Zac Efron Attaches to Angel Heart Series at HBO and A24
zac efron is attached to star in HBO and A24’s Angel Heart drama series and will executive produce it. The project gives the pair a new swing at a cult property that already reached theaters in 1987, this time as a series built around a missing-person case with supernatural overtones.
HBO and A24’s Angel Heart
HBO and A24 are developing the series from William Hjortsberg’s 1978 novel Fallen Angel and the sequel Angel’s Inferno. The story follows a down-and-out New York City paparazzi who is hired by a mysterious man to find a missing woman, then keeps digging until a group of powerful elites and something supernatural appear to be covering up the disappearance.
Zach Baylin is writing and executive producing, while Jonathan van Tulleken is expected to direct several episodes and executive produce. Kate Susman, Marc Toberoff, Max Hjortsberg, Lorca Hjortsberg, Alice P. Neuhauser, Joe Hipps, Stuart Manashil, Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss are also executive producing, giving the project a sizable production bench before the series has even moved in front of cameras.
From 1987 to now
The 1987 Angel Heart film starred Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet and Robert De Niro, but it arrived with mixed reviews and an underwhelming box office performance. It was also first given an X rating for a graphic sex scene before the material was cut down to secure an R rating, a reminder that the title has always carried more friction than easy nostalgia.
This new version is the third project for Efron and A24, following their earlier work together on The Iron Claw. That history makes him a practical fit for a property that needs a recognizable lead but also a studio willing to treat a cult title as a series play instead of a one-off revival.
What Efron brings
Efron’s attachment does more than add a known name; it signals that HBO and A24 want the series to travel beyond the original film’s audience. A lead who is already tied to the package can help the project move from development into the harder part of the process, where scripts, direction and casting have to hold the same dark tone as the source material.
For viewers, the immediate change is simple: Angel Heart is back in play as a television project, with Efron at the center and a writing-directing team already assigned. If the series advances, the next thing to watch is whether this version keeps the story’s supernatural edge while making the missing-woman mystery work in episodic form.
