Those East High School students Troy and Gabriella may have graduated from Disney, but the company is still planning to head back to prom. According to Variety, Disney is looking into a film along the lines of "High School Musical" called "Prom." Despite the easy comparisons (teens in high school, dancing, etc.), "Prom" is not expected to be a musical.
The film is said to be a comedy revolving around a group of teens — with nine lead roles — as they prep for prom. Variety reports the theme is supposed to channel the classic teen comedies of Cameron Crowe and John Hughes (maybe their own homage to the late great director?).
"Prom" was written by Katie Wech, whose only two writing credits on IMDb are from episodes of "Dead Zone," although she was an associate producer on "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience." Director Joe Nussbaum will head the project, having at least a bit more experience in the genre between 2004's "Sleepover" and 2007's "Sydney White."
Disney's interest in the flick is definitely drawn from the success of the "High School Musical" series, which Variety also reports has a fourth film in production. The small budget (an estimated $5 to $10 million) and plan of unknown actors as the leads almost perfectly parallels the first "High School Musical," which gave Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale almost instant fame.
Also, the fact Disney is interested in this project based on its vision alone says a lot about how they're looking to sell their brand. Variety reported in its article that Disney execs have yet to even read Katie's script, and are waiting on that to make important casting and financial decisions as well as greenlight the flick.
If Disney does end up moving forward with this, which we're sure they will, it can be guaranteed they will only have three main goals on their mind: success, profit and franchise numero dos.
What do you think of the idea of the "Prom" movie?
** Hollywood Crush Twitter