China remakes High School Musical
Monday November 23 2009
High School Musical is being remade for Chinese audiences.
The hit Disney film, which stars Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, will be recreated for the Chinese market and named Disney High School Musical: China.
The film will be co-produced by Chinese companies Shanghai Media Group and Huayi Brothers Media Corp, The Walt Disney Corporation said, allowing it to bypass China's annual release quota of 20 foreign films.
The story of two friends who overcome odds to win an inter-school singing competition marks Disney's third co-produced film in China after The Magic Gourd in 2007 and this year's Trail Of The Panda and its sixth international co-production.
Featuring six newcomers, the film will be shot in Shanghai and is scheduled for a summer 2010 release, Disney said.
High School Musical started out as a TV movie that launched in the US in January 2006 but went on to become a big hit internationally, airing in more than 30 languages in some 100 countries and turning Zac and co into household names.
Its sequel, also a TV movie, was also a success. Disney then released the third instalment in cinemas in October 2008, with High School Musical 3: Senior Year taking 250 million US dollars worldwide.
Disney has chosen Chen Shizheng, who made Dark Matter with Meryl Streep in 2007, to direct the High School Musical remake.
Press Association
