High School Musical 3: Senior Year

High School Musical 3
Directed by	Kenny Ortega
Written by	Peter Barsocchini
Starring	Zac Efron Vanessa Hudgens Ashley Tisdale.
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date	2008?
Country	United States
Language	English

High School Musical 3 is an upcoming sequel to Disney Channel's popular High School Musical television franchise, set for a possible release in late 2008 in theaters, though the date of premiere is still unknown.

Development

In February of 2007, Disney announced plans for a 2008 feature film sequel with a Halloween theme dubbed "Haunted High School Musical." In September of 2007, Disney said 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 Kenny Ortega are also on board. Ortega confirmed this to Access Hollywood. Walt Disney Studios also released the following statement; "There is no contractual obligation for any of the cast members to return. That said, we are in active negotiations with all of the principle [sic] cast members and are feeling optimistic."

Zac Efron was quoted from People Magazine, 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 persist 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. Although rumors still persist about this matter, Zac Efron stated to People Magazine a while ago that the money is not an issue at all and it is just that they have not yet seen a script. He said that if the script was good, nothing could hold him back.

It was reported by US Weekly that Hudgens will return being given a "substantial" pay rise to reprise her role of Gabriella Montez in the feature film installment of the musical. Shooting of the movie is expected to begin in January 2008, with co-stars Ashley Tisdale and Zac Efron also signed up to return.

Yahoo's OMG did a story on her return in High School Musical 2, to find out more information, go onto to http://omg.yahoo.com/report:-vanessa-hudgens-back-for-hsm3--with-a-substantial-raise/news/3661 for more information.

Vanessa Hudgens scandal

Despite early speculation that Vanessa Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 due to her public photo scandal, Disney 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 due to her nude scandal Vanessa would be replaced by Adrienne Bailon or Sabrina Bryan from the Cheetah Girls in HSM3, Access Hollywood has confirmed that the cast is still in negotiations and Vanessa will not be cut from High School Musical 3. Vanessa's rep. quoted "Totally untrue. It is an old rumor," the rep told Access. "OK! magazine never bothered to fact check 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."