High School Musical 4 to feature fresh faces

Los Angeles, March 4: The fourth installment of Disney channel’s ‘High School Musical’ is preparing for a release next year; it will feature an all new cast of characters.

‘High School Musical 4’ will be a music- and dance-filled love triangle set against cross-town rivalry between fictional high schools in Albuquerque, N.M.

Since the original stars --Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale – had their fictional graduation in ‘High School Musical 3: Senior Year,’ the fourth installment of the franchise will have to introduce a new cast.

However, the three new younger characters, including one played by British Jemma McKenzie-Brown, might reprise their roles in the new movie.

Production is scheduled to begin later this year and the movie will debut on the Disney Channel in 2010. After the third part’s march into movie theaters in 2008, Walt Disney Co. has decided to take the movie back to its original cable home.

"The 'High School Musical' trilogy introduced a new generation to the celebrated genre of movie musicals,” said Gary Marsh, Disney Channel’s worldwide president of entertainment.

"In crafting this next iteration, we've challenged the entire creative team to raise the bar again - and create something truly worthy of this extraordinary global phenomenon."

Since the first made-for-TV movie premiered on the Disney Channel in Jan. 2006, ‘High School Musical’ franchise has been a huge success globally, raking in millions for Disney and pulling in large numbers of audience.

Some 300 million viewers in more than 100 nations, including India, China and Russia, have seen the first two movies, and the expanding fan-list also expanded business to other areas like a soundtrack album, a concert tour and a vast range of toys, clothes and books.

High School Musical 3 grossed $250 million worldwide since its release in October last year.