Zac is back. Bruce is back, too. And so are Sly, 50 Cent, Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, WWE Studios and any number of return visitors to Hollywood South. In fact, aside from the sheer number of major feature-film productions preparing to set up shop in New Orleans this summer – which comes on the heels of an already bustling spring 2011 – the standout feature of the slate of arriving movie productions is the number of familiar faces it contains.

Call it the “Boomerang Summer.” Not only is it fun to have so many famous faces in town, but it also speaks volumes to the maturity of the local film industry that so many stars are on their second – or third or even higher – trip to the Crescent City.

For those keeping score at home, here’s a quick rundown of all the major comings and goings on the local film scene…

“The Paperboy”
Director Lee Daniels’ follow-up to his Oscar-nominated 2009 drama “Precious” will apparently bring him to New Orleans in July, with Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire and Zac Efron in tow. (McConaughey’s local credits include 2006′s “Failure to Launch” and this past spring’s “Killer Joe.” Efron spent last winter here on “The Lucky One.”) “Paperboy,” based on the novel by Pete Dexter, is a dark crime drama about a small-town newspaper carrier – the son of the paper’s publisher – who signs on to help his hot-shot reporter brother investigate the death of a death-row inmate. Nu Image / Millennium Films – the same outfit behind such local films as “The Expendables,” “The Mechanic,” “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” and “Drive Angry 3D” – is producing.

[Source]

Zac Efron did not win the “Best Male Performance” award during yesterday’s MTV Movie Awards. Robert Pattinson of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” scored this award. He even mentioned Zac during his acceptance speech.

“I really didn’t think I was going to win. Zac Efron was crying and stuff in that clip!” Pattinson said during his acceptance speech, referring to his fellow nominee’s performance in “Charlie St. Cloud.”

Unfortunately, Zac Efron did not attend the award gala.

The MTV Movie Awards are this Sunday, June 5th, and PopSugar is extremely excited to announce we’ll be going LIVE from the red carpet at 4:00 pm PT / 7:00 pm ET! We’ll be interviewing celebrities as they arrive to the event and we’d love for you to join us! As you know, Zac Efron is nominated this year! We are hoping to get some time with Zac Efron on the red carpet this year.

Enjoy watching this video!

Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron have boarded an untitled Ramin Bahrani pic, which London-based international sales and production outfit Bankside Films is shopping in Cannes. Pic, which is to lense in summer, tells the story of a farmer whose manic expansion alienates his sons and devoted wife.

Pic, which comes out of Bankside’s development deal with Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler’s Killer Films, is being shopped domestically by CAA.

KillerMoxie’s Brian Young produces along with Kevin Turen and Justin Knappi. Andrew Levitas co-produces.

Financiers and executive producers attached to the project include Bankside Films’ Phil Hunt; Michael Benaroya and Rose Ganguzza of Benaroya Pictures; Moe Al Turki and Ron Curtis.

Bankside is also shopping Famke Janssen’s directorial debut “Bringing up Bobby,” which screened to a packed crowd Thursday, Michael Winterbottom’s “Trishna,” and “The Door,” helmed by Istvan Szabo. [Source]

Zac Efron doesn’t have a hard time making the ladies swoon, but it seems that one of his upcoming projects will certify his status as a box office babe: “Die in a Gunfight,” an action flick that shares common themes with Shakespeare’s classic “Romeo and Juliet.”

Last week, we spoke with “Gunfight” director Anthony Mandler, who very recently signed on to helm the project. He gave us the scoop on working with the former “High School Musical” sensation on this latest film and helping him bridge the difficult road from kid star to adult actor.

“I just signed on to a movie ‘Die in a Gunfight’ that Zac Efron’s starring in,” Mandler told MTV News. “It’s a ‘Fight Club,’ ‘Romeo and Juliet’–esque, dystopian, another world [type of story] that’s really exciting.”

The film certainly doesn’t sound anything like “High School Musical,” to say the least, and in Mandler’s opinion, this could well be the movie that changes the way people view Efron as an actor.

“It’s an absolute departure and opportunity for him to show this transition from teenage star to man,” he said. “And I think it’s the movie that we’ve all been waiting for him to do, and like ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was [Leonardo] DiCaprio or like ‘Cry Baby’ was for Johnny Depp. There’s a real opportunity for this movie to show a different side of Zac Efron. It’s an incredibly well written script… very exciting.”

As for his current progress on the film, Mandler said: “We’re doing rewrites on [it] and probably prepping for the fall.” [Source]

DIRECTV Cinema and MTV want to send “The Ultimate Movie Fan” and a guest to the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, California! Experience the MTV Movie awards live and see your favorite celebrities up close and personal! Grand Prize includes round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, tickets to the 2012 MTV Movie Awards on June 5th, and more for the winner and 1 guest! The Grand Prize winner’s video will also be revealed during DIRECTV’s broadcast of the 2011 MTV Movie Awards. In addition, five (5) runner up contestants will be chosen by a judging panel to receive a new tablet device!

Check out a video from MTV News’s Josh Horowitz on how to enter here. Or simply head to ultimatemoviefan.com, upload a short video about your favorite 2011 Movie Award nominee and explain why you are “The Ultimate Movie Fan!” But hurry the entry period ends May 22th!

Zac Efron talks about the impact of arts on his life and shares his moments of artistic realization and inspiration in an PSA for Ovation to support and encourage the next generation of artists.

“The first time I got on stage, I was really young, but I’ll never forget the feeling it gave me – that gratification,” says Zac Efron in his segment. “The key to discovering your dreams in the first place is creativity.”

Zac Efron attended the LA Family Housing Gala in Hollywood on May 12th, 2011. Enjoy the pics!

Gallery link:
• [5/12] LA Family Housing Gala (x20)

Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire, Sofia Vergara and Zac Efron will star in an adaptation of the 1995 Pete Dexter novel “The Paperboy” for Millennium Films.

Lee Daniels is set to direct the sexual thriller, which follows a Miami Times reporter as he returns to his Florida hometown to investigate the imprisonment of a death row inmate. Pedro Almodovar developed a feature project with Dexter for more than a decade before Daniels became involved early this year.

Hilary Shor is producing with Daniels. Avi Lerner, Trevor Short and Danny Dimbort are executive producers.

“This is a good film for us,” said Lerner, “a project that has Pedro Almodovar attached, is set in the steamy South, directed by Lee Daniels, Hilary Shor producing, and with the incredible cast of Matthew, Tobey, Sofia and Zac.”

CAA’s Roeg Sutherland and Maha Dakhil put the package together. Nu Image is repping foreign sales. [Source]