Walt Disney's imminent release of
two new film versions of "High School Musical" in Mexico and
Argentina marks another expansion in the company's efforts to
produce more localized content for international markets.
"High School Musical: El Desafio" is the first
Disney-branded feature film made in Latin America. It was
produced for Mexico, Argentina and Brazil (where filming hasn't
yet begun), with three local casts, three distinct scripts and
three versions of the soundtrack. The movie arrives in theaters
July 17 in Argentina and September 5 in Mexico.
Walt Disney Co. Latin America president Diego Lerner said
the idea was not to compete with the original "High School
Musical," but to take universal themes and apply them with
local flavors. Original songs by Alejandro Lerner (no relation)
are more reggaeton for Mexico and more pop for Argentina.
Soccer and rugby replace basketball in the film as the school
sport.
"We use expressions and terminology that are totally local
... All the exteriors, all the music, all the songs describe
situations of each country," he said. "It's not an adaptation
of an American movie in Latin America. It's local talent with a
local story."
The casts for each new version of the blockbuster hit were
selected from reality shows that Disney produced in each
market. (In Mexico and Argentina, the shows were co-produced
with TV Azteca and Artear, respectively.) Unlike other Disney
music releases, which are distributed by Universal, Disney
Latin America partnered with Sony BMG for the local cast
soundtracks because of the latter's experience in casting
reality shows in the region. Disney is also considering a
possible release of "High School Musical: El Desafio" on TV,
DVD or the Internet for the U.S. Hispanic market and Spain,
Lerner said.
Reuters/Billboard
In Theaters 
