Commercial and music video director Fredrik Bond has been tapped to helm Mandate’s untitled romantic action movie written by Matt Drake that is serving as a starring vehicle for Zac Efron.
The project was originally titled The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman and had been on the 2007 Black List. Efron has been circling the project for quite some time but, with the boarding of Bond, has now committed to the project.
According to Mandate, Efron will play a suburban kid who travels to Eastern Europe to find himself and falls for a young woman. The only thing standing between them is her charismatic, dangerous ex from a criminal underworld. Armed with little more than his wit and naive charm, Efron endures one bruising beatdown after another in order to woo the girl he loves and achieve salvation.
Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa of Bona Fide Prods. will produce along with William Horberg. Mandate’s Nathan Kahane and Dean Parisot are executive producing. Carlo Martinelli will serve as a co-producer.
Lawrence Grey will oversee for Mandate.
CAA- and Management 360-repped Bond, a multi-commercial directing nominee by the DGA, has been searching to make his feature debut for some time, with his name associated with projects such as Hovercar Racer and remakes of horror movies The Host and The Hunger.
