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Twilight Trio to Get $25m Apiece for Last 2 Films

With Twilight: Eclipse closing in on what box office watchers say will surely be a $200+ million weekend, why have the faces of Summit Entertainment’s executives taken on such a deathly pallor? It might be because Vulture hears that they’ve just agreed to write some very big checks, indeed: Insiders tell us that Summit will pay stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner each a whopping $25 million against 7.5 percent of the theatrical gross for starring in the next and last two Twilight movies, Breaking Dawn, Parts One and Two.

How much money will they end up taking home? The previous Twilight film, New Moon, took in almost $710 million worldwide, and Eclipse is on pace to exceed that. But let’s conservatively assume that both Breaking Dawns do as well as New Moon: After factoring in exhibitor splits, a lesser studio share for international releases, and other typical debited fees that would give you a migraine if they were explained here, each star would take in another $16 million total, giving them all final paydays of $41 million.

Meanwhile, Vulture has learned that Universal, upon hearing that this mammoth payday was being finalized, quickly sealed its deal with Lautner to star in Stretch Armstrong, for which they’ll pay him $7.5 million, a sum that now seems like a yard sale. CORRECTION: Universal’s $7.5 million deal with Lautner for Stretch Armstrong was closed before execs learned of Lautner’s new Breaking Dawn payday. But now they know of it, they are likely breathing huge sighs of relief.

Twilight Trio to Get $25m Apiece for Last 2 Films