'High School Musical 3: Senior Year' 10/24/08

[ALIASd]

^Opening night numbers will probably be BIG.

Received Premiere confirmation e-mail yesterday for 10/16.

[ALIASd]

BILLION-DOLLAR MAESTRO: KENNY ORTEGA




Youth Impact Report - Power of Youth, Miley Cyrus, Zach Effron, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart, The Jonas Brothers

[ALIASd]

Walt Disney Pictures Presents
“High School Musical 3: Senior Year”: MOVIE PREMIERE, Thursday, October 16 at Los Angeles’ Galen Center

Walt Disney Pictures “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”:

WHAT: The premiere of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.” America’s favorite high school students hit the big screen this time with new music, big dance numbers and a compelling story with all the fun—and big life decisions—senior year has to offer.

WHO: From the Film: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Olesya Rulin, Ryne Sanborn, Kaycee Stroh, Chris Warren Jr., Matt Prokop, Justin Martin, Jemma McKenzie-Brown, Bart Johnson, Alyson Reed, Kenny Ortega (director)

Special Guests: Drew Carey, Nick Lachey, Kathy Najimy, Ving Rhames, Lori Loughlin, Michael Chiklis, Omar Epps, Rick & Andrea Schroder, Derek Luke, Eva La Rue, Holly Robinson Peete

WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
Press check-in: 5:15 p.m.
Fan/Celebrity arrivals: 6:00 p.m.
Film screening: 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Galen Center
University of Southern California
Southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street
in downtown Los Angeles

ABOUT THE MOVIE: Disney’s “High School Musical” phenomenon leaps onto the big screen in HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR, in which America’s favorite high school students (ZAC EFRON, VANESSA HUDGENS, ASHLEY TISDALE, LUCAS GRABEEL, CORBIN BLEU and MONIQUE COLEMAN) hit senior year. Amidst a basketball championship, prom and a big spring musical featuring all of the Wildcats, Troy and Gabriella vow to make every moment last as their lifelong college dreams put the future of their relationship in question. A crew of sophomore Wildcats (MATT PROKOP, JUSTIN MARTIN, JEMMA MCKENZIE-BROWN) joins in the fun as the film’s incredible new music and exciting dance numbers take maximum advantage of the big screen. Directed by Kenny Ortega from a screenplay written by Peter Barsocchini, the film opens in theaters Oct. 24.

Latest Press Releases: Press Release Distribution from PR Newswire

[tinkermonkey]

Thursday is going to be SO fun!!

Any idea what Lucas Grabeel is doing that has him not at the premeire?

[ALIASd]

Don't know, he evidently missed hosting a recent event on behalf of one of the film's program sponsors due to illness. I forgot to ask if he participated in yesterday's press conference.

But I did hear the words, "unforgettable", "huge" and "great surprises" this afternoon describing this Thursday's Los Angeles Premiere!

FYI - the studio's first advance screening of the film will be this Saturday AM in Burbank.

[Salena]

Originally Posted by ALIASd

High School Musical 3 - Sweepstakes

ok wait so is the premiere @ the El Capitan or USC? Please reply back ASAP! I want 2 attend this SO badly, you guys dont happen 2 have any any extra tickets, do you? i would be ETERNALLY grateful if i could go! please let me know

[tinkermonkey]

Originally Posted by ALIASd

Don't know, he evidently missed hosting a recent event on behalf of one of the film's program sponsors due to illness. I forgot to ask if he participated in yesterday's press conference.

But I did hear the words, "unforgettable", "huge" and "great surprises" this afternoon describing this Thursday's Los Angeles Premiere!

FYI - the studio's first advance screening of the film will be this Saturday AM in Burbank.

Thanks for the update on Lucas. It just seemed weird that he wasn't on the list.

Giddy with anticipation - that's the feeling at our house. Of course, that includes freaking about packing and how much time at the hotel to get ready...

[ALIASd]

Originally Posted by Salena

ok wait so is the premiere @ the El Capitan or USC?

WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
Press check-in: 5:15 p.m.
Fan/Celebrity arrivals: 6:00 p.m.
Film screening: 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Galen Center
University of Southern California
Southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and
Figueroa Street
in downtown Los Angeles

[tinkermonkey]

Originally Posted by Salena

I want 2 attend this SO badly, you guys dont happen 2 have any any extra tickets, do you? i would be ETERNALLY grateful if i could go! please let me know

To the best of my knowledge, there aren't any extra tickets available for this event. Fans can line up along the red carpet and watch the arrivals if I understand correctly.

Hope that helps.

[ALIASd]

The film is seriously fun, sweet, sentimental, silly, fun and will make $erious Disney dollars worldwide!


'High School Musical 3' takes L.A. by storm

3,000 people attend premiere at USC basketball arena

By Borys Kit
The Hollywood Reporter
Oct 17, 2008, 06:35 PM ET


Ashley Tisdale (Getty Images photo)

The cultural tween phenomenon of "High School Musical" hoofed into Los Angeles on Thursday night with the premiere of "HSM 3," the first theatrical edition of Disney's franchise.

One of Los Angeles' major thoroughfares, Figueroa Street, was closed near USC during rush hour so that 3,000 people could attend the screening, held at the university's Galen Center, home of the Trojan basketball team.

"When was the last time you went to a movie premiere in a basketball gymnasium? Probably never," posited Disney's Oren Aviv while on the 300-foot long red carpet.

Screaming fans lined the surrounding streets for a glimpse of Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and other cast members, though some could be forgiven for momentarily missing Ashley Tisdale, who plays scheming blonde Sharpay Evans. Tisdale was blond at the movie's junket earlier in the week but turned up a brunette for the premiere.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Hudgens screamed when she noticed Tisdale, whom she didn't recognize at first.

While being billed a "world premiere," the $40 million movie had premiered in London already as well as Madrid and Paris. Fans in Europe apparently got a little handsy at venues that were less tightly controlled than Thursday night's. Still, Disney did make sure that some of the film's stars, especially Efron, was constantly shadowed by a security guard.

For director Kenny Ortega, the franchise's helmer and creative force who hasn't done a feature since 1993's "Hocus Pocus" and "Newsies," working on a theatrical film was "a dream come true."

"Knowing that we had a little more time to shoot it and a little bit bigger of a budget to imagine it, I looked back at my own days of high school and how we aspired to be like the greats," Ortega said. "When I saw 'West Side Story,' I was convinced I was George Chakiris, and all that I wanted to do was put on a pair of black tight jeans and a purple shirt and dance the night away.

"In high school, especially kids in musical theater, they look to Broadway, and look to movies and that's where they get their excitement and inspiration from. So as I imagined the first two movies, and especially the third one, I looked into my backyard and wanted to bring the same fun to this high school."

'High School Musical 3' takes L.A. by storm

[ALIASd]

First industry reviews:

Posted: Fri., Oct. 17, 2008, 7:40am PT

New U.S. Release

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

'High School Musical 3: Senior Year'

A Walt Disney Pictures release of a Borden & Rosenbush Entertainment production. Produced by Bill Borden, Barry Rosenbush. Executive producer, Kenny Ortega; co-producer, Don Schain. Directed by Kenny Ortega. Screenplay, Peter Barsocchini, based on characters created by Barsocchini.

Troy Bolton - Zac Efron
Gabriella Montez - Vanessa Hudgens
Sharpay Evans - Ashley Tisdale
Ryan Evans - Lucas Grabeel
Chad Danforth - Corbin Bleu
Taylor McKessie - Monique Coleman
Kelsi Nielsen - Olesya Rulin

By Peter Debruge
Variety

Most likely to succeed in East High School's class of 2008 is Zac Efron. Director Kenny Ortega clearly knows it, moving the 21-year-old heartthrob center stage in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," the infectiously upbeat bigscreen extension of Disney Channel's runaway TV movie sensation. By this point in the franchise, Efron seems to have outgrown his on-again/off-again love interest, leaving screenwriter Peter Barsocchini hard-pressed to cook up a fresh conflict -- not that tween fans need one. Pic's bouncy playlist and bigger musical numbers will see theaters packed with the faithful, while conveniently introducing a freshman cast to carry the torch in the process.

Given the built-in fan base for "High School Musical" -- a phenomenon so popular, it's been performed by hundreds of junior drama departments around the country -- the Disney team didn't have to do much to ensure a massive turnout. And yet Ortega, who tackled "Newsies" for the studio back in the day, seems determined to get it right, making excellent use of the wider canvas to stage his most impressive setpieces yet. Sharpay's "I Want It All," in particular, unfurls as an extravagant homage to Broadway -- a far cry from the first film, in which the tunes were buried as karaoke duets or theater rehearsals for fear that musical-averse auds wouldn't go for break-out-in-song moments. Starting small, Ortega has taught an entirely new generation to love musical theater.

full review at:
High School Musical 3: Senior Year Review - Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie High School Musical 3: Senior Year

[ALIASd]

Film Review: High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Bottom Line: Recycled TV musical will please its fan base but won't win any new converts

By Stephen Farber
The Hollywood Reporter
Oct 17, 2008

Opens: Friday, Oct. 24 (Disney)

The enormous success of "High School Musical" and its sequel on Disney Channel made it practically inevitable that the studio would try to recycle the concept for feature films. If producers can make movie versions of such ancient TV shows as "Starsky and Hutch" and "The A-Team," it's a no-brainer to reproduce this kid-friendly franchise that scored phenomenal ratings in this millennium.

Disney has re-assembled the cast, along with director-choreographer Kenny Ortega and screenwriter Peter Barsocchini, to provide the same mix of innocent teen romance and eye-popping musical numbers. The result unfortunately has the blandness of a mediocre TV sitcom, but that won't deter young audiences, who should turn the movie into a major hit at the boxoffice.

full review at:
The Hollywood Reporter

[ALIASd]

Posted: Sun., Oct. 19, 2008, 4:36pm PT

‘Eagle’ perches at No. 1 overseas

'Eye' sees $12 million at int'l box office

The "Eagle Eye" victory meant that the foreign weekend winner has differed from the domestic leader in every session dating back to the final frame of July, when "The Dark Knight" took both crowns.

That streak should end next weekend when Disney launches "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" day and date in 30 markets, including France, Germany, Spain and the U.K.

Expectations are sky high for "Senior Year," partly due to the sensational foreign performance by "Mamma Mia!" The tuner took in $5.9 million at 3,789 to become the fourth pic of 2008 — and 32nd of all time — to top $400 million in overseas box office.

‘Eagle’ perches at No. 1 overseas - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety

[Kuzcochik]

Saw the film today at a sneak preview (the perks of Radio Disney)
As a non-HSM fan (I had to watch the first one in two differnt viewings and only made it through about 10 minutes of the second)... I have to say this one wasn't terrible. Would I have paid to see it? No way!
If you've got tweens or kids that can't wait to be tweens, they'll love it. Girls were sreaming w/ joy when the title came up and a couple of them were spazzing whenever Zach Efron appeared. The cast did well, I hate that Efron always looks pained when he's singing. Like the notes physically hurt him. Also the new kids (the ones that are potentially the future of the franchise) annoyed me. Like, if they're what Disney's betting on for the next installments than I probably won't even give those a chance. Everyone else did well.
The songs are really catchy, I caught myself tapping my toes and moving to the beat (and this was after having heard the soundtrack three consecutive times while I waited for the show). I think I enjoyed them more than the songs in the other installments. And I'm still humming them.. they're a plauge but not an absolutely horrible one.
It was cheesy and predictable, but I did laugh a few times. I mean, it's your usual Disney story about being true to yourself but accepting change and everything turns out well in the end.

[ALIASd]

'Sky's the limit' for 'High School Musical' movie

Updated 3h 49m ago

Disney Enterprises, Inc.I
n it together: Corbin Bleu, left, and Zac Efron will hit theaters Friday.

By Gary Strauss
USA TODAY

Disney's popular High School Musical TV franchise matriculates to the big screen this weekend — most likely with financial honors.

Friday's theatrical release of High School Musical 3: Senior Year "is an event movie for tweens and teens, and that translates to big box office," says Gitesh Pandya of industry tracker boxofficeguru .com. "The sky's the limit."

Unlike other small-screen series that transitioned to film, the High School Musical franchise is rooted in just two made-for-TV films. But the August 2007 sequel drew 17.2 million viewers on the Disney Channel — the most-watched non-sports basic cable program ever.

And the global popularity of the 2006 original and sequel have spawned top-selling DVDs, soundtracks, sold-out concert tours and a merchandising empire.

With a huge fan base, savvy marketing campaign and the star power of leads Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu, HSM 3 could challenge the October weekend box office records of 2003's Scary Movie 3 ($48.3 million) and 2004's Shark Tale ($47.6 million). "Based on the strength of the franchise, it has an excellent chance of one of the biggest openings of October," says boxofficemojo .com's Brandon Gray.

Disney production chief Oren Aviv is steering away from predictions, but says he'd be happy if it grossed comparable opening-weekend numbers to musicals Hairspray ($27.5 million) and Mamma Mia! ($27.7 million).

"We've got our fingers crossed," says Aviv. "The goal was to have a movie worthy of the big screen — that meant everything needed to be notched up higher. It was important to deliver on the script, the choreography and the songs. The filmmakers did their job really well."

full article at:
'Sky's the limit' for 'High School Musical' movie - USATODAY.com