Zac Efron Begins Filming New Movie 'Ricky Stanicky' in Richmond, Melbourne

Zac's upcoming film, Ricky Stanicky, follows a group of three close friends who created a fictional human character to take the blame for whatever mistake goes wrong in their little pranks. After a couple of years, the friends decided to hire an actor to play the part of their imaginary friend to avoid their wives from finding out.

Peter Farrelly, popular for his work in Dumb and Dumber, is set to direct this upcoming comedy movie starring the likes of Zac Efron and John Cena.

For Efron and Farrelly, this would be the second movie they have made working together. The first was The Greatest Beer Run Ever, which aired on Apple TV+ last year.

Joining in creating this comedic movie will be Oscar-winning Australian producer Paul Currie. Alongside him are international sales producer and agent Thorsten Schumacher and comedy producer John Jacobs.

The entire Filming duration in Melbourne, Australia, is expected to last over the course of eight weeks, between February to March — it might also hit April. According to inside sources, the Victorian capital will double for Providence, Rhode Island.

Throughout his stay in Down Under, Zac Efron has been spotted in several locations across Melbourne. On Tuesday evening, the 35-year-old actor was seen at The Royston Hotel in the suburbs of Richmond in what appears to be a scene from the movie.

The California native looked fully dressed for a business or professional meeting, wearing a long sleeve shirt, black trousers with gray pants, and a pair of black shoes.

Not minding the crowd (and paparazzi) waiting to catch a picture of him, Efron looked focused in character. The star walked out of the bar and strode into a black car's passenger seat before it drove off.

While on the scene, crew members at one point had to hide Zac from the paparazzi by using a bunnings umbrella to cover his face.

The Greatest Showman actor has been seen enjoying most of Australia's capital city. Earlier this week, Zac could be seen at a popular bar, Her and The George in Collins restaurant.

More reports on his movement around Melbourne show that he played golf during his off time and visited the Monash hospital for children.

Reports from the Herald Sun suggest that the star offered to buy a round of drinks for the patrons available at the local bar he visited. Later on, he was with co-star Anja Savcic enjoying the life of the city.

From the set in Surrey Hills, Zac reportedly praised the production crew working with him. Efron referred to the Victorian crew as "incredible" while adding, "it's a fantastic place to work."

Still speaking to the crew and acknowledging their "incredible" work, he said, "I would love to shoot stuff for the rest of my life here. I hope this is the beginning of that."

Reports say that Ricky Stanicky will boost the movie industry in Victoria. By creating over 350 jobs and 850 roles for local residents and extras — an expected $40 million will be injected into the state's economy.

One of the producers, Paul Currie, spoke on the benefit of the movie for the region. He said, "The Victorian industry just thrives on a movie of this scale, the ripple of it, it goes into so many other businesses, construction, catering, restaurants, accommodation, travel - the ripple is just huge when you have a footprint like this."

Director Peter Farrelly had some reminiscing words to say about Australia. In a statement, Farrelly said, "I can't tell you how happy I am to be back in Australia—and, specifically, in Melbourne, where I spent my honeymoon 26 years ago."

Farrelly added that he has been trying to make the movie for over ten years, and it's a dream come true for him. In his words, "To finally get to make the movie that I've been trying to make for ten years, it's a dream come true."

The Hollywood comedy movie featuring Zac Efron, John Cena, and, possibly, Jim Carrey will be released in theaters in the first quarter of 2024.