It's the start of something new: Disney Channel has officially begun casting for High School Musical 4, the follow up to the ridiculously popular 00s film franchise that gave the world Zac Efron.

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More than ten years since the first film debuted on the Disney Channel in the USA – spawning stage shows, merchandise galore and two more movies – Disney has put out an open casting call for a whole new generation of Troys, Gabriellas and, inevitably, Sharpays.

And this time when we head to East High (oh those Wildcats) we'll be meeting the silent villains of the original trilogy – the rival West High Knights. It sounds like a West Side Story basketball throwdown waiting to happen.

Original boss Kenny Ortega won't be back to helm the new movie though. Director's Guild Award nominee Jeffrey Hornaday (Disney Channel’s Teen Beach Movie, Teen Beach 2) is attached to direct and choreograph this time around.

It's still not clear whether Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens' Troy and Gabriella will pop along for a song, but we're sure fans will be eager to see them returning. After all, they did nab two Emmy Awards among a host of other gongs.

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"High School Musical is part of Disney Channel's DNA," Disney Channel President Gary Marsh said in the release. "It embodies all that we stand for. As a way of continuing to embrace that heritage, we're excited to announce 'the start of something new' as we launch a search for a new class of East High Wildcats to star in a fourth instalment of the High School Musical franchise."

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They've some reputation to live up to, though, if they're going to be as popular as the original kids of East High...

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