High School Musical (franchise)

High School Musical
Film series logo
Directed by	Kenny Ortega (1–3) Jeffrey Hornaday (4) Michael Lembeck (Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure)
Produced by	Bill Borden Don Schain (1–3)
Written by	Peter Barsocchini Dan Berendsen (4)
Starring	Zac Efron Vanessa Hudgens Ashley Tisdale Lucas Grabeel Corbin Bleu Monique Coleman
Music by	David Lawrence Adam Watts Drew Lane Eddie Galan Drew Seeley Matthew Gerrard Robbie Nevil Shankar Mahadevan Adam Anders Randy Petersen Antonia Amato Jamie Houston Nikki Anders Tim James Kevin Quinn Faye Greenberg Andy Dodd Greg Cham Ray Cham
Cinematography	Gordon Lonsdale (1–2) Daniel Aranyò (3)
Edited by	Seth Flaum
Production company	First Street Films (1–2) Salty Pictures (1–2) Borden and Rosenbush Entertainment (3)
Distributed by	Disney Channel Walt Disney Pictures
Release date	2006–present
Running time	404 minutes (1–3) 417 minutes (Extended)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$22.2 million (3 films)
Box office	$253 million (total)

The High School Musical franchise consists of four Disney musical romantic comedy-drama films directed by Kenny Ortega and created by Peter Barsocchini. It stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman. The original film was released simply as a Disney Channel Original Movie, but after its huge success, it was followed by a television sequel. The third film received a theatrical release. Tisdale and Grabeel reprised their roles as Sharpay and Ryan Evans in a spin-off on the series titled Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, it was a direct to video film. Numerous international versions have been created, plus stage musicals and video games have been released, among other things. On March 1, 2016, a fourth installment was announced.

High School Musical was released on January 20, 2006 as a Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), and was the most successful DCOM ever produced. The film was Disney Channel's most watched DCOM in 2006, with 7.7 million viewers for its premiere broadcast in the US and 789,000 viewers for its UK premiere. It was the first DCOM ever to be broadcast by BBC on December 29, 2006, and has been viewed by over 225 million people worldwide. The first film's leads were Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel, who sang most of the songs.