In a previous post I talked about how Disney passed on a sequel to this past summer's The Proposal in order to focus on films they can build brands around. Well, we don't have to look too far to find our most recent example, as Variety tells us that Disney is dipping into the High School Musical-ish well for an ensemble teen comedy called Prom.
Yup, prom, as in that dance at the end of your senior year that you're still trying to forget ever happened. It's not expected to be a musical like High School Musical, though, but it's similar to its distant, more popular cousin in that Disney hopes to produce it on a relatively small budget and then turn it into a franchise. What they also want to do is cast nine complete unknowns and hope to turn them all into stars by launching a brand new franchise.
So far Variety compares the feel of the film to the comedies of John Hughes and Cameron Crowe, which may be taking it a little too far at this moment in time, but it also makes this flick one to watch out for. I'm a sucker for films like Can't Hardly Wait (in my opinion the last great ensemble teen comedy), so if they can come even a little close to the vibe in that film, I think Prom could be a success…so long as Disney doesn't give it some boring PG treatment and actually admits that things like sex, drinking and securing hotel rooms actually do take place at most (if not all) proms.
What do you think? Interested in watching?
