What Is High School Musical 4 Rated

Why High School Musical 4 Never Happened

After the huge success of 2008's High School Musical 3, there were plans for a fourth film. Has HSM4 now been replaced by the new Disney+ TV series?

Disney once had plans for High School Musical 4 , has the film now been replaced by a Disney+ TV series? Debuting as a Disney Channel exclusive back in 2006,High School Musical surpassed all expectations for a direct-to-TV movie and became an international phenomenon that launched the careers of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. Mixing teenage drama with a diverse selection of catchy songs and expert choreography from Kenny Ortega,High School Musical scored a second successful TV movie, launching the 2008 third installment towards a theatrical release for the first time.

High School Musical 3ended with an uplifting graduation, as Troy, Gabriella and the rest ventured out into the big, bad world of college, but the franchise's future looked assured.High School Musical 3 introduced new characters such as Rocket Man, Tiara Gold and Donnie, a trio that appeared to be genesis of a brand new generation of all-singing, all-dancing pupils. Despite constant reports of a fourth movie, however, these freshman faces were never seen again. Indeed, the first announcement of aHigh School Musical 4came almost immediately after the third film proved so successful, but the notion fizzled out. In early 2016, Disney officially announcedHigh School Musical 4was in production and casting finally underway but, once again, nothing has been heard since.

The big issue with a fourthHigh School Musical movie is the absence of the original cast and the lack of Ortega as a driving creative force. The familiar group have all left East High behind and even if some of the originals could be convinced to return, Efron and Hudgens were very clearly moving onto pastures new.High School Musical 4 was already mooted as a step back to the franchise's Disney Channel original roots, and the daunting prospect of rebooting the class was a risky move that Disney evidently had considerable reservations about.

While the lack of key cast members might've causedHigh School Musical 4's delay, the advent of Disney+ has almost certainly sealed the sequel's fate. Since the fourth movie began casting in 2016/2017 and Disney+'sHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series was first announced in November 2017, it seems very likely that plans forHigh School Musical 4 were directly adapted into a TV series format at some stage during the film's pre-production.

Disney's designs for a purpose built streaming service were first revealed in August 2017, when the studio acquired a controlling stake in the BAMTech streaming technology company and, tellingly, this comes directly in betweenHigh School Musical 4's announcement and Disney's confirmation of the upcoming HSMTV series. In mid-to-late 2017, Disney would've been picking out properties to use for original content and, in this sense,High School Musical is an ideal candidate, since the risks involved with a feature-length sequel aren't as prevalent with an in-house streamed TV show.High School Musicalremains a strong enough brand to bring in subscribers, but there's less expectation for the original cast to appear than there would've been for a straight movie sequel.

Depending on the success of the TV show,High School Musical 4 remains a possibility for the future, but may now be reserved as a reunion story that catches up with the classic cast in their adult years, while the new adventures of actual high school-aged performers are reserved for Disney+.

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High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premieres November 12th on Disney+.

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Craig Elvy (3172 Articles Published)

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig's interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own. Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS. Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer. Jim Carrey is Craig's top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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What Is High School Musical 4 Rated

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