For those who are sick of hearing Britney or Jamie Lynn Spears news, here’s a breather. Nickelodeon is set to create their very own High School Musical.  Yes, you heard it right.  The annoying but amusing Disney hit series is about to be replicated by Nickelodeon, who claims that it will purely be a “performance-based spectacle,” Reuters reports, instead of the typical High School Musical scene wherein the characters suddenly break out into a song.  Moreover, Zoey 101 actress Victoria Justice is set to be part of the upcoming film entitled Spectacular.

Victoria Justice, who plays Lola Martinez in Nickelodeon's Zoey 101, began acting and modeling at the age of eight.  Her first major television appearance was in the television show Gilmore Girls and the independent films Fallacy with Gary Busey and When do We Eat with Michael Lerner, Leslie Ann Warren, and Jack Klugman.  Following her screen appearances, she focused on modeling for various clothing lines such as Gap, Guess and Ralph Lauren.  Her following projects included indie films My Purple Fur Coat and Mary, which garnered praise at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.  Shortly thereafter, she landed her first guest starring role in Disney's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.  2005 saw her appearing in a couple more films before landing the role of Lola Martinez in Nickelodeon's Zoey 101, where Justice stars alongside Jamie Lynn Spears.

Victoria Justice joins Tammin Sursok, Nolan Funk and Simon Curtis in Nickelodeon's Spectacular, which begins filming on April 21st.  The film will be directed by Robert Iscove, who previously worked on She's All That and From Justin to Kelly.  The film will be produced by Scott McAboy, with executive production done by Lauren Levine, Jessica Horowitz, Marjorie Cohn and Bill O'Dowd.

Spectacular follows a preppy high school student played by Sursok.  As part of the Spectacular choir, Sursok's character must pull together the group, whose members have either graduated or simply lost their passion for performing.  The preppy teen then meets a cocky rocker who joins Spectacular not just to pull the choir together, but to win a money prize that could finance his dreams of eventually breaking out in the rock music industry.

As of now, no release date has been set for the new Nickelodeon flick, but make sure to check back for more updates on Zoey 101.


-Valerie Anne del Castillo, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Associated Press/AccessHollywood, The Hollywood Reporter
(Image courtesy of the Associated Press)