Charlie St. Cloud star Zac Efron already proved he could do a mean Robert De Niro impression in this summer’s comedy smash hit Neighbors, and now we’ve learned that the actor will be joining forces with the acting legend himself for an upcoming comedy titled Dirty Grandpa.
Described as a road trip comedy, Dirty Grandpa will find Efron playing a young man tricked into driving his dirty-minded grandfather (De Niro), a former Army general, to Florida for spring break. Their trip is complicated by the grandfather’s belief that his grandson is on the cusp of marrying the wrong woman.
Dan Mazer, known for collaborating with Sacha Baron Cohen and helming the Britcom I Give It A Year, is set to direct the comedy, which was once housed at Universal but is now being packaged by QED.
Take this casting news with a grain of salt – The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story, cautions that talks are still very early and may not work out. And if they don’t, it would be understandable, given how busy both Efron and De Niro have been of late. The former is now toplining a romantic comedy called We Are Your Friends, set in the world of EDM, and will star in John Grisham adaptation The Associate. Meanwhile, the latter has boxing biopic Hands of Stone in the bag, is currently filming Nancy Meyers’ comedy The Intern and is also set to star in crime thrillers Idol’s Eye and Bus 567.
On paper, Efron and De Niro seem like a promising comedic match-up, so hopefully the stars’ schedules will align and allow them to both tackle Dirty Grandpa. Though the plot seems rather standard, Meet the Fockers showed us just how hilarious De Niro can be in a well-written comedic role, and Efron delivered a stellar turn in Neighbors that reignited our interest in the High School Musical alum’s career.
We’ll keep you posted as more on Dirty Grandpa, which QED will shop around in Toronto, emerges.