In January 2006, just days into my career as a film critic, a made for TV movie premiered and instantly became a phenomenon. It was Disney Channel’s “High School Musical”. Leading man Zac Efron had done some notable work before (including on “Summerland”). But now… he was a superstar.
Efron was one of the first young actors I watched skyrocket into the pop culture stratosphere as I was beginning to take-in all Hollywoodland has to offer. Efron followed it up in Summer 2007 with the theatrical release of “Hairspray” and TV debut of “High School Musical 2”. “HSM” finally hit the big screen in 2008 with third feature film installment “Senior Year” (not to be confused with the Rebel Wilson comedy that’s on Netflix this Friday).
Efron then stepped away from the musical genre to try his hand at others: dramas “Me and Orson Welles”, “Charlie St. Cloud”, “The Lucky One” and “The Paperboy” didn’t make a lot of noise. Garry Marshall’s ensemble rom-com/rom-dram “New Year’s Eve” didn’t come close to the success of “Valentine’s Day”. And I hated the mean tone of comedy “17 Again”. In 2012, Efron lent his voice to Illumination’s blockbuster “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax”.
2014 saw Efron’s first non-musical live-action box office hit with R-rated comedy “Neighbors”, opposite Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne. They’d all re-team on a 2016 sequel “Sorority Rising”, which flopped. In between: “That Awkward Moment”, “We Are Your Friends” (a dud) and “Dirty Grandpa” with Robert De Niro (an embarrassment).
I did enjoy Efron, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza and Adam Devine in 2016’s “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates”: solid script and enough funny moments. 2017’s “Baywatch” is one I’d like to forget (and maybe Efron would as well).
So why not return to musicals? Efron enchanted a NEW generation of young fans in “The Greatest Showman”, alongside Hugh Jackman and Zendaya. My favorite performance of his to date is as Ted Bundy in underrated 2019 Netflix dramatic thriller “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”. And he had some great comedic timing as the voice of Fred Jones in WB’s 2020 “SCOOB!”
This weekend Efron stars in new Stephen King horror adaptation “Firestarter”. It’s in theaters AND on Peacock — the second film Universal decided to do a “day and date debut”, following the Jennifer Lopez / Owen Wilson rom-com “Marry Me” in February. We’ll see how many of Efron’s younger and older fans visit the cinemas and/or turn on NBC’s streaming service to see him in action this time.