Taylor Lautner to Join Adam Sandler in 'Grown Ups 2' (Exclusive)

Taylor Lautner is in negotiations to join Adam Sandler in Grown Ups 2, Columbia Pictures’ sequel to the hit 2010 comedy.

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Most of the cast from the first movie is expected to return, including Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Maya Rudolph and Salma Hayek. Dennis Dugan will be back as director. Sandler and Jack Giarraputo are producing.

Oliver Cooper, one of the stars of Project X, joined the cast last week.

Grown Ups told the story of a group of childhood friends who reunite as adults after their high school basketball coach dies. The movie grossed $162 million domestically and $271 million worldwide.

Lautner, who rose to fame as the teen wolf Jacob in the Twilight films, will make an appearance in a “fun” role, in which he goes toe-to-toe with Sandler, according to sources.

Joining the project might be a canny move for the actor, who is seeking to position himself for a post-Twilight career. He already starred in an action movie (Abduction, which disappointed in the U.S. but grossed $82 million worldwide) and is attached to star in an independent film set to be directed by Gus Van Sant. Associating himself with a potential blockbuster comedy franchise is a nice counterbalance. Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, the final installment in the series, hits theaters in November. 

Lautner is repped by WME, Management 360 and Hansen Jacobson.

E-mail: Borys.Kit@thr.com

Twitter: @Borys_Kit