High School Musical 3: Senior Year Movie Preview

The big question is: will teens and pre-teens pay to see what they've previously received for free on TV? High School Musical 3: Senior Year is the first movie of the HSM franchise to be released theatrically, so what makes this one so much more special that it deserves a $10 ticket to see? Call me cynical but this has to be a purely financial decision on Disney's part. The studio must have caught onto the fact they have a cash cow in their field that they haven't been effectively milking. Apparently all the posters, T-Shirts, lunch boxes, backpacks, CDs, and other merchandise opportunities weren't quite enough to satisfy studio bigwigs.

Whatever the reasoning behind the decision to push High School Musical 3 into theaters, this is almost guaranteed to be the last film featuring the lead actors. Zac Efron has moved on to different projects outside the Disney universe. Ashley Tisdale is also spreading her wings and branching out. Tisdale is working behind the scenes on several projects, and even has a new Teen Witch movie in the works. But of course there could always be a High School Musical 4 with a batch of new faces in place of Efron and Company. And since the official synopsis for the movie points out that a "crew of sophomore Wildcats joins in the fun," those folks at Disney look like they're not quite willing to put an end to the HSM franchise entirely.

The Story
Singing and dancing break out as the Wildcats face the prom, high school graduation, and their impending separation as college looms in the not-so-distant future.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year celebrates graduation on October 24, 2008.

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