Back in 2019, Zac Efron had our skin crawling when he took on the role of Ted Bundy for Netfix drama Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, but it’s been some time since we’ve seen the actor take on another buzzy leading role since. Now we have our first look at his next movie, Gold, and it’s another intense thriller from the former High School Musical heartthrob.
In the trailer above, Zac Efron is the star of an upcoming movie that sees him and another mysterious man (played by the movie’s writer/director Anthony Hayes) traveling through the desert when they strike gold… literally. But as the pair attempts to retrieve their riches, some crazy stuff begins to occur.
As Screen Media Films describes it, Gold takes place in is about two drifters who find the “biggest gold nugget ever found” and their dreams of wealth and greed takes hold of the two of them. One of the men (Hayes) decides to leave the nugget in order to get the necessary tools to excavate it whilst Efron’s character stays with the gold and must endure the harsh elements, wild dogs and mysterious intruders who lurk in the desert. Then he begins to suspect he has been abandoned by the other man.
Gold was announced in late 2020 and was filmed in Australia just as Zac Efron decided to move out to the Down Under. The movie places a lot of the acting weight on Efron as he is left in the desert alone, allowing the opportunity for The Greatest Showman actor to really lean into being a leading man in an intense film. Recently, Efron called his experience working on the film as “brutal,” along with sharing that he is “proud” of the work that went into Gold.
After the actor’s shift from comedy with Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Gold is another dramatic turn alongside his upcoming starring role in the Firestarter remake. Although the actor hasn’t starred in a live-action movie since 2019, as Ted Bundy and in The Beach Bum with Matthew McConaughey, he had his own Netflix travel show in 2020 called Down To Earth with Zac Efron. He’s also working on an adventure series called Killing Zac Efron which will take the actor “deep into the jungles of a remote, dangerous island to carve his own name in expedition history.”
With that in mind, it seems like a movie like Gold is right down Zac Efron’s avenue. It looks like it will be a survival thriller that will test his character’s perseverance and challenge his mind regarding the idea of greed and wealth in our society. Gold is among 2022’s upcoming movies – it heads to theaters on March 11 and will be available on demand on March 18.
