20 HUGE Hit Movies NOBODY Saw Coming

5. High School Musical 3: Senior Year

If you're not hugely au fait with the High School Musical franchise, you might assume that the entire original trilogy starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens were released direct to the Disney Channel.

But after seeing the phenomenal success of the first two films on their network, the Mouse House rolled the dice and released High School Musical 3: Senior Year theatrically.

Even with the series' popularity, though, many doubted whether a franchise fundamentally rooted in TV could make the leap to major big-screen success.

But it sure proved the doubters wrong alright, as the threequel set the biggest opening day for a musical film ever, beat Saw V to the number #1 spot, and made off with $252.9 million globally on a mere $25 million price tag.

It must've been a kicker for Disney, though, because with Efron and Hudgens aging out of their roles at this point, they couldn't parlay the success into a few easy hit sequels.