Akiva Goldsman has been something of a laughing stock in the geek community ever since he and Joel Schumacher killed the Batman franchise with Batman and Robin, but with his directorial debut Winter's Tale in the works, I smell a comeback. Now THR is reporting that Goldsman is teaming with former Disney Channel star Zac Efron on a new project, a supernatural thriller called The Falling.
Efron will star and also produce under his ridiculously-named production company Ninjas Runnin' Wild (then again, Goldsman is a grown ass man and his company is called Weed Road, so I guess ridiculousness is in the eye of the beholder).
As for the plot, we don't know much. THR calls it "an edgy thriller centering around an otherworldly being,"and stress that "every effort is being made to protect the logline" for the movie, so apparently secrecy is a top priority for this one. Goldsman and All You Need Is Kill writer Joby Harold - who is also producing The Fallen - were pitched the project from within Warner Bros., and the two knocked out an outline for the story. Now the search is on for a screenwriter and a director.
Though hating on Efron is apparently the "cool" thing to do, I actually think the guy has a lot of charisma and talent beyond his small screen and rom-com appearances so far. (Anyone who saw last year's Liberal Arts also got a look at his comedic chops.) As for Goldsman's involvement: that guy has one of the biggest hit and miss filmographies in Hollywood, so it's impossible to guess how this project will turn out, especially with the story being kept so tightly under wraps. We'll keep you posted with more info as it pops up.