High School Musical 4 Gossip

With Twilight and its stars threatening to totally overtake High School Musical in the Tweeniverse, the Disney franchise came out today with a couple of tidbits regarding the fourth film in this franchise:

• Jeffrey Hornaday will direct High School Musical 4.
• It will be titled High School Musical: East Meets West.

“I’m excited to be part of a franchise that, thematically, encourages kids to believe in themselves," said Hornaday, who directed world tours for Madonna and the Backstreet Boys. "Like the first three movies, my goal is to keep the art form of the traditional musical alive, yet bring a contemporary emotional response to the story and its characters through song and dance.”

Reportedly, High School Musical 4, will center around a love triangle set against the cross-town school rivalry between the East High Wildcats and West High Knights.

Guess Matt Prokop won't be the next Zac Efron after all.

While rumors have pointed to the young actor taking on the lead in High School Musical 4, Prokop updated his MySpace blog over the weekend and wrote otherwise:

"Not only will [High School Musical 4] not feature your loved wildcats: Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan, Chad, and Taylor, but I will also not be apart of it. Disney decided to go with a completely different story line. I’m so thankful to be apart of HSM3 before they decided to change everything. Enjoy the new characters... whoever they will be."

Prokop sounds a tad bitter, doesn't he?

Disney will start casting High School Musical 4 this summer. Who would you like to see in the lead role?

The good news: High School 4 is coming!

The bad news: It will not star Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale or any or the original Wildcats gang.

The next installment in this popular Disney franchise will introduce an entirely new cast of characters, according to Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel.

"In crafting this next iteration, we've challenged the entire creative team to raise the bar again - and create something truly worthy of this extraordinary global phenomenon," Marsh said.

Gabriella and Troy have graduated. It's time for High School Musical fans to welcome a new class.

So, who might anchor High School Musical 4?

Our money is on Matt Prokop. The young actor portrayed Jimmy Zara in the previous installment and has been dubbed by some experts as "the next Zac Efron."

Keep your eye on this rising star, readers.

We've been hearing for months that High School Musical 3 - which hits actual movie theaters this fall - would be the last installment in this world-dominatng Disney franchise.

Now, however, The Hollywood Reported is causing screams and tears around the country with the rumor that there are actually plans for High School Musical 4.

"We are writing High School Musical 4, " Disney Channel Worldwide president Rich Ross confirmed Tuesday after a presentation at a midtown Manhattan recording studio, adding that the idea right now is to keep the fourth film as TV movie, unlike High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Ross hopes to retain at least some of the original cast.

Might Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and friends return for a fourth version of High School Musical?

What do you think: is High School Musical 4 a good idea? Or is the franchise running the risk of overstaying its welcome?