WarnerMedia held an investor presentation of its upcoming streaming service HBO Max. Celebrity creatives like J.J. Abrams and Greg Berlanti joined executives in introducing some of the new programming coming to the streaming service. On-screen talent from movies and television will also have a presence on HBO Max, and not only starring in the new series and movies. HBO Max showed a video of Zac Efron discussing the scariest movie he ever saw.
Efron is part of the Warner Brothers empire having starred in movies like Hairspray, The Lucky One, 17 Again, The Disaster Artist and We Are Your Friends for the studio. Find out how HBO Max is utilizing talent like Efron beyond simply showing his films on the streaming service, and which movie scared Efron for two straight years, before HBO max launches May 2020.
Why Zac Efron is on HBO Max
One of HBO Max’s features is called Recommended by Humans. Instead of the computerized algorithm streaming services like Netflix use to try to predict what a subscriber might like to watch next, HBO Max just has real people talk about what they like.
Not just any humans though. Zac Efron joins other celebrities like Regina King and Bill Hader giving recommendations to HBO Max subscribers.
The scariest movie Zac Efron saw
Zac Efron recommends The Exorcist to HBO Max viewers. That also confirms The Exoricst will be one of the many Warner Bros. classics that HBO Max will offer. They showed a clip of Efron talking about the first time he saw The Exorcist.
“The Exorcist describes a chapter in my life,” Efron said. “I think I was 13-years-old. We weren’t telling our parents. It was rated R. I was petrified. I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. My little boy instincts were telling me to not look away. It was earth-shattering for me.”
‘The Exorcist’ scared Zac Efron for more than just two hours
Often hailed as the scariest movie ever made, The Exorcist is based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, inspired by the allegedly true story of a possessed boy. In the movie, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) exhibits symptoms that doctors can’t explain. Eventually, her mother Chris (Ellen Burstyn) calls in an exorcist to help. Classic terrifying scenes like Regan’s head spinning 360 degrees, vomiting green and swearing at the priests left their mark on young Zac Efron.
“I was scared an hour after the movie,” Efron said. “I couldn’t go to sleep until I was probably 15, so two years of my life. I couldn’t look in the mirror while I was brushing my teeth thinking that little girl was going to be there. It’s a right of passage.”
Zac Efron will talk more about ‘The Exorcist’ on HBO Max
WarnerMedia executive Andy Forssell said the clip of Zac Efron talking about The Exorcist continues well beyond Efron describing how scared he was. Efron will go on to discuss the craft of filmmaking The Exorcist displays.
It did win two Oscars for Blatty’s screenplay and for sound, and nominations for the film, Burstyn, Blair, director William Friedkin, Father Karras actor Jason Miller, cinematography, art direction and editing.
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