UPDATE: Variety has confirmed that Lautner has signed for the role.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that “Twilight” franchise star Taylor Lautner may be the frontrunner to play the title role in Paramount’s Max Steel, based on Mattel’s action figure toy line.
The 17-year-old would play a 19-year-old extreme sports junkie recruited by a secret agency after an accident infects his body with nanobots, making him superhuman.
Mattel introduced the character in the U.S. in 1999 as an action figure, and soon after in an animated series that ran from 2000-2002.
The newspaper adds that J.P. Lavin and Chad Damiani are writing the script for the film.
