We know that "Fame" (which finally comes out today!) is a reboot of the 1980 movie musical — we've spent all week celebrating its release with tons of cast interviews and behind-the-scenes info — but how closely does it follow the structure of the original film? Here, we took a closet look at the main characters from each movie to see how the new class stacks up.

Shy Denise (Naturi Naughton, pictured above, right) is forced by her parents to study classical music instead of the R&B she's actually interested in, reminding us of two characters from the original film who also strived to impress their parents. Wallflower Doris Finsecker (Maureen Teegy, pictured above, left) was pushed into auditioning for the school by her slightly overbearing mother but blossomed into a confident actress over her four years, and actor Montgomery MacNeil (Paul McCrane) struggled to even show up at all on his famous mother's radar.

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Time to pick your sides, Crushers. A school rivalry is brewing between East High and the New York High School for the Performing Arts. In fact, "Fame" star Kherington Payne's got some fighting words for those singing and dancing Wildcats.

"I mean, 'High School Musical' is a great movie for that audience and for what it is," said the former "So You Think You Can Dance" contestant. "It's entertaining and it's great, but I think 'Fame' brings a more gritty... it's more real. It's not wake up with makeup every morning and sing a song all together."

We won't have to wait long to see which side emerges victorious seeing as "Fame" shimmies into theaters today. I have a feeling Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay and company will win this dance off. But maybe that's just me. Click play on the clip below to hear more from Kherington on the differences between "Fame" and "High School Musical."

Who do you think will win the hearts of musical movie goers once and for all: "Fame" or "High School Musical"? Or do you think the audiences for the two will be completely different?

It's not often students and faculty rub elbows after the final bell, but that's just what happened last night in L.A. as the cast of the singing/dancing flick "Fame" hit the black carpet at The Grove for the movie's big premiere.

Naturi Naughton (who sang at the event before Asher Book's boy band V Factory took the stage) looked stunning in a shiny purple mermaid gown, while equally fashionable Asher (on her right) was working a slate gray suit with some funky white sneaks. Taking a more casual approach to the evening was this week's Hump Day Hottie Collins Pennie. Collins was clad in head-to-toe black (including what appear to be exercise gloves), and topped off his look with a green jacket with blue detailing.

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Like we said yesterday, the lyrics to the theme song for "Fame" are utterly infectious. Even we wanted to get up off our seat, jump on top of our desk and bust out with "Remember my name... FAME...!" after we watched the premiere of the music video just now. Of course, our officemates here who are currently working hard on the rest of VMA night might give us some odd looks, so instead of showing off some of (no doubt awesome) dance moves, we've decided to gift you with something even better: the full music video in all it's remixed glory.

Press play above to learn how to fly, and after the jump check out what a few of the movie's stars (including Naturi Naughton whose powerful vocals you heard throughout the song) had to say about the movie. Read more...

The VMAs are just one day and six hours away (thanks, "New Moon" countdown widget for keeping the time!), but before you gather all of your closet friends to watch the big show — and our exclusive extended "New Moon" trailer — you're going to want to tune into the preshow at 8 p.m. ET, to (duh) see what everyone's wearing, but also to get the chance to see our exclusive premiere of the title track music video for "Fame," , a.k.a. the September 25th high school musical remake.

To get you ready for the dancing, singing and totally infectious lyrics ("FAME! I wanna live forever..." — see, it's already stuck in our heads!) we're offering you a few exclusive stills from the video so you can see what kinda of dancing-in-the-streets (and apparently on cars) you're in store for. So click on the photo below to see more images and tune in at 8 p.m. ET tomorrow to MTV for all kinds of VMA pre-show magic.

Hot on the heels of word "Dirty Dancing" would be getting a 21st century makeover, comes a new trailer for another highly anticipated '80s dance flick remake,"Fame," which slinks onto the big screen September 25.

While the first "Fame" trailer introduced us to the New York City High School for Performing Arts ("Where any dream is possible") and its star-studded faculty (Kelsey Grammer! Megan Mullally! Debbie Allen! Bebe Neuwirth!), this brand-new trailer (embedded above) focuses on the five friends — Alice, Malik, Denise, Jenny and Victor — at the heart of this coming-of-age tale. Read more...

Bringing back the 80’s has almost never been a good idea — perhaps until now. "Fame," the beloved musical film and TV series from the 1980s, is back. The revamped 21st century version (out Sept. 25) has new stars, new storylines and an entirely new soundtrack — it will, however, still be recognizable to those who remember their names…remember…remember.

"We use the same ideas, characters, motifs, and spin it on its head," dished Paul Iacono, who plays the role of aspiring film director Neil, to MTV News. "We bring it to the modern day world, and bring a gritty and authentic feel to it." Read more...

The release of the trailer for "Fame" earlier this week has gotten just about everyone we know incredibly pumped for the movie's premiere on September 25. In fact, the musical, which is an update of the classic 1980 flick about the super talented students of the New York City High School of Performing Arts, could very well top "High School Musical" in the hierarchy of films that teenagers obsess over.

Even so, director Kevin Tancharoen still decided to cast a group of virtual unknowns for his highly anticipated remake, one of which includes Kherington Payne. The bubbly blonde's only Hollywood credit thus far includes season four of "So You Think You Can Dance," but that didn't seem to stand in the way of her getting the role of Alice — the only mandatory requirement for the character was that she could move gracefully on her feet. "Dance is her life, which is crazy because it's mine, too," Kherington told Hollywood Crush during a recent visit to MTV's NYC offices. "We kind of connect on the same level." Press play below to hear more about her "Fame" alter-ego!

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