HSM3 Opens with $42 Million U.S. Box-Office Take

LOS ANGELES, October 27: High
School Musical 3: Senior Year, the first theatrical release in Disney’s
lucrative film franchise, took in $42 million in its opening weekend in the
U.S., setting a new record for movie musicals.

The weekend take of HSM3 topped
the previous record for a musical set by Mamma
Mia! with $27.8 million this summer. According to
published reports, some 75 percent of the audience for HSM3 was female, and just over 50 percent aged 18 and under.

The film opened in a host of international markets this weekend.
In the U.K., box-office take hit the $13-million mark in its first three days
in release.

Another franchise that made waves at the box office this weekend
was Saw V, from Lionsgate and Twisted
Pictures, which brought in $30.5 million in its opening weekend.

—By Mansha Daswani