Paramount Pictures is ready to dive in with its long-gestating movie transfer of the global hit TV series "Baywatch."
It already set Seth Gordon to direct and Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron to play the male leads. Now, they’ve set a short list of actresses who will test for the female lead. Here are the names Deadline has heard: Alexandra Daddario ("San Andreas," "Percy Jackson"), Ashley Benson ("Pretty Little Liars," "Elvis & Nixon"), Nina Dobrev ("Vampire Diaries"), Alexandra Shipp ("Straight Outta Compton," "X-Men Apocalypse"), Shelley Hennig ("Teen Wolf"), Bianca Santos ("The Duff") and Denyse Tontz ("Big Time Rush").
Now, it’s possible they will expand the search, and it’s also possible some of these young actresses will play other roles in the film, but we’ll know soon as they lock in for an early 2016 production start.
Johnson plays a by-the-book lifeguard forced to team with a young, rule-flouting hothead as they try to save the beach from environmental destruction at the hands of an oil tycoon. Damian Shannon and Mark Swift wrote the latest draft. Beau Flynn and Ivan Reitman are producing. Johnsons Seven Bucks Productions will also produce in some capacity.
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