Zac Efron has mentioned several times in various interviews (GQ, Esquire, etc.) that he wants to be taken seriously and grow out of teen roles into more serious fare, no?
So why the move for a Nicholas Sparks adaptation? Ah, gotta love agents and cash.
Anyhow, relative newcomer Taylor Schilling (NBC’s recently canceled medical drama “Mercy,” the feature film, “Atlas Shrugged”) has won the evidently “highly sought” role of Efron’s love interest in the adaptation of Sparks novel, “The Lucky One.” She apparently beat out several leading ladies who were testing for the role (THR says Abbie Cornish and Katie Cassidy were among those in the running which breaks our heart for Cornish who we love and is far above this kind of dreck).
The film will be directed by Scott Hicks, who is best known for helming “Shine” with Geoffrey Rush (He also directed “Snow Falling on Cedars” and the terrible restaurant rom com, “No Reservations”). Sparks’ novels are always sentimental treacle and this one sounds no different: it’s about a Marine (Efron) who’s survived three tours of duty in Iraq and attributes his good luck to a photograph he carried of a woman (Schilling) he doesn’t even know. When he returns to the States, he sets out to find her.
Ugh, more cornball drivel that audiences seems to love. Six of his novels have been made into movies so far including “Message in a Bottle,” “A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook,” “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Dear John” and “The Last Song” (“True Believer” is expected to hit in 2011). We have no problem with films for women, there is always a paucity of them, but these books and films are essentially the equivalent of wish-fulfillment Harlequin romance books — the ultimate in fromage. But they make money and are relatively inexpensive so don’t expect them to go away anytime soon.