Nicolas Stoller to direct Zac Efron and Seth Rogen in 'Townies'

Zac Efron has managed to make some pretty good traction breaking out of the High School Musical mold and into more mature roles. His starring turn in 17 Again positioned him as a comedic star with a lot of potential, and he was relatively inoffensive in the otherwise superb Me & Orson Welles. As he's grown up, all those little girls who adored him before continue to follow his career, turning The Lucky One into a modest sized hit. Last year we learned Efron would be joining Seth Rogen in an Old School-style, R-rated comedy, in a move that could be his biggest yet. Now we know a bit more about it, like the title and who will be helming the thing.

Nicholas Stoller(Forgetting Sarah Marshall) will direct the newly titled Townies, coming off a poor showing for his most recent effort, The Five-Year Engagement. Stoller has been the guy for a lot of Judd Apatow-produced films, and while this doesn't count as one it sure as heck sounds like it.  Efron will play the alpha male head of a crazy fraternity that is wreaking havoc on a family man's(Rogen) life. The script comes from Apatow buds, Andrew Cohen and Brendan O'Brien, with Evan Goldberg(Superbad) producing.

Obviously, this is a smart move for Efron as it gets him in good with the Apatow crew even better than he already was. He starred with Apatow's wife, Leslie Mann, in 17 Again and apparently they all hit it off pretty well. [THR]