Red shorts at the ready – Zac Efron is set to star in a new film adaptation of Baywatch.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the High School Musical star is in talks to join the movie alongside Dwayne Johnson – aka The Rock.

Paramount has long been planning the big-screen remake of the 1990s television series about California lifeguards, which starred David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson.

And now the cast is coming together for the comedy film, with Zac in negotiations to play a rule-flouting youngster who teams up with a straight-laced lifeguard (Johnson) to save their beach from destruction at the hands of an oil tycoon.

Zac Efron
Zac Efron (Dan Steinberg/Invision)

Zac has recently shown a comedic side to go with his beach-body looks, starring opposite Seth Rogen in 2014â€ēs Bad Neighbours.

The 27-year-old, who rose to fame on the Disney Channel, has just finished filming for Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates with Adam Devine, Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza, as well as working with Robert De Niro on road trip comedy Dirty Grandpa.