Advance 'HSM3' tix selling fast in England

LONDON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The upcoming movie musical "High School Musical 3" has broken British records for advance ticket sales, Walt Disney Pictures said Friday.

Slated for release in U.K. theaters Oct. 22, the third installment of the popular franchise has sold more than $890,000 in tickets since Wednesday, with some screenings already sold out, the movie studio said.

Odeon Cinemas, the United Kingdom's largest theater chain, puts its total in advance bookings at $435,000. That amount beats "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the previous record-holder, which took in $402,000 at the same stage of booking and which went on to gross $86 million.

"This is a phenomenal and record-breaking start for 'High School Musical 3,'" Rupert Gavin, chief executive officer of Odeon and UCI Cinema Group, said in a statement. "Our cinemas have been inundated with calls to pre-book tickets for what could be the year's biggest kids and teen audience movie. With schools breaking up for half-term just as 'High School Musical 3' opens, we at Odeon are bracing ourselves for a huge first-week run."

"HSM3" stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and Jemma McKenzie-Brown are expected to attend the film's London premiere Tuesday.

The first two "HSM" films made their debuts on U.S. television. "HSM3" is the first movie in the series to get a theatrical run.