HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 Holds Top Spot at Weekend B.O.

Halloween is never a great day for the film industry, especially when it falls on a weekend. And as expected Friday's grosses were way down compared to a normal weekend reports Nikki Finke's DeadlineHollywood.com.

In a shock Disney's High School Musical 3: Senior Year was down a whooping 90% from its historic opening a week ago. The film made $1.7 million Friday from 3,626 plays. But then Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and those Wildcats staged an amazing comeback, jumping up nearly 400% to grab No. 1 with $8.2 million Saturday for a $15M weekend (including Sunday's estimate of $5.1 million) for a new total of $61.8M.

Overseas, HSM3 was the No.1 film in 26 territories including the U.S. and Canada for an estimated gross its second week of $146.8M at the worldwide box office.

Disney's High School Musical phenomenon leaps onto the big screen with High School Musical 3:Senior Year in which America's favorite high school students (Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman) hit senior year. Amidst a basketball championship, prom and a big spring musical featuring all of the Wildcats, Troy and Gabriella vow to make every moment last as their lifelong college dreams put the future of their relationship in question. A crew of sophomore Wildcats (Matt Prokop, Justin Martin, Jemma Mckenzie-Brown) joins in the fun as the film's incredible new music and exciting dance numbers take maximum advantage of the big screen.

DGA Award-winning director and choreographer Kenny Ortega once again is at the helm for Walt Disney Pictures' upcoming film High School Musical: 3 for the big-screen, featuring all principal cast members from the two previous tween-phenomenon TV events; including Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman.

High School Musical premiered on Disney Channel on January 20, 2006, and became the highest rated original movie up until that time. It won the Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Children's Programming, and received two Emmy Awards (of its total 6 nominations), a DGA Award, an Imagen Award for Best Children's Program, and a Humanitas Prize nomination. The soundtrack received a Billboard Music Award for Soundtrack of the Year, and was nominated for an American Music Award in the Favorite Album (Pop/Rock) category. The film even earned an entry in the Guinness World Record Book as the first TV movie to deliver nine concurrent singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

High School Musical 2, the sequel to Disney's smash TV hit, premiered on the Disney Channel on August 17, 2007 and drew an estimated 17.2 million viewers on Friday night, making it the most-watched basic cable telecast ever and garnered the most tween viewership ever.

High School Musical 3 opened in theaters nation wide on October 24th, 2008. For more information please visit www.disney.com.

Photos Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

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