Could the New ‘Twilight’ Book ‘Midnight Sun’ Reboot Taylor Lautner’s Acting Career?

It’s a big day for Twihards. On August 4, the latest book in the Twilight saga was finally released. Midnight Sun retells the story of Bella and Edward’s epic love from his perspective. Fans of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance series have been waiting for the novel for more than a decade, ever since chapters leaked online in 2008 and she paused worked on the project

Fortunately for readers, Meyer eventually returned to the saga. Now, the book’s release has sparked speculation about whether there will be a film adaptation and if so, who will star in it. Both Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) have spoken about their mixed feelings about the Twilight movies. But what about Taylor Lautner, who played Jacob, another central character in the story?

Would Taylor Lautner play Jacob again? 

So far, there’s no word on whether Midnight Sun will get a film adaptation. And even if it is turned into a movie, it seems unlikely that either Pattinson or Stewart would be interested in returning to the franchise. Both have carved out successful careers as respected actors since their time in the Twilight universe. Plus, there’s the issue of age. Vampires don’t get old, but the actors who played those characters are no longer teens or young adults. 

Lautner, who played the werewolf Jacob in the five-film series, hasn’t commented on Midnight Sun or said whether he’d ever be interested in revisiting the character. But he did tell Good Morning America in 2016 that he wanted to “choose things that are different” from Twilight. Still, he might be more open to the idea than his co-stars, given his post-Twilight career. 

Lautner’s career has struggled 

Lautner was a big star at the height of Twilight’s popularity. He dated Taylor Swift and hosted Saturday Night Live. In 2011, he was seen in his first big role outside of the franchise in Abduction, where he played a teenager who realizes the people he believed were his parents actually kidnapped him. The movie bombed at the box office and was trashed by critics. 

Lautner’s other movies, including 2015’s Tracers and 2016’s Run the Tide didn’t fare much better. Most recently, he’s worked in TV. The actor landed a lead role in season 2 of Fox’s Scream Queens and has also starred in three seasons of the BBC comedy Cuckoo. But he hasn’t been seen in anything since 2018 and has no projects in the works, according to his IMDb profile. 

‘Twilight’ director shares her thoughts on ‘Midnight Sun’ 

There is at least one person associated with Twilight who seems interested in heading back to Forks, Washington. Catherine Hardwicke, who directed the first film in the series, told Entertainment Tonight that an adaptation of Midnight Sun “would be fun. It would be fascinating.” 

However, Hardwicke agrees that an original cast reunion is unlikely. “Rob is Batman now… and Kristen is in a million beautiful projects,” she said. “Who knows what would happen.”

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