Zac Efron shot to fame as a Disney Channel teen heartthrob in the High School Musical movies, but in the dozen years since the final installment, he’s gone out of his way to try and reinvent his screen persona. While he’s still searching for that big role that will take his career as a leading man to the next level, he’s nonetheless managed to shake off the all-singing, all-dancing reputation that came dangerously close to seeing him typecast forever while still in his early 20s.
It can’t be a coincidence that the 32 year-old has avoided working with Disney ever since High School Musical came to an end, with his focus largely being on broad studio comedies like Neighbors, Dirty Grandpa and Baywatch, or playing deliberately against type as either The Beach Bum‘s Flicker or Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile‘s Ted Bundy. And so far, he’s seen much success.
However, it appears that Efron is now on his way back to the Mouse House after reportedly agreeing to star in the Disney Plus remake of classic 1980s comedy Three Men and a Baby as one of the leads. The 1987 original was the year’s biggest hit at the domestic box office and earned $240 million globally on an $11 million budget, with less-popular sequel Three Men and a Little Lady arriving three years later.
While there’ve been rumors in recent years that Disney were planning a third installment with original stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson under the working title Three Men and a Bride, it looks like that idea is off the table now that they’ve hired a star of Zac Efron‘s magnitude for a straight-up remake of Three Men and a Baby. Not much is known about the project just yet, but the actor must have been impressed with the script to sign on to a new take on a beloved classic hailing from a studio that he’s been actively avoiding for over a decade.
