High School Musical is a media franchise in the United States focused on three musical drama-comedy films made by Peter Barsocchini. Aside from the films, this franchise also includes a TV series, video games, books, stage musicals, and live shows.
The first movie was released as an original movie for Disney. However, following its massive success, a television sequel was created. The main casts include Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, and Monica Coleman. Tisdale and Grabeel were one of the favorites, so a spin-off was made titled Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure.
High School Musical I (2006)
The first movie of the franchise was released on January 20, 2006, as a DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie). It received the highest rate and views with more than 7 million viewers during its premiere in the United States. In its UK premier, it has almost 800 viewers. It’s the first Disney Channel movie that was shown on the BBC. And during its broadcast in 2006, it has over a million viewers worldwide.
High School Musical II (2007)
High School Musical 2 was aired on August 17, 2007. It broke the record of the first movie with over 17 million viewers during its premiere in the United States. The casts of the first film are returning for this movie. It is mainly focused on what the gang is doing during the summer vacation.
High School Musical III: Senior Year (2008)
The third movie of the High School Musical franchise was released on October 17, 2008, in London, and on October 24, 2008, in the U.S. For the third time, it was a very successful movie and gained a lot of positive reviews. Just like the previous films, Senior Year beat the previous sequels and became the most successful among the series. The movie focuses on the gang’s senior year with an ending of celebrating their graduation.
High School Musical 4 Plot: What We Know So Far
Sometime in 2016, Disney announced that the franchise will have a fourth installment. Later on, a casting call was announced for the film, which they temporarily called High School Musical 4. Although this was a few years ago, there has not been much progress on the actual details of the movie.
What we do know is that it will feature new main characters. This is totally expected as Troy and the others have already graduated in High School Musical 3. However, no one has been included in the main cast yet.
Some are hoping that the previous main cast will return and play important roles in the movie. Unfortunately, this is far from happening. Ashley Tisdale, who plays Sharpay, admitted that she is not planning to return as she believes she can no longer give justice to Sharpay’s character. But, we can still dream! Who knows? We might still a cameo of Troy or even Gabriella in the new film.
The plot of the new movie is reported to be focused on a new group of students in East High School – Tamara, Nathalie, Campbell, Derek, and Erin.
Erin is a remarkable soccer player who is having struggles with her feelings for Derek. Derek, considered as the school’s “bad boy” is mostly misunderstood by others. He is actually a talented soccer player and dancer. Campbell is the A-student and is the captain of the school’s soccer team. He is also the cousin of Sharpay and Ryan, the famous twins in the original movies. Nathalie is a cheerleader and Erin’s best friend. Tamara is the ex-queen of the school who will do everything to be on top again.
High School Musical 4: The Cast and Crew
So far, the only one expected to come back in the latest film is Coach Bolton portrayed by Bart Johnson. He is Troy’s father in the previous movies. Kenny Ortega directed the previous three movies, however it is not confirmed yet of who will direct High School Musical 4.
The actors and actresses for the main casts are not finalized as well. We hope to get more updates in the coming months.
High School Musical 4 Release Date
As nothing has been finalized yet, there is still no word about the release date of High School Musical 4. However, we can expect that it will be released in the later months of 2021.
Is There a New Trailer for High School Musical 4?
No, there is no trailer yet for High School Musical 4. As far as we know, it was officially announced that a 4th installment is coming. We are not sure yet if the project has already started or is still in the planning stage. However, we can be assured that there will be a fourth movie!