The 33-year-old actress is alreay creating waves internationally with her maiden American TV series "Quantico". She also won her first international honour recently, People Choice Award for the best actress in a new TV series.
"Baywatch" is Paramount's big-screen take on the 1990s television series about California lifeguards.
Seth Gordon is directing the feature, which is paddling toward a shoot with Alexandra Daddario and Kelly Rohrbach also suiting up, said The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie centres on the leader of an elite group of lifeguards (Johnson), who is forced to team up with a young, hotshot former Olympian (Efron) to save their beloved bay.