Zac Efron

Former teen idol Zac Efron, who rose to fame in the Disney “High School Musical” franchise, says the upcoming “Baywatch” movie in which he will co-star with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be almost nothing like the 1990s TV series about lifeguards.

Although the movie is in preliminary stages, Efron said he was looking forward to it departing from the TV show that starred David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson and almost always featured a rescue at sea, no matter how tangential to the plot.

“It’s going to be R-rated and it’s going to be badass,” Efron told Reuters, referring to the Hollywood classification for movies containing adult material.

Efron, who was in London for the European premiere on Tuesday of his new movie “We Are Your Friends”, in which he plays a DJ who gets caught up in the drug-and-booze-fuelled world of the California party and club scene, said the evolving “Baywatch” movie would skew towards comedy and raunch.

“I think we’re going like pretty big with it and I don’t think it’s going to be much like the old ‘Baywatch’ to be honest. I think we’re going to kind of reinvent it in a big way, and he (Johnson) has big plans for it. I know he’s very ambitious.”

Efron also responded to a tweet sent by Johnson, who doubles as a producer for the film, which read: “BIG NEWS: Welcoming my dude @ZacEfron to #BAYWATCH. Our movie will be big, fun and RATED R… Like me when I drink.”

Efron replied saying: “So stoked brother – baby oil for 2 plz.”

“We Are Your Friends” will be released in British cinemas on August 27.