Taylor Lautner going from 'Steel' to 'Stretch Armstrong'

 Taylor Lautner is going to expand his acting range as 'Stretch Armstrong'

Credit: AP

Last fall while doing the press rounds for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," Taylor Lautner promised HitFix "big things" would be announced in 2010 regarding his future projects.  How significant they are in the scheme of Hollywood is debatable, but the 18-year-old is clearly being thrown the responsibility of launching two new franchises.

Lautner was already on board to bring Paramount's "Max Steel" to life, but now he's becoming another cinematic hero: "Stretch Armstrong."  Based on the Hasbro toy, the Universal Picture will be a 3-D extravaganza that will give the character super powers in what we can only assume is a battle against the forces of evil (or possibly his evil brother Wretch Armstrong?).

Speaking to Deadline.com, Universal Pictures Co-Chairman Donna Langley said, "“In the past two years, Taylor has emerged as a real star at the global box office. He brings the perfect balance of energy and athleticism to the role of an unlikely super hero with a fantastic super power. We couldn’t be more pleased that he has agreed to be our Stretch.”

The studio had planned to release "Stretch" in 2011, but the new 3-D plan will push the film back to a March, 2012 release date.  That should make his debut as "Max Steel" and shooting the final "Twilight" film or films "Breaking Dawn" easier to schedule.

The studio does not have a director on board the project yet, but as of a year ago Steve Oedekerk was the screenwriter. It's unclear if he is still on board.