Taylor Lautner. Adam Sandler. The sequel to Grown Ups. Frankly, the only way this movie could become any more likely to be beaten up is if A) they announce it’ll be released as a piñata instead of a movie or B) they somehow manage to convince Michael Bay to co-produce and switch Sandler’s origin to that of an extra-terrestrial. But it’s true: the wolfy one has indeed signed on to the Sandler comedy.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lautner’s role won’t quite be a lead, but he will apparently crop up in a “fun” role and go toe-to-toe with Sandler.
From the sounds of it, Sandler has rounded up most of the original cast, with Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Maya Rudolph and Salma Hayek all set to return, and Dennis Dugan once more on directing patrol. There’s no word on a plot yet, but given that this is Sandler in get-my-friends-together-and-have-fun-mode, is there much need for a plot?
Though the first movie didn’t exactly go over big with critics, it managed a healthy haul at the box office, taking in $271 million worldwide, so there’s clearly an audience. Lautner might get some mileage out of sending up his image and showing he can do comedy (assuming he pulls it off) and the producers won’t hurt their chances if they can lure some of his fan base along for the ride.
Still, you can bet that someone is already trying to find out when Sandler and Lautner will share the set, and launching a Kickstarter fund to hire an unmanned drone to carry out a targeted strike. Watch the skies, gentlemen.