Zac Efron is out of Footloose and looking for something more serious. Variety says he’s negotiating to topline The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, based on a novel whose cover has autumn colors and a falling leave on it. That kind of cover folks, is the stuff Oscars (or at least movies Oprah loves), are made of.

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud is about a cemetery caretaker who survives a tragic accident and suddenly sees the world in a whole new way. That new way of seeing the world includes having weekly meetings with his dead little brother. The description on the book cover claims it contains “a love that transcends everything you may have believed about life and death.” Yep. It’s that kind of movie.

I really want to hate Efron for his lingering association with Disney’s High School Musical cash-cow, but the guy deserves credit. He’s avoided being turned into a male Miley Cyrus clone by mixing up those Disney puff-flicks with more serious and interesting stuff. He was great in Hairspray and later this year he’ll be in an Orson Welles pic directed by Orson Linklater. Say what you want about High School Musical but with choices like this Zac Efron may have the chops to stick around.