Yay! Zac is on the October cover of Men’s Health! He looks so great! You can check out the photoshoot in the gallery and his interview below. I will add scans later when the magazine releases!

MEN’S HEALTH – WELL, THERE THEY ARE. After Zac Efron removes his jacket and drapes it over the chair beside him, my eyes immediately zoop to his biceps peeking out from beneath his T-shirt. I spot a vein so protuberant that it looks like it’s about to exit his skin.

I had seen Efron’s biceps earlier, while on set for his photo shoot. When I got to the ranch in the hills north of Malibu, he was zooming about on an ATV, doing wild circles around the photographer and creating a cloud of dust. The sharp lines of his arms were apparent even through a dust tornado and even from a safe distance away.

When he arrives at the steakhouse in Thousand Oaks, where the staff has squirreled us away in a back room behind the kitchen, Efron positions himself as though to background the biceps—leaning forward, with his hands loosely intertwined on the table—and I feel louche for peeking.

I feel even loucher for writing about them, but the thing is, Efron’s arms have become part of his whole deal, appendages to his identity as well as to his torso—to say nothing of the torso itself. In 2017’s Baywatch, his onscreen abs looked almost painted on. That film was a fit-guy debutant waltz for Efron. People started looking very closely at his body after that.

Efron has been under scrutiny since 2006, when, at age 17, he played a wholesome, peppy, Bieber-haired Disney jock in High School Musical. Next, he starred in a slew of romances, rom-coms, and com-coms: Neighbors, The Lucky One, We Are Your Friends, That Awkward Moment, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, et cetera ad infinitum. His list of titles is stunningly long, and wildly varied, for someone so young; after Baywatch, he began veering toward dramas and shot a Netflix travel show about sustainability called Down to Earth with Zac Efron. (Season 2 drops in late fall.)

Then the pandemic hit, and the guy who could do it all—and who, since he was a teenager, had been doing it all, all the time—did very little. He sequestered himself in Byron Bay, a beachy haven in Australia. He slept on a hammock in the trees. He dated a civilian. He took moonlit swims with phosphorescent plankton that glowed around him with every motion.

Meanwhile, everyone else was still talking about his body. In July 2020, as Netflix viewers began watching Down to Earth, some commented on his “dad bod”—which, to be clear, was a dad bod only relative to his lifeguard bod. The New York Post called it “a far cry from his ripped physique in Baywatch”; Twitter called him Daddy.

A world away, Efron, too, was rethinking the body he’d become known for. He was reconsidering how he ate (vegan), how he trained (really hard), and how he slept (poorly). Efron, like many of us, has newly emerged from his own pandemic cocoon, blinking in the sunlight, ready to unfurl a revamped personality with back-to-school optimism. Besides a new health and fitness philosophy, Efron has a new movie—The Greatest Beer Run Ever (premiering September 30 on Apple TV+), in which he acts opposite Russell Crowe and Bill Murray—and new career cravings.
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DEADLINE – EXCLUSIVE: Days after announcing his next star studded comedy at Netflix, Zac Efron is continuing to build up his diversified slate as he is set to star in A24’s The Iron Claw, the latest drama from writer-director Sean Durkin. A24 is set to finance and produce the pic with Durkin writing and directing. Producing alongside A24 are Tessa Ross, Derrin Schlesinger and Harrison Huffman. The film was developed by House Productions, with the support of Access Entertainment, and BBC Films.

Based on the true story of the Von Erichs, the film follows the rise and fall of the Von Erich family, a dynasty of wrestlers who made a huge impact on the sport from the 1960s to the present day.

Efron is having himself quite the moment right now as he looks to the future of his business by developing a broad range of starring vehicles that are not only character driven crowdpleasers but introduce him to filmmakers like Durkin that bring the most out of him as an actor. With his Netflix comedy he gets a fun, crowd-pleaser with plenty of star power that also reunites him with his Paperboy co-star Nicole Kidman. With The Iron Claw, the drama brings him a piece of material that is transformative and gritty and is surely unlike anything he’s done before in his career.

On top of these projects he also has the Netflix series Down To Earth which was hugely popular during the pandemic and won him a daytime Emmy for producing and is currently shooting its second season. Coming up next is the highly-anticipated Greatest Beer Run Ever at Apple which is Pete Farrelly’s follow-up to his Oscar winning Green Book that took home the Oscar for Best Picture and won Farrelly a screenplay Oscar. Efron is front and center in that film which is likely to be in the mix this award season given its pedigree.

Awesome news! A new project for Zac!

DEADLINE – Netflix has set an all-star ensemble for its new untitled romcom as sources tell Deadline Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Joey King are set to star in the pic, with Behind The Candelabra writer Richard LaGravenese directing. LaGravenese co-wrote the script with Carrie Solomon while Joe Roth, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Alyssa Altman producing for Roth/Kirschenbaum Films. Netflix bought the script from Solomon earlier this year which attracted the three leads.

The story is set following a surprising romance which kicks off comic consequences for a young woman, her mother and her movie star boss as they face the complications of love, sex, and identity. The film was recently greenlit and will shoot later this year.

The film gives Kidman a fun comedy on her upcoming slate following a year of strong dramatic turns which started with the Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers. She followed that up with her Oscar-nominated role as Lucille Ball in Being Ricardos.

For Efron it brings him back to Netflix where he most recently played serial Killer Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Next up for Efron is Apple’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Peter Farrelly’s first film since his Oscar-winning Green Book.

King remains as busy an actor as any one out there which includes Hulu’s The Princess, which bows July 1 as well as the highly-anticipated Bullet Train. She too is also a favorite of Netflix following the success of The Kissing Booth trilogy which she stars in for the streamer.

THR – Bill Murray is also circling a role.

Apple is circling Peter Farrelly’s Green Book follow-up, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, with Zac Efron and Russell Crowe now attached to star.

The Skydance project is based on the book by Joanna Molloy and John “Chickie” Donohue, The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A True Story of Friendship Stronger Than War. The movie tells the true story of Donohue, who left New York in 1967 for Vietnam to track down and share a few beers with his childhood friends serving in the Army.

Bill Murray, who worked with Farrelly on Kingpin and Osmosis Jones, is also eyeing a role in the movie, but sources note that his deal is nowhere near to being closed.

A previous package of Beer Run had Viggo Mortensen and Dylan O’Brien attached to star.

Brian Currie, who co-wrote Green Book, and Pete Jones (Hall Pass) will write with Farrelly.

David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger and Andrew Muscato will serve as producers. Granger, Goldberg and Aimee Rivera are overseeing for Skydance.

Efron, who is repped by CAA, Alchemy and Felker Toczek, will next film the Three Men and a Baby remake.

Great news! Zac has been cast in another project. This one is a survival thriller titled “Gold”

DEADLINE – Zac Efron (The Greatest Showman) has boarded survival thriller Gold, which Altitude Film Sales will introduce to buyers at the upcoming AFM virtual market and will co-rep domestic sales on with CAA Media Finance.

Actor Anthony Hayes (Animal Kingdom) will direct and co-star, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Polly Smyth. John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz will produce through their Deeper Water Films banner (Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan), alongside Hayes for Rogue Star Pictures.

The film will follow two strangers traveling through a desert who stumble across the biggest gold nugget ever found. They hatch a plan to protect and excavate their bounty with one man leaving to secure the necessary equipment. The other man remains and must endure harsh desert elements, ravenous wild dogs and mysterious intruders, whilst battling the sinking suspicion that he has been abandoned to his own fate.

Shoot is due to get underway in Australia this month.

HOD’s include editor Sean Lahiff (Wolf Creek 2) production designer Sam Hobbs (Red Dog), DoP Ross Giardina (The Dressmaker) and make up and prosthetics by Jennifer Lamphee (The Wolverine).

Madman Entertainment will release in Australia and the film will then screen on Oz streamer Stan, which is backing the film. Executive producers are Andrew Mann, Peter Touche, Simon Williams, Paul Wiegard, Will Clarke, Andy Mayson, Nick Forward and Mike Runagall.

Michael Schwarz of Deeper Water Films said: “Gold is a classic morality tale told in an excitingly modern fashion, and the creative symmetry between Anthony and Zac has everyone involved incredibly excited to bring this film to global audiences.”

Director Anthony Hayes added: “This is an exciting, gripping and timely tale about greed, humanity, who we are, what we’ve done to the world and where we are heading if we aren’t careful. To have Zac Efron as my main man on this film is an absolute gift and to see what he is creating already is like nothing we’ve seen from him before. I can’t wait to deliver this bold, visceral and cinematic film to audiences all around the world.”

Efron is represented by CAA, Alchemy Entertainment and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson.

COLLIDER – Today marks the 40th anniversary of Stephen King‘s classic novel Firestarter, so it’s fitting that Collider can exclusively report that Zac Efron has signed on to star in a new adaptation of the sci-fi thriller from Universal, Blumhouse and Weed Road.

Up-and-coming filmmaker Keith Thomas will direct from a script by Blumhouse favorite Scott Teems (Halloween Kills). King’s 1980 novel followed a young girl who develops pyrokinetic abilities and is abducted by a secret government agency that wants to harness her powerful gift as a weapon.

Efron will play the girl’s father, Andy McGee, and given the fact that he turns 33 next month and Drew Barrymore was only eight years old when she filmed the original Firestarter, there’s no question he could conceivably play the parent of a young child. In fact, Efron just signed on to star in a Three Men and a Baby remake for Disney+.

Jason Blum is producing for Blumhouse alongside Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman and his Weed Road banner, while Martha De Laurentiis will executive produce alongside Teems, having served as an associate producer on the original 1984 movie.

That fiery film starred a young Barrymore alongside David Keith and Heather Locklear as her parents. The film also featured a top-notch supporting cast that included Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher. Of course, any Firestarter remake will come down to the little girl at its center, and I already floated the name of one young actress when this project was first announced.

Efron is coming off the best reviews of his career for his turn as Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, and I’ve enjoyed his recent turns in hip indies such as The Beach Bum and The Disaster Artist. He also hosted the successful Netflix docuseries Down to Earth with Zac Efron. The actor is represented by CAA and Alchemy Entertainment and and Felker, Toczek, Suddleson, Abramson.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – Gordon Gray, who last made the Ben Affleck-starring drama ‘The Way Back,’ is producing.

Zac Efron is getting in touch with his paternal side.

Efron is on board to star in Three Men and a Baby, a remake of the 1987 comedy being made by Disney.

The remake is intended for Disney+ with Disney’s live-action division running point. Gordon Gray, best known for his inspirational sports dramas such as The Rookie and this year’s Ben Affleck-starring The Way Back, is producing.

Initially a remake of a French film, Three Men brought together a trio of 1980s stars – Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson – as New York bachelors who find themselves caring, and subsequently, falling for, an infant. Drug dealers who threatened the child also figured into the plot.

The movie was directed by Leonard Nimoy and proved to be a major hit, becoming the first live-action Disney film to cross the $100 million mark domestically. It was followed by Three Men and a Little Lady in 1990 that reunited the cast but not Nimoy.

Will Reichel wrote the script for the remake. It is unclear how the material will be updated.

A search for a director is underway.

Efron’s boarding of Three Men marks a return to Disney for the actor, who became a star thanks for his breakout turns in the High School Musical movies over a decade ago.

He has spent that time in a wide-range of movies and last year earned raves for starring in indie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, in which he portrayed serial killer Ted Bundy, and opposite Matthew McConaughey in comedy The Beach Bum. He can currently be seen in Down to Earth, a documentary series he also executive produced via his Ninjas Runnin Wild Productions and released on Netflix in July. The show features Efron roaming the world exploring sustainability.

Efron is repped by CAA, Alchemy Entertainment and Felker Toczek.