Dawn's Broken: What's Next for the Stars of 'Twilight'

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 has finished its theatrical run with the franchise past $3.3 billion worldwide, and its three leads now face the question every young-franchise actor eventually does: what do you do after the machine lets go?

Kristen Stewart has been telegraphing her answer for years, alternating Bella with indies — and notably an adaptation pedigree: she played Marylou in Walter Salles' film of Kerouac's On the Road. Next up: harder art-house turns; the smart money says European auteurs come calling. Robert Pattinson got there first, disappearing into David Cronenberg's DeLillo adaptation Cosmopolis — a limo-bound performance that made critics recalibrate him overnight.

Taylor Lautner faces the steepest path; action vehicles haven't stuck, and the industry's memory is short. The supporting bench — Anna Kendrick above all — has already lapped the leads in awards conversation.

However the careers shake out, Stephenie Meyer's novels — cataloged from the first book onward — reshaped both YA publishing and the economics of adaptation: pre-sold fandoms became Hollywood's favorite insurance policy, for better and much worse.