UPDATE: Zac Efron is adding another movie to his "to-do" list: Die in a Gunfight. He plays the son of a powerful New York lawyer who falls in love with the daughter of his dad's enemy. Mark Gordon is producing.

Just yesterday, it was announced that Efron would star in the movie version of Nicholas Sparks' novel "The Lucky One."

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July 13, 2010 -- Zac Efron is following in the footsteps of other young A-list actors who have their choice of projects: starting a production company (Taylor Lautner "Tailor Made" is the most recent, before that you'd have to look at Reese Witherspoon's "Type A" or Natalie Portman "handsomecharlie" for thespians moving into the role of producers while still young). The reason to do this is there's a LOT more money if you're also a producer or exec producer on a film and more control. Sometimes, the studios will send scripts and if Efron wants to star in it, part of the deal is that his Ninjas Runnin' Wild Productions will be one of the producers. Sometimes, his team will find a project that they'll pitch to studios...and if you have an A-list star attached, chances are much better it will get the greenlight. It's a great way for new screenwriters to get their first picture made because these star-led production companies are more open to reading scripts from untested writers than studios which look for a track record.

Ninjas Runnin' Wild already has five movies on its development slate:

* The previously announced Snabba Cash, a remake of a hit Swedish film, which Efron will co-produce with Atlas Entertainment.

*   An untitled "workplace comedy" which will reunite the 17 Again team.

* Einstein Theory, a time-travel comedy from Get Him to the Greek/Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nick Stoller.

* Fire, based on the graphic novel of the same name, which has a kind of "Chuck"-like premise about a college student recruited by the CIA.

* Art of the Steal, based on a "Wired" article, about a master thief. NRW will make this film for Warner Brothers and with Langley Park Productions.

Heading up Ninjas Runnin' Wild is former 20th Century Fox exec Jason Young who is behind movies like X-Men: The Last Stand, Live Free or Die Hard and Max Payne.

To read more, go to:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i4528d6a95462e4107c6a92f2ddba10fe

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