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Zac Efron, who opens Friday in Universal’s Charlie St. Cloud, is on the verge of closing on deals for what figure to be his next two star vehicles. His likely next pic is The Lucky One, a Scott Hicks-directed adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel for Warner Bros and producer Denise DiNovi and Kevin McCormick. Efron will play a soldier who returns from Iraq with a picture of a girl that became his good luck charm. He seeks out the girl and they develop a relationship. Will Fetters and Doug McGrath wrote the script.
He’s also taken a shine to Die in a Gunfight, a high octane action script written by neophytes Andrew Berrer and Gabriel Ferrari, both of whom just signed with WME, fresh out of NYU. Efron will play a young New York kid who falls in love with the daughter of his father’s nemesis, setting in motion a Romeo and Juliet-like forbidden romance. The project hasn’t been shopped yet–Mark Gordon’s steering it as producer–and they will likely put on a director first for a potential spring start. I’ve got to give a shout out here to Vulture, which was faster on the draw with the Efron information than I was. CAA and manager Jason Barrett rep him.
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Die in a Gunfight is one of the most original and innovative scripts to land in Hollywood”s hands in a long time. Zac Efron was born to play this role. He will kill it. And it should be noted that both prolific, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferarri’s management company, as well as Allyson Seeger and The Mark Gordon company played a major role in pushing this forward. And Zac Efron clearly has incredible taste.
Well thank you, Zac Efron’s agent/manager. Could you possibly be more obvious?
Whose lap were you sitting in when you typed up this comment? You lost me with “most original” and “innovative” as soon as the damn thing was referenced as ‘Romeo and Juliet-like’. Good to know NYU’s teaching their kids to be skilled re-mixers as opposed to actual originals.
Painfully, PAINFULLY obvious post. The ONLY question is which camp posted it?
I really like everyone you mention, Alyson Seeger is a great up an comer, but Jesus Christ, you may need to wipe your upper lip.
You blew your cover when you used the word “innovative”.
Yes, Efron will “kill” it – kill his fledgling career as a actor with appeal for anyone over age 14…
Whoever wrote this is not very bright, I hope s/he is not one of Zac’s close advisers.
I’ve heard that “Die in a Gunfight” was a pretty mediocre script. So…
Look, I don’t care whether or not Zac Efron can act, how deep his celebrity status, or whether he can open a movie or not. Erstwhile “movie stars” have come to the table with less, and girls/women (apparently) need guys like this (straight or not) to feed their fantasies. But before anyone signs on the dotted line with him they better ought wait until “Charlie” comes out to see whether he can open a film. Signing him to any contract beforehand could be career suicide – for the producer.
Besides, Justin Bieber (sp) is simply a younger version of Efron with, perhaps, the same (or more?) amount of juice – the next (pretty) generation is already nipping at his heels. As of today, from IMDb, Zac has seven projects already in development. But based on the BO receipts of “17 Again”, if Zac can’t open “Charlie”, all of his “in development projects” will wither on the vine and he’ll be relegated to B-films, marketed to women (once girls) who want nothing more than Zac taking off his shirt, and couldn’t give less of a shit if he can act or not.
I give you “Twilight” as an example…
I’m no fan of High School Musical, but to compare Bieber to Efron is just ridiculous. Efron has proven himself. He is not just another pretty teen face who will vanish. He has actual talent and charisma and carried “17 Again” and prevented it from being a crap rehash of “Big”.
And I also hear he is a good guy.
I see more “Leo” with this guy. Not Bieber.
Efron was always the weakest leak in the HSM francise – in singing, dancing and acting. But I will give the guy his props – he has been improving with each new project and the actor he is now is leagues ahead of HSM1 where he is almost unwatchable.
Now he is watchable. I just wish he would pick a project I would actually want to watch. 17 Again had it’s shining moments but it also still had the cringe-worthy moments of early Efron.
Neither movie mentioned in this article are doing anything for me. Charlie St Cloud looks good but also looks like the most depressing movie of the year. I want him to do something that isn’t a romance or has a big romance B-story.
why is it that no one can have talent Sally… you know its not easy being an actor or actress just and hsm were really great films and hsm3 wouldnt have done has well with out him and you are forgetting about hairspray which was not an easy roll considering he had to gain 15lbs of pure muscle and not only that before that he had to gain 10 more lbs for troy in hsm bcuz the producers wanted him to look like an actuall graduating basketball player not to mention theres a lot of emotional turnmoral that he had to go through for his knew movie Charlie St. Cloude and he gained another 10lbs for the role so all the bull shit about how hes not a good actor and how it doesnt appeal is just a whole lot of SHIT and nothing else and if you knew anything at all you would know that the only reason that 17 again did as well as it did it was because of Zac Efron not only that but Zac’s fan base is not just kids there are adults as well and a lot more than you think there would be. and so yes i think Zac could most definately do something like the movies it is supposed that he is in the works of doing not only that but i know ppl (a lot of ppl) that have already seen the movie and they said that it was phenomenal and yes the movie is a tear jerker and yes its a romance but its also a drama and on top of that it was a physical challenge on the account that he did all the sailing and he had just learned literally just learned not even a professional or anything how to sail so shove all of that up your negative sorry ASS.
would love to see Zac do something against type – a complete surprise
Well, let’s see. Aside from his tween-friendly looks, I’m not seeing any real acting talent. WHy not cast him and Taylor Lautner together in the same film or program and see who can out-act who.
He falls in love with a PICTURE???
Only in the movies!
I’m not sure the male movie-going audience is ready to embrace him as an action star just yet. I mean, the guy looks prettier than half the girls in Hollywood, so we’ll see. Kudos to him for wanting to take his career in a serious direction though, he could bloom quite well.
Charlie St. Cloud trailers just make me cringe….and I have nothing against inspiring, positive stories….it’s just that it feels so artificial and sickly sweet. I dunno….maybe the film as a whole is better than what’s presented but doesn’t make me see Efron as an action star in any way shape or form.
they second project sounds original enough, but when i hear him talk about originality and mixing in it up, and then look at his reviews for CSC (yikes) and then look at the Sparks movie, I call him a liar.
That’s not mixing it up, and it’s sure not original. If he wants to make out on a set then go for it, but its a far’s throw from “new”.
i have no doubt this kid has what it takes he seems to be fairly talented. But, along with carrying a movie (which he has yet to prove) he also needs to prove his talent, and not one of his movies has reviewed well. Can’t work off your looks forever Efron.
It is not totally true to say he’s not mixing it up. He’s probably one of the more diverse actors in his age group. He’s done musicals, comedy, drama (indie and mainstream melodrama).
I do think he should stay away from another Sparks-like story but it is a different role for him. Maybe that is what he means more than the genre itself.
There aren’t really any reviews for Charlie St. Cloud yet but people who have seen screenings generally think he’s great in it and he was great in 17 Again so hopefully that counts for something since he is talented. He does need better material but there is a stigma on being a Disney kid that may hurt his opportunities (unfairly) so he’s trying to create his own while proving himself. I do think if he doesn’t get better material soon he’s in danger of never being taken seriously. No matter how good he is, you can only be in so many bad movies (at least at the beginning of your career).
I admire his ambition and desire to diversify his filmography. It’s just really tough to imagine him in a very masculine role, like that of a soldier and/or action star of any kind. While playing a soldier in a Nicholas Sparks adaptation doesn’t call for the kind of range of say playing a soldier in something like The Hurt Locker, but look at him…he’s so effing pretty that it works against him in a lot of ways. He’s also so sweet natured and affable and, at times, boring in his interviews that he lacks some of the edge that male audiences want in an action star. I hope it works out for him because I do genuinely believe he wants to be more than just a pretty face, but the jury is still out as to whether he actually will be.
Nicholas Sparks? Ugh. Sounds about as lame as Charlie St. Cloud looks.
Anyone know how the Gunfight writers got read and landed management straight out of school?
Great scripts get passed around.
Dear god, please don’t compare him to the Bieber kid who thinks he’s all that or those twatlight morons please. Whether you like him or not, he deserves better. And I have seen Charlie St. Cloud, and lets just say, Efron lights up the screen. Wish him all the success and I’m interested to see where these projects will take him, although I am a bit skeptical about the Nicholas Sparks one.
Thank you someone who speaks the truth!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE someone would compare him to Bebier!!!! He is like my idol and anyone can do anything they set their minds and his great looks don’t hurt in the romance stuff. I would have to agree action probably isn’t the right path for him but he’s perfect right where he is in his career.
I laugh every time I imagine pretty BOY Zac as a brutal soldier who was at war. This is kind of a smack to the face or real soldiers, real MAN who risk and loose their life. And then some pretty boy with tons of make up and gel in his hair puts fake uniform and plastic guns and is all like: “Look at me… I’m a soldier”. Zac you are not.
Is Zac Efron now some kind of male teen version of Katherine Heigl? He wanted to break away from his teen musical roles, he looked up to DiCaprio as his mentor, asking him for advice… And now he choses third movie in a row as a rom com. Charlie St.Cloud is a romantic love story. Movie about soldier and picture is romantic love story. This “fall in love with enemy’s daughter” is a love story. He will stuck with this romantic cliché.
If he looks up to DiCaprio then he should look for roles like Gangs of New yours, Aviator, Blood Diamond. The ones where he will not try to hook up the pretty girl the entire movie. Because unlike those Twilight kids and Channing Tatum Efron with all his make up looks like he really can act. Unlike Robert Pattinson who looks just uncomfortable to watch on screen Efron can sell his character. When i look at his 17 again movie or trailer for Charlie St.Cloud i see his character and not Zac Efron. While when you look at any Pattinson or Kristen Stewart movie, or even Chaning Tatum – you always see the actors and not the characters.
Soldiers carrying pictures of strange women sounds more typical than you would think, not everyone has a girlfriend waiting at home for them. It’s good role since it will take a big stretch to see how Zac will be accepted by audiences as a marine.
he is freakin annoying and guys will never buy him as an action star. he lacks the charisma and humor tom cruise, will smith or bruce willis has. plus guys need their hero to be older than they. both he and lautner will fail.
Bingo. Young guys want their actions stars to be older and more gritty than they are. The age sweet spot is 30s and 40s. Lautner will crash and burn. Efron’s “action movie” is in reality a romance, so he might fare better, with receipts coming from the girls. No guys will pay to see either of them in an action movie.
I just gagged in my cereal.
The script was originally with Cinetic. It’s quite good but the problem is, in my opinion, that it’s too expensive to be an indie in this climate and too smart and quirky to be a proper studio vehicle. I could be proven wrong, and I did very much enjoy it. The writers are extremely talented and the project was developed very well, but I do question Efron as the lead as anything but an attention getter. Again I hope Efron proves this thought wrong. It seems, though, like a project better suiting an Andrew Garfield, whose still looking for tougher stuff despite his recent star turn as Spiderman.
I find it funny how Fanboys don’t believe Efron has the looks to pull off a bad ass because he’s “too pretty”. But they can believe that a 10 year old girl can be a highly trained hit man, and that Shia can really bag a chick like Megan Fox.
I don’t think anyone really believed Shia pulled that. At least, I HOPE nobody bought that…
As far as the Shia comment, if you have ever been to an industry party, you have douchebags with even less looks/wit than Shia with hotties even better looking than Fox. It all depends upon how you carry yourself, the health of your bank account, and whether you can make ‘em laugh. Treating them like dirt seems to help too.
Part of the reason Zac Efron will succeed in Hollywood is because people want him to. That gives him a resevoir of goodwill to draw on while he starts his career. He seems to be making good decisions, too. Anyway, if Miley likes him than I like him.
keep dreamin mileyfan.
dear anon –
what draft did you read? cause it doesn’t sound like you have very up to date info.
and btw – why comment on scripts you haven’t read? using the word mediocre means either a) you have no taste or b) you didn’t really read the script or the person who told you about it doesn’t have the ability to see a good piece of material when it comes along.
I’ll bite Atticus… how long have you been reading scripts? And tell me what you liked about DIE. I’m curious. I’ve read it so don’t bullshit.
He is just another androgynous bad actor with weird eyes and feminine lips.
He’s waaay to feminine for American audiences. Definitely not Leo. Gay demographic only.
Die in a Gunfight has “new writers” written all over it. It’s ambitious but way too esoteric – it begins with a quote from Godard, for heaven’s sake. The writers try so hard not to write something mainstream they’ve come up with something too obscure to play. Someone’s telling Efron to do “smart” material but smart doesn’t necessarily mean tiny and esoteric. This would be a bad move for him. Say what one will about Nicholas Sparks but those sorts of films usually open.
CHARLIE ST. CLOUD is tracking very well…opening numbers will be 22-24 million. End of theatrical release, the movie will do well over 100 million worldwide. For a 22 yr old, thats huge.
Zac always scores very high with focus groups…people (men and woman) love him. All these guys making fun of how “pretty” Zac looks are simply jealous and insecure about their own looks.
Zac is being guided by smart people, and he will have a long career.
Read “Gunfight”…enjoyable script. Zac is going to perfect in the lead.
Kudos Mr. Efron.
$100 million worldwide? Ha. It’ll do $100 million domestic!
Don’t you try to rundown this Leo DiCaprio clone! He is four quadrant pull. Women want to be with him and men want to be him! He’s so big, that he is soon going to move to a new agency, because he is just too big for the people guiding him right now.
Yo Anonymous – sounds to me like your trying too hard to make swipes at a great script because you have an agenda of your own. Why don’t you go write script? Oh wait, you can barely write a comment on someone else’s that is even remotely accurate. I amazed you even know who Godard is. LOSER.
Yo, dude. Hilarious.
I do have an agenda. My agenda is to say that these young writers have clear talent. They are misguided, however, in confusing obfuscation with profundity. They’re onto a good idea but they’ve tricked it up so much, pushed away story and character so much in the name of making something edgy and “cool,” they lose the emotionality of their idea. It could be a lot better and, whether you believe it or not, I wish them well.