No ‘Breaking Dawn’ Deals Yet for Series Stars

Summit Entertainment may be splitting the fourth and final Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, into two movies, but the studio isn’t ready to make the official announcement just yet.

One of the main reasons is that the stars reportedly don’t have deals in place for a fifth film, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and they’re “not even close.” They only signed for the four adaptations of Stephenie Meyer’s novels, so with a decision to shoot back-to-back Breaking Dawn sequels comes a re-negotiation of their contracts, like Warner Bros did with their similar Harry Potter split on Deathly Hallows.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart each received a $7.5 million salary for starring in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse plus a percentage of the gross (up from $5M on New Moon), but their representation is likely to hold out for another increase. The two appeared as #35 and 37 respectively on Vanity Fair’s “Top Hollywood Earners” List.

The same goes for Taylor Lautner, who has quickly become the most sought-after teen in Hollywood (he just turned 18 last Thursday). Lautner is attached to no less than four different major action movies (including Stretch Armstrong and an ongoing bidding war for Abduction), and he’s demanding his own $7.5 million for Paramount’s Northern Lights. With Jacob’s heavy involvement in the final story — roughly a third of the story is told from his perspective — I’d expect him to ask for comparable pay to Edward and Bella’s.

Summit clearly has the cash after accumulating $1.09 billion from the first two movies theatrically, so I wouldn’t worry much about Pattinson, Stewart, and Lautner returning. They will find a way to make it work or risk losing out on millions from the potential fifth movie, especially if they incorporate the high-priced 3D as trends and rumors suggest.