Out with "Rise", In with "High School Musical"

In case you were one of the fans of the now-canceled "Rise", who felt empty that there wasn't a musical-based high school show on television, it looks like you won't have to wait too long. It looks like Disney's preparations for their own streaming service are ramping up with the announcement today that their TV series based on the popular trilogy, "High School Musical", has found its writer. 

According to Variety, Tim Federle, who worked on the screenplay for the animated comedy “Ferdinand,” is attached to write and executive produce the series.

Federle is the author of a series of young adult novels that began with “Better Nate Than Ever” as well as several cocktail recipe books including “Tequila Mockingbird.” He co-wrote the libretto for the Broadway musical adaptation of “Tuck Everlasting” and won the Humanitas Prize for co-writing the screenplay for “Ferdinand.” He is also writing the screenplay for an animated film, “Foster,” with the songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Nothing else about this project has been announced yet. However, with Federle's hiring, it's not unrealistic to assume that more announcements are imminent. 

According to Variety, Disney announced in August 2017 that they would be ending their distribution deal with Netflix in order to launch their own branded streaming service. It will be home to content from across the company’s vast library, including Disney, Marvel, “Star Wars,” and Pixar projects. In addition, should Disney complete its proposed $52.4 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox, it is likely that company’s film and TV assets could find its way to the streaming service as well.

While I had my fingers crossed for a series based on the film "Camp", I'm not against the idea of a "High School Musical" based show. It has an incredible following and most definitely inspired more than a few future performers. I'll always say that more theatre-based teen-centric shows on TV, the better. So get ready. Wildcats in the house, everybody say it now...or probably in 2020.