Blake Lively, Jennifer Lawrence, And Emma Watson Reportedly Shortlisted To Join Taylor Lautner In 'Incarceron'

I hope someone in Vegas is laying odds on the future of Taylor Lautner's career. He escaped being fired after the first Twilight film, became one of the main draws of the second and third movies, and has seen a lot of ink devoted to deals made in his name for mainstream movies outside of the Twilight franchise.

But none of those movies have opened yet, so we don't know if young Mr. Lautner can carry a film on his own. So every time I read an article like Deadline's latest, which talks up his attachment to Incarceron and another new 'international spy thriller' set up at New Regency, I'm inclined to agree with the people who say the actor just has the best PR team on earth.

But back to Incarceron. Deadline says that Blake Lively, Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Watson are the frontrunners to join the actor in that adaptation of Catherine Fisher's novel about a futuristic prison world.

Setting aside questions about Emma Watson's continued interest (or lack thereof) in acting, how likely is she to jump into the first chapter of another potential young adult genre series? (Only this one a lot less likely to generate a string of sequels.) Not like she needs the money, so that seems like a distant possibility. (As it stands, she's got that small role in My Week With Marilyn, but otherwise she's been very quiet post-Potter about acting work.)

Not being a Gossip Girl watcher I'm still pretty underexposed to Blake Lively. And I hope Jennifer Lawrence does something a lot more interesting than this. Though she probably won't mind the money.

Then there's that second film, currently untitled but referred to as "The Bourne Identity for the next generation." Oh, brother. Loosely based on the story of Isreali Mossad agent Juval Aviv, who was part of the inspiration for Spielberg's Munich, the film would also be produced by Taylor Lautner, along with Alexandra Milchan.

And then there's word that other producers are trying to schedule Lautner — Platinum Dunes might want him; Scott Stuber supposedly wants him for Demon Wars; and the producers of Chicago and Hairspray reportedly want him for a project, too.

And yet, while there are two more Twilight films to come, the first upcoming non-Twilight Lautner film, Abduction, doesn't open until the end of September. Like I said, place your bets. (And this is no comment on his acting ability. As I've said before, I think he was one of the livelier aspects of the last two Twilight films. As I've also said before, the Twilight movies are no venue in which to judge an actor.)