High School Musical 3: Senior Year

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a 2008 American musical film and is the third installment in the High School Musical trilogy. Produced and released on October 24, 2008, by Walt Disney Pictures, the film is a sequel to Disney Channel Original Movie 2006 television film High School Musical. It was the only film in the series to be released theatrically. Kenny Ortega returned as director and choreographer, as did all six primary actors.

The sequel follows the main six high school seniors: Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, Sharpay, Chad, and Taylor as they are faced with the challenging prospect of being separated after graduating from high school. Joined by the rest of their East High Wildcat classmates, they stage an elaborate spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes, and fears about the future.

The film received generally positive reviews, which were relatively better than the first installment of the series, and, in its first three days of release, Senior Year grossed $50 million in North America and an additional $40 million overseas, setting a new record for the largest opening weekend for a musical film. Rotten Tomatoes' top critic consenus stated " It won't win many converts, but High School Musical 3 is bright, energetic, and well-crafted." It was followed up by a spin-off, starring Ashley Tisdale. Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure was released direct-to-DVD on April 19, 2011, and premiered on Disney Channel on May 22, 2011.

Plot
The film opens with Troy Bolton and the rest of the East High Wildcats basketball team trailing behind the West High Knights in the Championship and final game of the season. At the half, Troy rallies his team with, "Now or Never", and with an assist from a new freshman team member, Jimmie "Rocket-man" Zara, the Wildcats win the Championship. Later that night at the post-game party, held at Troy's house, Troy and Gabriella are sitting in Troy's old treehouse discussing their unknown future and the short time they have left at East High. ("Right Here, Right Now")

Sharpay hires a personal assistant, a British exchange student named Tiara Gold, to help relieve the stress of senior year. Drama teacher Ms. Darbus, notices the lack of sign-ups and Sharpay suggests a one- woman show. The writer and pianist of the show Kelsi, signs everyone in homeroom up at the displease of the rest of the class. Ms. Darbus announces that the show will be called "Senior Year" and will focus on the future of the graduating seniors. In addition, she reveals that Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi, and Troy have all been considered for a scholarship at Juilliard School, but only one of them is to be chosen. Troy is confused because he did not apply to Juilliard. Seeing his friends laughing, he believes they gave his name to Juilliard. Sharpay becomes desperate to win the scholarship, and knowing that Kelsi will give the best songs to Troy and Gabriella in the musical, she gets Ryan to try to persuade Kelsi to give them a song, by predicting her (and Ryan's) future ("I Want It All").

The very next day, Troy asks Gabriella to the dance while on the rooftop (seen previously in the first film as The Garden Club, a place where Troy goes seeking some quiet). She then teaches him how to waltz ("Can I Have This Dance?"). After that, Troy and Chad steal Jimmie and Donnie's clothes while they are showering, thus leading through a big chase through the halls of East High and into the auditorium and Ms. Darbus forced them to volunteer as understudies, and gives all 4 of them detention. Chad then asks Taylor to go to prom with him with a cheesy pick-up line. She initially refuses, but later relents when Chad proves he can put in some effort and asks again in front of everyone in school during lunch. The group rehearses for the musical, a scene about their prom night ("A Night to Remember"). The next day, Ryan walks in on Kelsi composing in the music room and they start to sing ("Just Wanna Be with You") which leads to Ryan asking Kelsi to prom. While Troy and Chad reminisce about their past in Reilly's Auto Parts ("The Boys Are Back"). Tiara overhears Gabriella and Taylor's conversation about the Stanford Freshman's Honors Program and informs Sharpay about it, while Sharpay convinces Troy that he is the only thing keeping Gabriella from her dream. Troy talks to Gabriella about this and after sharing an awkward goodnight, Gabriella sings ("Walk Away") and leaves for college the next day.

Troy's father, Jack, talks to him about his academic future, which he expects will be in the University of Albuquerque. This assumption makes Troy become angry and confused about which college he is going to, and he runs away, storming around East High bewildered until he finally screams at the top of his lungs in the theater ("Scream"). Ms. Darbus is secretly watching and reveals that she sent in his application for Juilliard. Troy later gets a call from Gabriella saying that although she loves him, she will not return to Albuquerque for prom or graduation. However, on the day of the prom, Troy visits Gabriella at Stanford University and convinces her to return and they kiss during the lunch break ("Can I Have This Dance? (Reprise)"). Back at East High, Sharpay is prepared for the last musical at East High and Troy's fellow basketball player Jimmie receives a text from Troy to tell him to cover for him onstage because he is going to be late. The Juilliard representatives are there, and watch as the show seems to go well.

Kelsi and Ryan start out the show followed by a couple other numbers; Jimmie then performs with Sharpay, both as understudies for Troy and Gabriella, and embarrasses her, although the audience applauds the performance. Troy and Gabriella appear during the second half of the show and sing their duet together, redoing Jimmie and Sharpay's understudied reprise. Tiara then betrays Sharpay and tells her how she is going to take over next year in the drama department. Sharpay finally learns how it feels to be manipulated and humiliated, but nevertheless does not wish to go down. While Tiara performs, Sharpay immediately crashes her performance and upstages her ("Senior Year Spring Musical").

At the end of the musical, Ms. Darbus reveals that both Kelsi and Ryan have won the Juilliard scholarship and tells about everyone's future plans, in which Troy reveals he's chosen University of California, Berkeley so he can be close to Gabriella where he can play basketball and perform in theater. Taylor reveals that she will be attending Yale University with honors to study Political Science, and Sharpay and Chad revealed they would attend the University of Albuquerque, to study Performing Arts and for basketball, respectively. ("We're All in This Together").

At the graduation ceremony, Troy gives the class speech after being selected by Ms. Darbus. Throwing their caps in the air, the graduates form a giant "wildcat" before breaking out into song and dance ("High School Musical"). As the film ends, the graduates run across the field, the curtain falls, and they appear on the East High stage. The main cast performs the song, "High School Musical", before jumping and bowing when the curtain falls.

Cast and Supporting Characters

 * See High School Musical characters


 * Zac Efron as Troy Bolton, the basketball team captain, the leader of the group and Gabriella's boyfriend.
 * Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez, an intelligent honor student and Troy's girlfriend.
 * Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans, an aspiring choreographer, Sharpay's twin brother and Kelsi's love interest.
 * Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans, a glamorous ambitious teen, but conniving, diva, Ryan's twin sister, East High's Drama Club president and Zeke's love interest.
 * Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth, one of Troy's teammates, a fellow basketball player and Taylor's love interest.
 * Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie, one of Gabriella's best friends, East High's class president/year book editor and Chad's love interest.
 * Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton, Troy's father, Lucille's husband and the coach of the East High Wildcats.
 * Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus, the stern drama teacher at East High.
 * Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen, one of Gabriella's best friends, a pianist, composer and Ryan's love interest.
 * Chris Warren, Jr. as Zeke Baylor, one of Troy's teammates and Sharpay's love interest.
 * Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross, one of Troy's teammates and Martha's love interest.
 * Kaycee Stroh as Martha Cox, one of Gabriella's best friends, a cheerleader, a dancer and Jason's love interest.
 * Leslie Wing Pomeroy as Lucille Bolton, Troy's mother and Jack's wife.
 * Socorro Herrera as Lisa Montez, Gabriella's mother.
 * Joey Miyashima as Dave Matsui, a principal at East High.
 * Dave Fox as Coach Kellogg, another coach at East High.
 * Jemma McKenzie-Brown as Tiara Gold, a freshman British exchange student who becomes Sharpay's assistant.
 * Matt Prokop as Jimmie "Rocket Man" Zara, a freshman basketball player who idolizes Troy.
 * Justin Martin as Donnie Dion, a freshman basketball player.
 * Robert Curtis Brown as Vance Evans, Sharpay and Ryan's father.
 * Jessica Tuck as Darby Evans, Sharpay and Ryan's mother.
 * David Reivers (Corbin Bleu's father) as Charlie Danforth, Chad's father.
 * Yolanda Wood as Jenny Danforth, Chad's mother.
 * Jeremy Banks as Stagehand.
 * Todd Snyder as Mr. Juilliard.
 * Tara Starling as Ms. Juilliard.
 * Manly "Little Pickles" Ortega as Boi Evans, Sharpay's pet dog.

Production
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."

Principal photography began on May 3, 2008; the 41 days scheduled for shooting was a longer period than for the first two films.

Stan Carrizosa, the winner of ABC's summer reality show, High School Musical: Get in the Picture appears in a music video "Just Getting Started" that is shown over the end credits of the theatrical release of the film. The show's other 11 finalists were featured in the music video as well.

Development
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." The movie was originally titled Haunted High School Musical with plans of a Halloween theme but was later scrapped.

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 film would be released in theaters (in the United States) on October 24, 2008, though the film was to open in several countries including the UK at least one week earlier. The film had a $11 million budget and a 40-day shooting period. The film was said at the time to be the final installment with the current cast. The London premiere was the biggest London premiere of all time.

Vanessa Hudgens photo controversy
Despite early speculation that Vanessa Hudgens would be dropped from the film due to her nude photo scandal, The Walt Disney Company denied the reports, saying, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."

Sing-along version
On November 7, 2008, High School Musical 3: Senior Year: The Sing-Along Edition with lyrics highlighted on the screen was released in selected theaters. The sing along version was released on May 21, 2011.

Critical reception
High School Musical 3: Senior Year received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 65%, based on 121 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It won't win many converts, but High School Musical 3 is bright, energetic, and well-crafted." The site also gave it a Golden Tomato for best musical film of 2008. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score, the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 26 critics, "mixed or average reviews".

The Telegraph praised the changes brought about by the higher budget of a theatrical release: "High School Musical 3 uses its bigger budget to inject colour, scale, and visual depth. The opening basketball game alone is dizzying as the camera swoops high and wide before a winning point makes the crowd erupt".

Stephen Farber, for Reuters UK, says the film "will please fan base but won't win converts", as the story "never really does kick in" and that "the picture quickly grows tedious", while MSNBC's Alonso Duralde describes it as "a stitched-together Frankenstein monster of an entertainment, featuring major components that were already trotted out the first two times."

Peter Johnson of The Guardian describes the film as so bland that it "makes cellophane taste like chicken jalfrezi", and says that "the sheer squeaky-cleanness of everything is creepy, and when the characters are called upon to dance, they do so with robotic efficiency, and sing in that decaffeinated high vibrato, like 21st-century Hollywood castrati."

Entertainment Weekly, on the other hand, was very positive towards the film, praising the stars' energy: "the beauty of Efron's performance is that he's a vibrant athletic hoofer who leaps and clowns with the heartthrob vigor of a young Erika Casanova, yet he's also achingly sincere. His fast-break alertness makes him the most empathetic of teen idols; he's like a David Cassidy who knows how to act, and who can swoon without getting too moist about it. Apart from Efron, the breakout star is Ashley Tisdale, whose Sharpay makes narcissism a goofy, bedazzled pleasure."

MovieGuide has also favorably reviewed the film, strongly recommending it for the family as "fun, clean and full of energy" and describing it as "thin on plot" yet nevertheless "a phenomenon."

The BBC film critic Mark Kermode loved the film and said it was in his top 5 films for the year, and named Tisdale the "Best Supporting Actress" of 2008.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram stated that the latest installment was "critic-proof" and "everything fans could hope for and more." They go on to say that "the kids finally look like true performers rather than Disney Channel mainstays desperately trying to remain relevant, and they deserve the lucrative careers that lie ahead" and gave the film a rating of four out of five stars. The film was also well received in the UK. Hudgens was recognized as Favorite Movie Actress at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, Efron was voted Best Male Performance at the 2009 MTV awards and Choice Actor: Music/Dance at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards and Tisdale was voted Breakthrough Performance Female at the 2009 MTV Movie awards and Best Supporting Actress at the 2009 UK Kermode Awards.

Box office
The film opened with $16 million on Friday for the biggest opening day for a musical film of all time until the record was topped in 2012 by Les Miserables ($18.1 million). It also debuted at the #1 spot (beating out Saw V in box office earnings) with an opening weekend of over $42,030,184 in the United States and breaking the record, previously held by Enchanted, for the biggest opening ever for a movie musical. This record would later be broken by Pitch Perfect 2 in 2015 ($69.2 million). The film also opened at #1 overseas, with an international opening of $42,622,505. High School Musical 3: Senior Year grossed $90,559,416 in North America and $162,349,761 in other territories leading to a worldwide total of $252,909,177, which was above even Disney's expectations.

Home media
High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released in Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray on February 17, 2009, in Region 2 DVD on February 16, 2009 and in Region 3 DVD on February 24, 2009. The DVD was released in single- and two-disc editions.

In Region 2, the single-disc edition DVD featured most of the two-disc edition bonus features such as bloopers, deleted scenes, extended version of the film, sing-along and cast goodbyes. In Region 3, only the single-disc edition DVD was released with all of the two-disc bonus features as well the extended edition of the film. In the Philippines, it was released on February 25, 2009. The Region 4 DVD was released on April 8, 2009. As of November 1, 2009, the DVD has sold over 23 million copies and generated over $200 million in sales revenue.

Sequel
On March 2, 2016, 10 years after the first High School Musical movie, Disney announced that there would be a fourth High School Musical film. Casting calls for actors to audition as new characters are underway but there hasn't been a release date for the film as of yet. As of August 2018, no further announcements have been made since.

Broadcasting
The film premiered on Disney Channel before the series premiere of Good Luck Charlie. The premiere on Disney Channel US brought 4 million viewers.

International release
The film premiered on Disney Channel India on 18 October 2009 and on 5 December 2009 in Disney Channel Asia. On 4 December 2009, for one night only, it premiered on Disney Cinemagic, and it premiered on Disney Channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland in January/February 2010. It premiered on 12 December 2009 on Disney Channel New Zealand/Australia. And 16 March 2011 in Latin America. It premiered in France on 31 October 2011 on M6.