Written by Nicole Pedersen
I was under the impression that Zac Efron was locked in for Paramount’s remake of “Footloose” long, long ago. In fact, I think I even wrote an article called “The Fast Track to Footloose” that stated that Efron would be reprising the role in the film made famous by Kevin Bacon. So color me surprised to read in Variety today that the perky “High School Musical” star had “ankled” the production. It took me a minute to figure out what the article meant by ‘ankled’ of course - it would make my job sooo much easier if those Variety writers would stop wind-talking. Undeterred by the loss of their lead actor (someone I am told is a major star at the moment), Paramount has bravely decided to stay on their “Footloose” fast-track. The remake is still on the studio’s 2010 schedule and its producers are currently searching for a replacement. Joe Jonas, this could be your breakthrough moment. So now that Efron has ankled his remake, how will he entertain himself until “Hairspray 2” is ready to shoot? It seems that, for his next project, the actor is ready to try something a little less… musical. According to Variety Efron is in negotiations to headline a film adaptation of the book “The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud”. He would play a young man who works in a cemetery where he enjoys conversing with his younger brother – who is dead. Gee, if they could just work in a few dance numbers where the gravestones light up and spin around, I could totally picture this as a Zac Efron vehicle. Efron is not yet a lock for “Charlie St. Cloud” but the fact that the movie is from his “17 Again” director Burr Steers is probably a good sign. Then again, the fact that “Footloose” was being directed by the same man who made “High School Musical” didn’t stop Efron from ankling that project, so who knows?