The hottest ticket in town is “High School Musical 3,” the third installment in a series of movies that first aired on the Disney Channel and opened Friday in area theaters.

Playing on three screens at the Grand Theatre in Slidell, it’s the first chapter in the trilogy to make its debut as a theatrical release.

With reports streaming in from all over the region of showings sold out hours in advance, Grand General Manager Garth Keely urged patrons to plan accordingly.

The hit film, '��High School Musical 3,'�� is playing on three screens at Slidell'��s Grand Theatre. (Staff Photo by Anne Lautzenheiser)

“I would get here anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour ahead of time,” said Keely. “We start seating 30 minutes before the film, so if you get here right before it starts, you’ll be sitting right up front.”

Keely said Friday afternoon the 7 p.m. showings for that evening were already sold out, but all others, which begin around noon and generally run about 30 minutes apart, were still available.

At the Hollywood Theater in Covington, the movie is playing on two screens, and all shows for Friday had sold out early. Theatre employees compared the movie’s opening to that of the “Harry Potter” films and said they expected to have more availability through the remainder of the show’s run.

“We are expecting the film to do very well over the weekend, and it will play at least two weeks,” said Heather Wright, vice president of marketing for Hollywood Theaters. “The length of time we play the film is directly proportionate to how well it does.”

Teens and ‘tweens all over the country have flocked to the lighthearted flicks, which call to mind the MGM films of the 1940s that paired Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, in which all problems are solved through the joy of musical theater. Keely said his 11-year-old daughter is a fan of “HSM3” and watches the first two installments over and over with zealous dedication.

“It’s the only thing that’s on our TV at home,” he said. “And when we get in the car, the soundtrack is always in the CD player.”