Taylor Lautner ditches 'Max Steel' for 'Stretch Armstrong'

There's only room for one toy-based action movie on Taylor Lautner's plate.

The "Twilight Saga" star had been attached to two projects based on action figures: "Max Steel," based on the Mattel action figure/cartoon from the early 2000s, and "Stretch Armstrong," the elastic strongman first introduced in the 1970s and now owned by Hasbro.

Lautner signed on to "Max Steel" first, but now New York magazine is reporting that he's dropped the project (which Paramount was developing) in favor of "Stretch Armstrong," which is in the works at Universal. The mag also notes that Lautner and Hasbro are both clients of the same giant agency, WME.

Hasbro also has a somewhat better track record of getting its properties turned into movies -- perhaps you've heard of "Transformers"? -- and has films based on everything from Candy Land to Risk in the works.

Universal bought the rights to "Stretch Armstrong" in 2008, and mega-producer Brian Grazer is producing the movie, which the studio wants in theaters in 2012.

As for the story? Well, it's about a guy who stretches. We know that. Perhaps it'll take inspiration from this 1970s ad, in which Stretch battles his nemesis, Stretch Monster.



(You will note that in the ad, Stretch wears only a pair of briefs. Just noting that for all you members of Team Jacob.)

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More Taylor Lautner dish:

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Photo credit: Getty Images