Sixteen years since the first "High School Musical" movie premiered, and Zac Efron is ready to go back to school!
Efron, who starred as Troy Bolton, a basketball star who could also really sing, told E! News that he'd be up for a reboot of the franchise. Especially if it means he gets to reunite with the original cast, which included Vanessa Hudgens.
"To have an opportunity in any form to go back and work with that team would be so amazing,” said Efron, 34. "My heart is still there. That would be incredible. I hope it happens."
"High School Musical" first premiered on Disney Channel in 2006 and focused on students with opposite interests (Efron's Troy is a jock; Hudgens' Gabriella loves math and science) who try out for the lead roles in the high school musical. (Hence the title!)
The film was such a success that a sequel came out in 2007, and the third and final one (so far), "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," opened in theaters in 2008. A Disney+ series, "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series," premiered in 2019 with a new cast that includes Olivia Rodrigo.
It could be that Efron saw the success of "Girl Meets World," the Disney Channel three-season spin off of "Boy Meets World" that featured Cory and Topanga Matthews (Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel) years later as devoted parents — along with a plethora of guest stars from the original series.
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Or perhaps Efron is inspired by another high school TV series, "Saved by the Bell," a reboot that returned in 2020 on Peacock and ran two seasons on the streamer before being canceled. In that series, several original actors returned to their characters as adults, including Mark-Paul Gosselaar, a former smart-aleck student turned Governor of California.
We could see Efron in a similar position, but maybe this time ... he'd be running the drama club at East High School? Or following in his TV dad's footsteps as the basketball coach?
In any case, he's not the only former "HSM" alum getting nostalgic. Hudgens and co-star Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay Evans) created a TikTok duet to "We're All In This Together," a song from the original film.
So it sounds like everybody's all warmed up and ready to go!
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
