July 29, 2008

'Twilight' Exclusive: Stars Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene To Reunite For The Film 'Strife'

By Larry Carroll (MTV.com)

Although their film doesn't even come out for another six months, the young stars of Twilight have already reached a level of star status that most actors would kill for. And now, two of the castmembers already have plans to reunite.

MTV News has exclusively learned that Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene have signed on to Strife, a film set to begin production in a few weeks. The movie will arrive in theaters next year, shortly after audiences will have seen Lutz and Greene as Cullen clan members Emmett and Alice, respectively.

Directed by filmmaker Omid Shabkhiz, Strife tells the story of three friends struggling with day-to-day life in the drug- and gang-infested streets of Los Angeles. Caught in a world of violence and tragedy, they struggle to discover the hope and love that can help them persevere.

The burly, charismatic 23-year-old Lutz is set to play Jagger, a smooth-talking but troubled young man who gets caught in his own game when he falls into debt. His desperate actions set much of the film's plot into action.

Meanwhile, the sweet-smiling Greene has been cast as Trish, a well-educated girl who hits the streets of Los Angeles with the best of intentions. Passionate about women's rights and social awareness, Greene will be a stark contrast to Lutz's character.

She'll also be the voice of reason for the film's third lead, a man named Lorenzo, played by up-and-comer Kyle Schmid (The Covenant, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). Schmid's character is a privileged young man from a wealthy family who nonetheless has to fight temptations as he tries to remain loyal to his friends.

The reunion of Lutz and Greene should please the army of Twilighters, who are likely to be intrigued by the thought of their squeaky-clean franchise stars getting gritty in an independent film. While Lutz's career is taking off with roles on the new 90210 TV show and HBO's wartime drama Generation Kill, his role in Strife should allow him to balance Twilight with an impressive show of versatility. The 21-year-old Greene, meanwhile, will be landing in her most prominent film role yet after several years of TV work on shows like Shark and Crossing Jordan.

As of press time, we could not confirm whether Greene will be allowed to grow her hair long again before the film begins production. We also could not confirm whether the film would take extra security measures to keep the Lutz-obsessed Web site Kellmett-Happens.com away long enough to let their so-called "Princess" do his job. (By the way, the preceding paragraph should be read with extreme sarcasm.)

Strife will be produced by Christopher Peters, Peter Banifaz and director Shabkhiz. It is due to begin filming in September, with more actors to be announced over the next few weeks.