What's the "HSM" movie hold-up?

While High School Musical 2 continues to amass new fans (the latest count is 49.8 million worldwide, 18 million more than the first TV movie generated in its first month of release),  Disney still hasn't decided whether to go ahead with a big-screen version of the popular franchise. In fact, the studio hasn't even greenlit the script, which isn't due until mid-October. If all goes well—and that includes signing all the stars—production could begin next spring with a possible (but not likely) bow in late 2008. In the meantime, parts of the world are only now experiencing the first movie. The original HSM just debuted Aug. 18 in China, and attracted 50 million viewers.