In the upcoming film Dirty Grandpa, heartthrob actor Zac Efron (Neighbors, High School Musical) will play an uptight guy who right before his wedding is tricked into driving his perverted former Army general grandfather to Florida for spring break. We imagine De Niro’s character to be a cross between Grumpy Old Men, Shit My Dad Says with a touch of Jack Nicholson’s “You can’t handle the truth” performance in A Few Good Men. Dirty Grandpa is scheduled for release on Christmas Day, 2015.
Dirty Grandpa will be written and directed by Dan Mazer, long time writing and production partner of Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, The Dictator, Da Ali G Show). Mazer’s first feature film, the 2013 rom-com I Give It a Year starring Rose Byrne was not received well. The New York Times wrote that Mazur “constantly misjudges the balance between sharp edges and soft centers.” And the Boston Globe wrote: “the tonal clash is jarring, and Mazer doesn’t help matters by erring on the side of blandness.” But can De Niro and Efron be bland together?