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]