Zac Efron Set for Dual Roles in Celebrity Doppelgänger Thriller ‘Famous’ for Black Bear and Esmail Corp.

Sales to Launch at the Upcoming European Film Market

Black Bear and Esmail Corp. today announced the launch of director Jody Hill’s (Observe & Report, HBO’s Eastbound & Down) latest feature film, Famous, a Los Angeles-set thriller that explores the dark side of celebrity, and the lengths people will go to attain it. Zac Efron (The Iron Claw, The Greatest Showman) will star in dual roles, playing both overzealous fan, Lance Dunkquist, and Hollywood heartthrob, James Jansen.

The film is based on the acclaimed novel by New York Times bestselling author Blake Crouch and is adapted for the screen by Chad Hodge,  who also adapted Crouch’s Wayward Pines trilogy.Black Bear will introduce Famous to international buyers at the upcoming EFM with CAA Media Finance and WME Independent representing the U.S. rights.

Lance Dunkquist has one asset that’s about to 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 is going to be famous, no matter what it takes…

Famous is being produced by Sam Esmail and Chad Hamilton for Esmail Corp., which most recently produced a smash streaming hit in Netflix’s Leave the World Behind, directed by Esmail and starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke and Myha’la. The film debuted on platform in December, where it quickly became the number one title, registering over 40 million views. Esmail Corp. is also behind such acclaimed television series as Emmy nominated Homecoming starring Julia Roberts, and Emmy Award winning Mr. Robot starring Rami Malek. Nick Krishnamurthy will also serve as Executive Producer for Esmail Corp.Efron has established himself as one of the most versatile, charismatic and popular stars working today.

Efron is currently receiving some of the strongest reviews of his career for his standout turn in Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw, having previously established his supreme talent for comedy in films including the Neighbors franchise, showcased his musical talents in The Greatest Showman ($439 million global box office) and chilled audiences in the role of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Efron is represented by WME.

Hill is a multi-faceted writer, producer and director, who is partnered with Danny McBride and David Gordon Green in Rough House Pictures. Hill co-created, produced and directed the hit TV series “Eastbound & Down” for HBO, co-created, produced, and directed Vice Principals alongside McBride, and directed episodes of The Righteous Gemstones. In the feature world, Hill has directed Observe and Report for Warner Bros., starring Seth Rogen and Michael Peña, and The Legacy of A Whitetail Deer Hunter for Netflix, starring Josh Brolin and Danny McBride. Hill is represented by CAA and LBI Entertainment.This marks Hodge and Crouch’s third collaboration following Wayward Pines, which was created and run by Hodge and received the biggest worldwide launch in the history of television; and Good Behavior, which earned Hodge a WGA Award nomination.

Hodge is represented by WME and Anonymous Content.During the EFM, Black Bear will also be handling sales on Afterburn, starring Dave Bautista and Samuel L. Jackson, and Train Dreams, with Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones. 

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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