“High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” the third installment in Disney's "High School Musical” franchise, is scheduled to open in theaters worldwide Friday, October 24.

Starring Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu, the musical has managed to become quite a phenomenon since the cast started filming for the production in Utah three years ago, the movie having given rise to other HSM-related events including albums and a concert tour that just ended.

The finale shows Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale), Ryan Evans (Lucas Grabeel), Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu) and Taylor McKessie (Monique Coleman) as high school seniors, torn between the excitement of going off to college and the fear that they would lose their friendships and romances.

This second sequel also introduces new characters, Jimmie Zara (Matt Prokop) and Tiara Gold (Jemma McKenzie-Brown), the newbees’ appearances prompting questions about a following installment in the musical, especially since producers have announced that HSM 4 was in writing stages.

In 2005, when the first HSM was shot, nobody could foresee that the musical would become the most successful movie that Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) produced, entailing a TV sequel (High School Musical 2) and the 2008 feature film that’s nearing its release.

HSM was first introduced on January 20, 2006 and at that time, it was Disney Channel’s most watched production, with 7.7 million viewers for its United States premiere broadcast. In addition, the movie was the first DCOM one to be broadcast on the BBC on December 29 that same year.