"Twilight's" Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner are about to find themselves in one of Hollywood's biggest and oldest predicaments.
What do they do for a second act?
Thus far, the three are taking distinctly different approaches to charting their post-"Twilight" careers -- Pattinson parlaying his heartthrob status, Lautner angling for blockbuster action roles and Stewart sticking with low-key, indie projects. (See slideshow: "What's next for the "Twilight" Trio?")
It remains to be seen if there will indeed be life after teen idol-dom for any of them.
The problem of turning a starring role in a hit franchise into a lasting career has bedeviled everyone from Sean Connery and Harrison Ford to, well, Mark Hamill.
Most recently, other than Daniel Radcliffe's nude turn in "Equus" on Broadway, even the stars of the highly successful "Harry Potter" series haven't been able to find much other work on the big screen.
(See related story: "Eclipse" Marketing: Up and Buzzing.")
"You only get a few chances in the business, so you better strike while the iron is still hot," said Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations.
First out of the gate for Pattinson -- who actually was plucked out of "Harry Potter" for "Twilight" -- is next month's romantic drama "Remember Me," which analysts say will be key to establishing the James Dean lookalike as a certifiable box-office draw.
But his co-stars have been equally busy carving out names for themselves.
Stewart was all over Sundance last month in a pair of indie films, the Joan Jett biopic "The Runaways" and the well-received family drama "Welcome to the Rileys."
In the process, she has been building on her pre-"Twilight" predilection for smaller flms with well-established, critically lauded actors and directors, such as "Adventureland" and "Into the Wild."
She will also appear in "The Yellow Handkerchief" with William Hurt and Maria Bello; the film about a group of strangers traveling through post-Katrina Louisiana gets a limited release next week.
Lautner, on the other hand, seems to be taking the blockbuster route, lining up four action movies that he will try to fit around filming "Breaking Dawn," the possibly two-part finale to the "Twilight" saga.
Lautner, who had a bit part in the recent "Valentine's Day" rom-com, will play a college student trying to save his friends from a drug cartel in "Cancun," the lead in the spy-thriller "Abducted" and will top line the superhero movies "Max Steel" and "Stretch Armstrong."
He just dropped out of "Northern Lights," directed by "Max Payne's" John Moore and which was rumored to star Tom Cruise.
Though Pattinson is arguably the biggest of the three "Twilight" stars (at the Los Angeles premiere of "New Moon," he sparked orgiastic fits among the teen girls lining the streets that were frightening in their intensity), he seems more than willing to leave the tent-pole projects to Lautner.
