With Robert Pattinson proving himself in Cosmopolis earlier this month, Shia Labeouf doing the same in Lawless this week, it’s time for the next up-and-coming male star to shed his teen idol image. By most accounts, Zac Efron has done so this year. After premiering the wild-sounding Paperboy at Cannes, his next major performance debuted yesterday at Venice to high praise with Ramin Bahrani‘s At Any Price.
And like clockwork, we are getting news from Variety regarding another promising project. They report that Efron has been lined up to star in Are We Officially Dating?, an indie comedy from Tom Gormican, whose script for the film ended up on the 2010 Black List. Gormican’s first major Hollywood project is the short movie comedy compilation titled Movie 43, which will land early next year.
For Dating, Efron would star as a young adult who is scared of commitment, so he bails on every relationship once it gets past the sex. The film follows him and his group of friends, including a doctor whose wife is cheating on him with their lawyer and another friend who is sleeping with one of his good friends, who happens to be a girl. Things get complicated when Efron’s character may be falling love with a girl he took home. We’ve seen the basic premise before, but it’s nice to see Efron picking out seemingly smart scripts when it comes to this genre. He’s also said to be wickedly funny in Liberal Arts, which can be seen next month.
Production for Dating kicks off in New York City this fall.
What do you think about Efron’s latest project?