Taylor Lautner in Negotiations to Star in "Run the Tide"

thewrap Soham Mehta is directing from a script by Rajiv Shah, and the two of them are producing with Tim Kwok

As he continues to move on from the “Twilight” franchise that catapulted him to fame, Taylor Lautner is in negotiations to star in the indie movie “Run the Tide,” TheWrap has learned.

Soham Mehta is directing from a script by Rajiv Shah, and the two of them are producing with Tim Kwok.

Lautner is nearing a deal to play a man who kidnaps his younger brother and flees for the California coast when their drug-abusing mother is released from prison determined to rebuild their family. With nothing but the open road ahead of them, the brothers race away from a past they never wanted towards a future that could have been as their mother and her ex-husband follow in close pursuit.

“Run the Tide” is Shah's first feature screenplay, and it won the Grand Jury Prize for Project Catalyst at the 2013 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. The script was also a finalist in the Final Draft Big Break Competition.

Lautner, who recently appeared in “Grown Ups 2,” next stars in the parkour movie “Tracers.” Lautner replaced Andy Samberg on the BBC comedy “Cuckoo,” and he also read the role of Dirk Diggler during Jason Reitman's live reading of Paul Thomas Anderson's script for “Boogie Nights.” He's repped by WME, Management 360 and attorney Steve Warren.

 Twitter @RuntheTide