Zac Efron a LUCKY ONE in New Featurette

Will actor Zac Efron become the next Ryan Gosling? For many film viewers, Gosling first hit their radars when he starred in The Notebook, a big screen adaptation of a romantic Nicholas Sparks novel. It’s Efron’s turn to headline a Sparks adapted picture. Today the actor appears in a film featurette.

The film is called The Lucky One. In it Efron plays a Marine fighting in Iraq. Sparks fans will no doubt draw a congruency between The Lucky One and Channing Tatum’s role in Sparks’ Dear John. Efron’s Marine stumbles across a photo of a woman, and through a series of events, becomes convinced the photo of a stranger brings him good luck.

Once Efron’s character, U.S. Marine Logan Thibault, gets back stateside to Colorado, he can’t stop thinking about his lucky charm. He goes on a journey to find the smiling face from his photo, but instead meets Elizabeth, a divorced mother, and carries on a passionate affair with her. His obsession with the old photo however creeps into the relationship, despite his attempt to hide it from Elizabeth, and it the results threaten their very lives.

The Lucky One doesn’t just sound dramatic, it sounds like a very grown up role for the young Efron. Message in a Bottle and Nights in Rodanthe, two other adaptations of Sparks novels, after all, are quite grown up tales of love. Perhaps the featurette will shine some light as to whether Efron is ready.

The Lucky One is directed by Scott Hicks. Have you seen the film poster? Kind of steamy! Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner co-star. I don’t mind really that folks may confuse this one with The Lucky Ones from 2008. That picture, somewhat coincidentally co-starred Notebook‘s Rachel McAdams. It is also about soldiers home from Iraq and I felt was under appreciated.