{"id":608841,"date":"2026-05-28T17:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/608841\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:25:09","slug":"zac-efron-to-star-in-angel-heart-series-from-hbo-and-a24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/608841\/","title":{"rendered":"Zac Efron To Star In ‘Angel Heart’ Series From HBO And A24"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: A24 and The Iron Claw star Zac Efron<\/a> have found their next project to partner with HBO<\/a> and Zach Baylin for a new take on an 80s cult classic. Sources tell Deadline that HBO and A24 are developing an Angel Heart<\/a> drama series with Efron attached to star and exec produce with Black Rabbit creator Zach Baylin writing and exec producing.<\/p>\n

\n\tJonathan van Tulleken, best known for his work on Shogun, is expected to direct several episodes as well as exec produce. Other exec producers include Baylin\u2019s partner Kate Susman through their Youngblood Pictures Marc Toberoff, Max Hjortsberg, Lorca Hjortsberg, Alice P. Neuhauser, Joe Hipps for Cut To, Stuart Manashil, Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss.<\/p>\n

\n\tBased on the William Hjortsberg\u2019s 1978 novel Fallen\u00a0Angel and the sequel thereto Angel\u2019s Inferno and the series will follow a down-and-out NYC paparazzi, who makes his living finding and photographing people who\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0want to be found, who is hired by a mysterious man to find a missing woman. But the deeper he digs to find her, the more it looks like a\u00a0group\u00a0of\u00a0powerful elites, and\u00a0maybe something\u00a0supernatural, are covering up the disappearance.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis marks the second adaptation of the novel following cult classic Angel Heart starring Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet and Robert De Niro. The pic follows Rourke\u2019s private investigator who is hired to solve the mysterious disappearance of a singer known as Johnny Favorite. His investigation takes him to New Orleans, where he becomes embroiled in a series of brutal murders. When that film initially premiered, it was received with mixed reviews, an underwhelming box-office performance and plenty of controversy as it was initially given an X-rating for a graphic sex scene that eventually was cut down to get the R rating.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tANGEL HEART, from left: Lisa Bonet, Mickey Rourke, 1987. \u00a9TriStar Pictures\/courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the years to come the film has since grown a cult following and a new appreciation for its style and tone and felt like the perfect property to reinvent for the modern day audience. The package was initially put together by Efron and A24 who then brought it to Baylin seeing him as a great fit after Black Rabbit. Van Tulleken would soon follow given his track record on directing cinematic TV series and the package then hit the market. It wasn\u2019t long after hitting the streets before HBO jumped at the chance to partner with A24. The two studios had previously worked on the Emmy-nominated adaptation of The Sympathizer starring Robert Downey Jr.<\/p>\n

\n\tBaylin has been on roll both on the film and TV front starting with last falls hit Netflix crime series Black Rabbit starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman. Baylin created series, served as showrunner and exec produced it with Susman and it is now in the thick of this years limited series Emmy race. Baylin also recently penned the Lance Armstrong spec that sol to Apple this past spring with Ed Berger Directing and Austin Butler attached to star as the famed cyclist. He is repped by Brillstein Entertainment, CAA and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for Efron, this marks the third project for him and A24 going back to the wrestling drama The Iron Claw. The film earned Efron some of the best reviews of his career and at the time was one of the biggest domestic box-office draws the studio will had ever seen.<\/p>\n

\n\tNext up for Efron and the studio is the dark comedy Famous from director Jody Hill that also stars Phoebe Dynevor. Efron also has the Amazon MGM Studios comedy Judgement Day where he stars opposite Will Ferrell. WME and Gang,\u00a0Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.<\/p>\n

\n\tVan Tulleken is best known for his work directing the early episodes of the hit FX series Shogun. Next up he has directed episodes for the highly anticipated Apple TV series Cape Fear and Lucky. He is repped by WME, Untitled, and Independent Talent Group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: A24 and The Iron Claw star Zac Efron have found their next project to partner with HBO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[207294,6491,96,1636,56,54,55,19141],"class_list":["post-608841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-angel-heart","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-hbo","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-zac-efron"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}