Zac Efron to star in Mandate thriller

'HSM' thesp will also exec produce untitled pic

By DAVE MCNARY

Zac Efron has signed on to star in an untitled thriller for Mandate Pictures, with Greg Shapiro of Kingsgate Films, Jason Barrett and Leslie Dixon producing.

Dixon's penning the script; the logline's staying under wraps. Project reteams the scribe with Efron two years after she wrote and he starred in "Hairspray."

Efron and Mandate's Nathan Kahane will exec produce. The thesp has worked previously with Barrett, who exec produced "17 Again."

Efron ankled Paramount's remake of "Footloose" in March and is set to reteam with "17 Again" director Burr Steers on an adaptation of novel "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud" at Universal.

Shapiro's credits include "The Hurt Locker" and the "Harold and Kumar" franchise.