China's own High School Musical

Cast of High School Musical: China. Photo: Lei Yuchen
The smash hit film phenomenon High School Musical is about to go Chinese. Partnering with the mainland's two most powerful media organizations, Shanghai Media Group (SMG) and Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, Walt Disney Pictures is looking to cash in on the film's record success overseas by adding Chinese elements and casting local actors.

Disney announced Sunday that the Chinese adaptation will loosely have the same plot as the original with a Chinese context and will be uniquely produced for the country.

"Chinese audiences love a great story in a film," said a confident Stanley Cheung, executive vice president and managing director of Walt Disney Company Greater China. "Our local adaptation promotes classic values of teamwork, optimism, friendship, pride and the spirit of self discovery, all of which are highly appreciated by Chinese."

"Disney's ongoing commitment to local content development underpins our strategy to connect with new audiences around the world," explained Jason Reed, general manager of Walt Disney Studios International Production. "The choice of the right stories and best local partners are keys to the success of our localization strategy."

According to Huayi Brothers President Wang Zhonglei, the new partnership was formed after years of cooperation. Disney has helped distribute their films outside Asia for some time. Despite the strong backing, he admitted that the musical genre has never been a popular film type in China.

"Even Perhaps Love directed by Peter Chan with a large budget and strong cast was not successful in box office," he commented.
However, he said the now is the right time to introduce High School Musical to China.

"We have discovered that audiences aged from 18 to 25 contribute 80 to 90 percent of the country's gross box office, who are also our adaptation's target audience."

Wang added that with the recent success of China's film industry, audiences are more likely to welcome various art forms.

"After two years of preparation, High School Musical: China is destined to pioneer a new genre for young Chinese moviegoers by seamlessly combining the art forms of dance, music and film together with popular themes like teamwork, youthful energy and friendship," Wang said.

High School Musical: China tells the story of a new student at an international school who meets a gifted young man with whom she shares a secret passion for singing. With the help of their friends, they win an inter-school singing competition and discover their true calling in the process.

Though with a similar story line to the original film, director Chen Shizheng emphasized that the adaptation will not simply be copy of the US production.

A leading stage and film director, Chen is no stranger to combining different art forms. Having directed numerous Chinese and Western operas and musicals, his 19-hour production of Peking Opera The Peony Pavilion in 1999 was hailed as one of the most significant theatrical events of the 20th Century. His feature film debut Dark Matter in 2007, starring Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice) and Liu Ye (Lan Yu), won the Alfred P. Sloan Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
Chen also acknowledged that musical films were not usually well received in China, but he would try his best. "I believe filmmakers have to change the market, not adapt to it instead."

One of the major differences between the Chinese version and the original is the age and talent of the cast. The average age of the local cast exceeds 24, while its US counterpart found success with most actors under the age of 20. Chen dodged media questions about the seemingly too-old cast, simply saying that the international school setting is vaguely between high school and college.

Another issue in question is the level of talent of the actors chosen. The cast of High School Musical: China was selected from 3,000 hopefuls, according to the production team. However, two of the six young Chinese actors are coincidently former winners of SMG's reality show Lycra Talent Show.

Zhang Junning, having starred in a few local TV series and with a few supporting roles in film under his belt, will play the lead, similar to the role of Troy Bolton played by Zac Efron in the US. Efron quickly rose to fame after his role in the film. Similar to Efron, Zhang cuts a slim figure and has good looks, but his ability to dance and sing to the same caliber as Efron, leaves a lot to be desired.

Zhang said they have been training for two months already, but from their performance at the press conference Sunday, they clearly need much more training to catch up with the original cast.

High School Musical: China will premiere in China in July. According to Wang, the box office will determine sequels like the original series.

Source: Global Times