Hacked Emails Reveal Sony Execs Don't Think Zac Efron Is a 'Comedy Star'

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The "Sony Hack" continues to be a black eye for the studio as
Wikileaks adds thousands of more emails that were first released by
hackers back in December.

In the latest discovery, ETonline learned that former co-chairman Amy Pascal
and other Sony employees were not fans of Zac Efron and Robert De Niro’s
upcoming comedy, Dirty Grandpa then
titled Driving Dick Kelly.

“A few laughs here and there, but overall a definite pass
for me,” one employee wrote in an email to Pascal in September of 2014, adding:
“I think guys in my generation don't really look to Zac Efron as a comedy star.”

NEWS: The 27 Most Important Shirtless Photos of Zac Efron

In another email, an employee said Efron -- who last starred
in the wildly successful Neighbors
with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne -- is “best when he is the straight-ish guy
tossed into funny, absurdist situations.”

The revelation comes after the film garnered a bunch of
media attention thanks to paparazzi photos showing Efron exposing his abs in a
fringe crop top
and appearing nearly nude on set. This was similar to the hype
surrounding Neighbors when photos were snapped of Efron in bulge-hugging
outfits
during filming. That film ended up making $268 million at the box
office.

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De Niro didn’t fare much better. One email said audiences don’t want to see the 71-year-old actor playing the aging grandfather who tricks his grandson into driving him to Florida. “His [character’s] antics feel sweaty and like raunch for raunch's sake,” an employee wrote.

Ultimately, Pascal “couldn’t agree more” with her team’s assessment, passing on the project. 

Is this a bad omen for Efron’s new film, or did Sony pass on a potential box office hit? 

Dirty Grandpa, which co-stars Adam Pally, Aubrey Plaza, and Julianne Hough, is scheduled to hit theaters on August 12, 2016 and is being distributed by Lionsgate.

Meanwhile Pascal resigned from her post as co-chairman following the hack, which made public unflattering emails between her and producer Scott Rudin. Later, when Wikileaks first uploaded documents from the hack, it was revealed that Ben Affleck wanted his slave-owner ancestry omitted from a PBS special and that employees didn't know who singer Rita Ora was.