A24 reteams with Iron Claw star Zac Efron in thriller Famous

EXCLUSIVE: After the success of his wrestling drama The Iron Claw, A24 has teamed up with Zac Efron for his next project after Deadline learned the studio has secured domestic distribution rights to the thriller. Famous starring Efron. Jody Hill will direct, with Michael Sagol, Sam Esmail and Chad Hamilton producing. Esmail and Hamilton will produce under their Esmail Corp. banner.

The sale was brokered by WME Independent and CAA Media Finance. International distribution is being handled by Black Bear.

In the film, Efron will play a dual role: He plays both the overzealous fan Lance Dunkquist and the Hollywood heartthrob James Jansen. The film is based on the acclaimed novel by New York Timesbestselling author Blake Crouch and was adapted for the screen by Chad Hodge, who also wrote Crouch’s Stubborn pines Trilogy into a series.

The story follows Dunkquist, who has an advantage that will change his life – he has the face of a movie star. And not just any movie star – Lance is the spitting image of a Hollywood icon, James Jansen. Lance is about to travel to Los Angeles to make his dream come true. Lance will become famous, no matter what it takes.

The film marks a reunion of the studio and Efron after working together on The Iron Claw, which premiered last Christmas and starred Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson. Not only did the film earn Efron some of the best reviews of his career, but it also became one of A24’s biggest box office hits, grossing $45 million worldwide. The film premiered on Max in May and has become one of the streamer’s top films to premiere this year.

Hill is best known for his offbeat TV comedies, including Deputy Headmaster And Towards the east and downwards. In the film sector he directed Observe and report And The legacy of the whitetail deer hunter.

Efron is repped by WME and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole and Hill is repped by LBI Entertainment, CAA and attorney Carlos Goodman. Hodge is repped by WME and Anonymous Content.