Nickelodeon Making High School Musical
By BORYS KIT AND KIMBERLY NORDYKE, Reuters
Posted: 2008-03-31 17:28:50
LOS ANGELES (March 31) - Watch out Disney!
Nickelodeon is sharpening its notes to create its own high
school musical.
The Viacom-owned kids network will next month start
shooting the TV movie "Spectacular!" -- a music-themed comedy set
in high school.
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Although "Spectacular!" is designed as a one-off, Nick is
holding options on the stars for potential sequels. No airdate
has been set, though the movie is intended to join the ranks of
other original live-action programming on Nick, including the
hit series "Zoey 101" and "iCarly."
"Spectacular!" which has been kept below the radar, centers
on a preppy high school student (Australian Tammin Sursok) who
is part of the school's Spectacular! choir. The group is in sad
shape, with its most talented members either having graduated
or been stolen away by a rival squad. The teen sees salvation
in a cocky rocker (Canadian Nolan Funk), who reluctantly joins
"Spectacular!" to win a money prize that would finance his rock
'n' roll dreams. But the rocker doesn't factor in falling for
the preppy girl.
Robert Iscove ("She's All That") is directing the film,
which will shoot in Vancouver.
Nick stresses that "Spectacular!" is not a classic musical.
The songs in the movie will be performance-based rather than
featuring characters suddenly breaking out into song like in
Disney's "High School Musical."
Disney unearthed a gold mine with "Musical," which became a
surprise hit upon its debut in January 2006. The sequel, which
aired in August, broke records for cable viewership, and the
soundtrack was the second-best-selling album of 2007.
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2008-03-31 15:11:02
