High School Musical 3: Senior Year is an upcoming threequel to Disney Channel’s popular High School Musical television franchise, scheduled for a theatrical release on October 24, 2008.

It has been confirmed that all six primary actors from the previous two films will reprise their roles.

Plot

Now high school seniors, Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) are facing the prospect of being separated from each other as they go off in different directions. Joined by the rest of the Wildcats, they stage an elaborate spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes, and fears about the future.

Cast

• Zac Efron as Troy Bolton
• Vanessa Anne Hudgens as Gabriella Montez
• Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans
• Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth
• Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans
• 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

Development

In February 2007, Disney announced plans for a 2008 feature film sequel with a Halloween theme dubbed “Haunted High School Musical.” In September of 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 for the third part in the High School Musical series. The original producers and director Kenny Ortega are also on board. Ortega confirmed this to 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 is hoping to make prestrike — i.e., in the next nine months, before a possible Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild strike shuts down Hollywood.” 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.

Kenny Ortega, the director of High School Musical and High School Musical 2, has stated that pre-production would most likely start in January 2008, and filming would begin in Spring 2008. He stated that the script had been submitted (before the Writers strike started) and that they were currently developing music. He added that filming will happen in Salt Lake City, Utah (as the first two films). He 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.”