Efron books 2 new pics (DH)

By Nancy Tartaglione

Zac Efron has linked himself to a pair of projects he hopes will give him the chance to broaden his range, Deadline.com reports. In separate deals at Universal and Warner Bros., the actor is looking at a Ludlum-esque thriller and a "Back to the Future"-style pic, according to Deadline.

Efron will tackle Universal's "Fire," a spy thriller that is an adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis' graphic novel. He would play a college student who is recruited by the CIA, only to find that he has been trained for a program that creates expendable agents, Deadline says.

Bendis will write the script. Neal Moritz will produce with Circle of Confusion�s David Engel. Efron and Alchemy Entertainment�s Jason Barrett will be exec producers.

A separate deal at Warner Bros. will put Efron in a "Back to the Future"-like film that melds two projects. One, according to Deadline, is a pitch from writers Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski, and the other is a WB project called "Algorithm" that the studio was already developing as a directing vehicle for Nick Stoller.

Mark Gordon and Bryan Zuriff are producing and Alan Riche is exec producer along with Efron and Barrett.