High School Musical 3: Senior Year

High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kenny Ortega
Written by	Peter Barsocchini
Produced by	Bill Borden Barry Rosenbush Don Schain (co-producer)
Starring	Zac Efron Vanessa Hudgens Ashley Tisdale Lucas Grabeel Corbin Bleu Monique Coleman
Cinematography	Daniel Aranyo
Edited by	Seth Flaum
Music by	David Lawrence Matthew Gerrard Robbie Nevil Shankar Mahadevan Randy Peterson Antonnia Armato Andy Dodd Faye Greenberg Jamie Houston Adam Watts Kevin Quinn
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date	October 24, 2008
Running time	113 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$13.3 million

Template:Infobox movie certificates High School Musical 3: Senior Year is the third installment in Disney's High School Musical franchise. It is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on October 24 and was released on October 23 in the United Kingdom. Kenny Ortega returns as director and choreographer, and all six primary actors return also.

Plot

Now high school seniors, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez are facing the prospect of being separated from each other as they go off in different directions when graduating from East High. Joined by the rest of their Wildcat friends, including Sharpay Evans, Ryan Evans, Chad Danforth, and Taylor McKessie they stage an elaborate spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes and fears about the future.

Chad seems confident that he and Troy will go to UCLA together and "shoot hoops". Gabriella has been accepted at Stanford, but is somewhat ambivalent about it. She persuades the others to take part in the upcoming show, "Senior Year", despite their protests of being too busy. Nail-biting tension is introduced as Mrs Darbus declares that members of a prestigious school of performing arts will be present at the show in order to offer a place to the lucky recipient.There are only four possible candidates. Taylor is planning on becoming the next President of the United States, and busies herself with School Council matters, most importantly, the Senior Prom.

A sub-plot involves the upcoming prom: who will invite who? Will Chad wear a tux? He makes a hash out od inviting Taylor, who is not impressed by his approach.

Two new characters are introduced. Tiara Gold is a student from London, and becomes Sharpay's personal assistant. New kid "Rocketman" is very goofy and follows Troy around with puppyish devotion, after Troy gives him a chance to score at the crucial game in the very beginning.

Gabriella has a secret she is hiding from Troy, and it will make or break them as they face a new future, either together or apart. There is a moment of high comedy during the show, and finally the friends are ready to graduate from "East High"

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Themes

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Troy seems to view Gabriella as the person who can change things. He knows, by the end of the movie, that he will not be able to face a future without her. Chad, on the other hand, declares that "no-one keeps the girl after High School" and he is anxious to maintain the friendship he has with Troy. He doesn't want change. One number is devoted to showing what they both were like as boys, and Chad is keen to keep things as they are.

Gabriella has moved many times in her life, and she is tired of goodbyes. She wants distance, it's too painful for her to part.Ultimately it is Troy who teaches her that they can face an uncertain future- together. Ryan and Sharpay continue to provide the comic element of the movie. Sharpay, the classic "baddie" is thwarted by an unexpected rival; and Ryan continues to show his hidden "niceness"- getting the future he deserves.

Critical Reception

As of 23 October 2008, High School Musical 3 has a rating of 67% (6 fresh and 3 rotten) at Rotten Tomatoes and has gained mix reviews. Peter Johnson describes the movie as so bland that it "makes cellophane taste like chicken jalfrezi", and says that "the sheer squeaky-cleanness of everything is creepy, and when the characters are called upon to dance, they do so with robotic efficiency, and sing in that decaffeinated high vibrato, like 21st-century Hollywood castrati."..

The Telegraph praises the changes brought about by the higher budget of a theatrical release: "High School Musical 3 uses its bigger budget to inject colour, scale and visual depth. The opening basketball game alone is dizzying as the camera swoops high and wide, before a winning point makes the crowd erupt.".

Stephen Farber, for Reuters UK, says the movie "will please fan base but won't win converts", as the story "never really does kick in" and that "the picture quickly grows tedious", while MSNBC's Alonso Duralde describes it as "a stitched-together Frankenstein monster of an entertainment, featuring major components that were already trotted out the first two times."

Entertainment Weekly is positive towards the movie, praising the stars' energy: "the beauty of Efron's performance is that he's a vibrant athletic hoofer who leaps and clowns with the heartthrob vigor of a young Gene Kelly, yet he's also achingly sincere. His fast-break alertness makes him the most empathetic of teen idols; he's like a David Cassidy who knows how to act, and who can swoon without getting too moist about it. Apart from Efron, the breakout star is Ashley Tisdale, whose Sharpay makes narcissism a goofy, bedazzled pleasure."

Casting

An international casting call went out to find three new "Wildcats" sophomores, though it was later revealed they would be freshmen. This resulted in the casting of Jemma McKenzie-Brown, Matt Prokop and Justin Martin. Director Kenny Ortega commented that the new cast members seemed to bring an overall positive atmosphere to the cast, crew, and production as a whole. McKenzie-Brown's character was originally reported to be named "Tiara Goal", though EW.com later confirmed her name was "Tiara Gold". McKenzie-Brown is not the only member of the new cast to have their characters name changed as Martin's character had originally reported to be named "Donny Fox", though it was later changed to "Donny Dion".

Returning cast

• Zac Efron as Troy Bolton
• Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez
• Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans
• Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans
• Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth
• Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie
• Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen
• Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross
• Chris Warren, Jr. as Zeke Baylor
• Kaycee Stroh as Martha Cox
• Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus
• Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton
• Leslie Wing as Lucille Bolton

New cast members

• Jemma McKenzie-Brown as Tiara Gold
• Matt Prokop as Jimmy Zara
• Justin Martin as Donny Dion

Soundtrack

See also: High School Musical 3: Senior Year (soundtrack)

Development

In February 2007, Disney announced plans for a 2008 feature film sequel with a Halloween theme dubbed "Haunted High School Musical." In September 2007, Disney announced that they had scrapped plans for the Halloween theme and instead will focus on the senior year of key characters at East High. According to Yahoo news, the original writer from the first two films, Peter Barsocchini, is writing the script. The original producers and director/choreographer Kenny Ortega are also on board, which Ortega confirmed in an interview with Access Hollywood.

Zac Efron was quoted in People Magazine as saying, "I can tell you that if the script is good and if we all agree on a final script, then there's nothing that is going to hold us back from doing it. We have fun making these movies and that's very rare in this business." Rumors persisted of ongoing salary disputes between Disney and the lead performers, particularly Efron. According to Rachel Abramowitz, as reported online by the Chicago Tribune, "an eclectic cross-section of Hollywood insiders think Efron should get a cool $5 million for High School Musical 3, the theatrical version of the franchise, which Disney hoped to make before the Writers Guild strike and Screen Actors Guild strike shut down Hollywood for several months. Efron declined to comment for the article, and although contract negotiations still are ongoing, sources say Efron is being offered a salary closer to $3 million, not $5 million, for the follow-up, which focuses on senior year at East High. Whatever the price, he's still perceived as a steal."

Ortega stated that pre-production would most likely start in January 2008. Filming began May 3, 2008, at East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. He stated that the script had been submitted before the Writers strike started and that they were developing music. He added that filming will happen in Salt Lake City, Utah (as the first two films), hinted that the plot will be something of the nature of the Wildcat's final year in High School and stated "it looks like we've rounded up the cast."

Before filming began, the HSM3 board and cast held a press conference at East High School announcing the start of filming. The movie will be released in theaters (in the United States) on October 24 of that year, though several countries like Great Britain will get to see the movie at least one week earlier. The film has a $13.3 million dollar budget and a 40-day shooting period. This film is said to be the final installment with the current cast. On July 13, 2008, the official trailer premiered on Disney Channel and ABC Family and Disney.com. It also premiered on Disney Channel Latin America the same day, and on internationals Disney Channels on July 14, 2008.

Vanessa Hudgens photo controversy

Despite early speculation that Vanessa Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 due to her nude photo scandal, The Walt Disney Company denied the reports, saying, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."

Although it was reported by OK! Magazine that Vanessa would be replaced by Adrienne Bailon or Sabrina Bryan from the Cheetah Girls in High School Musical 3, Access Hollywood confirmed that the cast was still in negotiations and Vanessa would not be cut from High School Musical 3. Vanessa's representative quoted, "Totally untrue. It is an old rumor," the representative told Access, "OK! Magazine never bothered to check the fact with me, but they did call Disney who said it wasn't true, but yet OK! ran it anyway. Apparently, OK! Magazine was having a slow news day."

Production announcements

According to documents filed with the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development board (GOED), Utah will again be the setting for HSM3. Shooting was scheduled to begin on April 21, 2008, and to be completed on June 13, 2008. Lisa Roskelly, spokeswoman for Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. said, "[The third] High School Musical will be officially shooting in Utah." According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, "...to help lure the production back to where it all began - at Salt Lake City's East High School - the GOED board Friday approved a maximum $2 million incentive for the production, the largest ever given to entice a filmmaker to Utah."

Filming was eventually pushed back and began on May 3, 2008. The 41 days scheduled for shooting is a longer period than for the first two films. Disney had declined comment on whether or not East High School would be used for shooting again, but the East High School board revealed they met with Disney representatives and filming would in fact take place at the school.

Stan Carrizosa, the winner of ABC's summer reality show, High School Musical: Get in the Picture will appear in a music video that is shown over the end credits of the theatrical release of the film.

External links

• Official Website