EXCLUSIVE: Following the recent success of another Will Ferrell comedy, Amazon MGM Studios is ramping up pre-production on another Ferrell comedy as sources tell Deadline Zac Efron is set to star in an untitled comedy from Amazon MGM Studios, opposite Will Ferrell. Nicholas Stoller is directing the film from his own script.
The comedy follows a young convict fresh out of prison (Efron) who takes a reality TV courtroom hostage blaming the megalomaniac TV judge (Ferrell) for a past ruling that the convict feels ruined his life.
Producers include Stoller Global Solutions’ Nicholas Stoller and Gloria Sanchez Productions’ Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, and Alex Brown.
The film reunites Efron with Amazon MGM Studios following his role in Ricky Stanicky, which debuted on Prime Video last year. Recently, Efron wrapped production on Famous, director Jody Hill’s latest feature film, a provocative Los Angeles-set thriller that explores the dark side of celebrity. In Famous, Zac Efron (The Iron Claw, The Greatest Showman) will star in dual roles, playing both overzealous fan, Lance Dunkquist, and Hollywood heartthrob, James Jansen. The film is based on the acclaimed novel by bestselling author Blake Crouch and is adapted for the screen by Chad Hodge, who also adapted Crouch’s Wayward Pines trilogy into a series.
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A24 recently secured the domestic distribution rights to the film, reuniting with Efron after last year’s The Iron Claw, which grossed $45M worldwide and earned Efron some of the best reviews of his career for his emotional turn as wrestler, Kevin Von Erich. Zac Efron is represented by WME, Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
Ferrell is also starring opposite Reese Witherspoon in Stoller’s You’re Cordially Invited, which is currently the #1 movie worldwide on Prime Video.
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