“High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” the first big-screen adaptation of Walt Disney Co’s popular TV movie franchise, sold $42 million worth of tickets during its first three days. The opening sets a new record for a musical, surpassing the $27.8 million bow of the ABBA-themed romance “Mamma Mia!” in July.

Disney is enjoying a strong fall, first with “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” three weeks ago, and now with “High School Musical 3.” The movie also opened in 19 international markets, and was No. 1 in each of them, led by Britain with $13 million.

“Music travels,” said Mark Zoradi, president of Buena Vista International, Disney’s foreign arm. “Sometimes American comedy is difficult to travel, but this is a relatively simple story and a good quality, fun movie.”

The song-and-dance franchise has generated two smash TV movies and two chart-topping albums, and it made teen idols out of its stars, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale. The three films were directed by “Dirty Dancing” choreographer Kenny Ortega.

Exit polling in North America indicated three-quarters of the audience was female, and just over half were under 18, Disney said. About two-thirds were families.

The plot of the new film brings the cast back to their fictional New Mexico high school, where Troy (Efron) must decide between pursuing a basketball scholarship or his song-and-dance dreams. The usual teen-angst issues ensue.

Edit by Auie: I just added and replaced On set photos of V in High School Musical 3. Enjoy!

Gallery Links:
[+1] Movies - High School Musical 3 Movie Stills
[+1] Movies - High School Musical 3 On Set
[03] Movies - High School Musical 3 On Set (HQ Replacement)