The New York Times reports that a number of remakes are being planned for the Disney Channel's wildly popular "High School Musical."
"Disney Studios is planning remakes of the tale of a
mismatched pair, Troy and Gabriella (Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne
Hudgens), who meet at a New Year's Eve karaoke contest, fall in love and decide to audition for their high
school musical against their friends' wishes. One remake would be a
Bollywood feature film starring Indian actors and Indian-flavored
versions of the songs, and the company is considering a television
remake starring Spanish-speaking actors and intended for Latin markets," according to the newspaper.
The DVD of "High School Musical" was released yesterday, May 23rd.
It features two versions (the original telecast and the singalong
versions) and includes numerous extras on its DVD--a "Learn the Dance Moves" feature led by the film's director and choreographer Kenny
Ortega (the film Newsies, Broadway's Marilyn: An American Fable), a previously unseen music video for "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You,"
the music video of "We're All In This Together" and a Behind-The-Scenes
feature. The Disney Channel will sell the DVDs in 100 international markets, as well, according to the Times.
Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, Monique
Coleman, Alyson Reed (Marilyn: An American Fable, A Chorus Line film), Bart Johnson and Joey
Miyashima are featured in "High School Musical"'s cast.The "High School Musical" soundtrack has been on the Billlboard Bestselling Album Chart for 19 weeks. It recently became the first full-length feature film available
for purchase on Apple iTunes. 36.5 million viewers have seen "High School Musical."
"High School Musical" has broken a number of other records. First shown on the Disney channel on
January 20th, 2005, the movie led to a soundtrack that within seven
weeks of its release, climbed to #1 on the Billboard
pop chart -- the first time that an original movie TV soundtrack has
done so and the first time that a TV soundtrack has made the chart's
top spot since 1986's "Miami Vice" soundtrack. A
"High School Musical" sequel also is in the works, and theatre
companies will soon be able to license a stage version from Music
Theatre International.
Visit www.disney.go.com/disneychannel for more information.
