Zac Efron has revealed that he is open to returning to the High School Musical franchise, stating that he would happily return for a reboot film. Efron starred as high school basketball star-turned-musical lead Troy Bolton in the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie. The actor continued to portray Troy in the film’s 2007 sequel, High School Musical 2, and the trilogy’s concluding film, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, in 2008.
Also starring Vanessa Hudgens, the original movie became a pop culture sensation. And the franchise continues to this day in the form of Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. While Efron has starred in more mature productions like Blumhouse’s Firestarter, the Bad Neighbors series, and even portrayed serial killer Ted Bundy in 2019’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, the actor is still open to returning to Disney’s popular musical franchise.
As reported by the New York Post, Efron revealed his enthusiasm to return to the series when promoting Firestarter to E! News ahead of its May 13th release. In that movie, he plays father Andrew Mcgee in a reboot of the 1984 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name. In the interview, the actor stated that he would gladly return to the High School Musical franchise if the opportunity arose to reunite and work with the original team. Efron also revealed that he was still incredibly fond of his time on the franchise. Check out Efron’s full response below.
“Of course. I mean to have an opportunity in any form to go back and work with that team would be so amazing. My heart is still there. That would be incredible. I hope it happens.”
Efron’s co-star Corbin Bleu has already returned to the franchise, with Bleu set to have a role in season three of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Almost twelve years since he left behind the role of Troy’s Wildcat teammate Chad Danforth, Bleu will return to the franchise, but this time playing a fictionalized version of himself in the mockumentary musical drama inspired by the original Disney Channel film. Bleu teased that, while the fictionalized version of himself seen in the series is more jaded and cynical, he feels incredibly honored to revisit the franchise through the Disney+ series, and was glad that he had the opportunity to do so.
Like fellow castmates Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, Efron has moved beyond his Disney Channel Original Movie roots onto a number of varied roles and projects and shows no signs of slowing down with the actor recently sharing his hopes for a role in the MCU. However, it will be heartwarming for longtime fans who grew up with High School Musical to not only hear that Efron looks back on his time fondly, but is open to returning. While High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has carried the franchise’s torch successfully on Disney+, perhaps the series’ success and fans revisiting the original film series could lead to the studio considering a project featuring an older Troy Bolton in the future.
