Upcoming film "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

High School Musical 3: Senior Year will be the third installment in Disney's High School Musical franchise. It is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on October 24. Kenny Ortega returns as director and choreographer, and all six primary actors return also.
Story
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.

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 Matt Prokop, Justin Martin, and Jemma McKenzie-Brown.

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".

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.

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.

"High School Musical 3: Senior Year" Official Trailer