Cinematical

When we last told you about this project, all we knew was that New Line won the auction on an untitled comedy pitch from Bringing Down the House scribe Jason Filardi, that Adam Shankman was producing, Zac Efron was starring, and no one was giving any plot information away except that it was being called the "Mysterious High School Pitch." Well now, folks are finally starting to talk about it, and Efron not only gave us a title but he also shared the high-concept premise as well. In speaking with VH1, Efron (who's apparently the hot new kid on the block, having starred in a little ensemble hit called High School Musical) said that his first solo vehicle will be the film Seventeen.

He continues: "It's kind of like a reverse Big, about a guy who is older and his life never came out how he planned. [The character] wishes he could go back to high school, and sure enough, he wakes up and he is young again, he is 17 again." Shankman added that New Line is hot to make the flick, and he hopes production on it will begin this fall. Ah, reaching back to spin a concept from the late '80s -- remember when Dudley Moore swapped places with Kirk Cameron in a movie called Like Father Like Son (at the time, it was a cool film -- looking back now, it has to be one of the oddest on-screen pairings in history). A year later there was Tom Hanks in Big, as well as Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold in Vice Versa. Years later, Jennifer Garner produced a hit with the female version of Big, 13 Going on 30. Granted, no one is swapping places in Seventeen, but I'm sure the film will tap into some of those same "adult in high school-like environment' regurgitated jokes. Can't wait for the one where he doesn't know how to work an iPod. Classic!

Efron also addressed rumors that he would not be returning for the third film in the High School Musical franchise (and first to hit the big screen), titled Haunted High School Musical. He says (regarding the negotiations): "At this point, it is not in my hands. I mean, I would love to do a third 'High School Musical'; it would be a great way to finish off the series." I'm sure there's a lot of fans out there who, like, totally agree.