Zac Efron‘s star vehicle, the 2010 Black List screenplay Die in a Gunfight (written by fresh NYU grads Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer) has a director, one Anthony Mandler. Mandler is a commercial and music video director who’s on the up-and-up in Hollywood. [Deadline]
Gunfight tells the story of a young New Yorker who falls for the daughter of his father’s enemy (sound familiar?). What ensues involves a lot of heart and a lot of blood.
Mandler’s also been corralled by Summit Entertainment to direct their upcoming Vlad film, the tale of Vlad the Impaler’s early years a prince. For those who don’t know, Vlad III is the Romanian prince many called ‘Dracula’ (meaning son of Vlad II, who was called Dracul) the believed inspiration behind Bram Stoker’s 1897 vampire novel.
As for Gunfight, it sounds like a Romeo + Juliet/True Romance breed, which isn’t the worse thing. What’s interesting is that young Efron is also attached to the very-similar-sounding The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, the Matt Drake script in which “a guy falls for a woman who’s claimed by a violent crime boss.”
Which one will get made first? Countryman or Gunfight?