 18-year-old Lautner might make both Max Steel and Stretch Armstrong.

But in the weeks after signing on to play Steel, Lautner became increasingly convinced that Hasbro was playing its hand better than Mattel. Thanks to WME, Hasbro was moving with far greater speed through Hollywood's development maze than Mattel, not only setting up projects, but quickly moving them forward: At Universal, Imagine Entertainment Über-producer Brian Grazer was working to get Stretch made into a 3-D movie by 2012; Candy Land had a script from Tropic Thunder screenwriter Etan Cohen, with Enchanted director Kevin Lima aiming for a 2011 release; Hancock's Peter Berg would direct Battleship next year; and Will Smith and James Lassiter were producing Risk at Sony's Columbia Pictures. And that wasn't even counting Hasbro's recent successes with Transformers and G.I. Joe — both of which were directed by WME clients, Michael Bay and Stephen Sommers, respectively. Explained one insider familiar with Lautner's decision: "When you sign up to make a movie with Hasbro, you know it will be in theaters a year later."

Mattel, by contrast, has made little progress in Hollywood, seemingly by choice. Last March, Universal announced that Tom Hanks would be developing a project based on the even-less-well-known sixties Mattel action figure Major Matt Mason (he was an astronaut who lived on the moon, for those of you under 50), but little else appears percolating.

As a result, by the time Universal had begun conversations earlier this month with Monsters vs. Aliens director Rob Letterman about directing Stretch Armstrong, Lautner had already decided not to do Max Steel.

Which is also why when Lautner showed up at the American International Toy Fair industry convention in New York City on February 16, he was photographed extensively horsing around with Hasbro's new Nerf Raider Blaster in Hasbro's hospitality suite — even though, under the very same roof, Mattel was debuting its new Taylor Lautner doll, tied to his Twilight character, Jacob Black.

[Rblu-Dblu]

I dont think I'd watch a Stretch Armstrong movie no matter who was playing him.

[BD4ME]

Max Steel without Taylor Lautner, one less effed up movie. Why is he getting acting jobs - HE CANNOT ACT! Jesus christ it's not rocket science.
(In Twi-language: "taYLUr *JAcobzz' lAUtnEr cANN'L:T AkCt!!11!!!!two1!!!1one!!!")

Stretch however is still in the crap-zone.

[Jaguar007]

I can't belive someone is stupid enough to make a Stretch Armstrong movie. An early 80s toy that everyone has forgotten about. Then again a few years ago I said the same thing when I heard they were making a Transformers movie.