A Little More Info on Nick's HSM Rip-Off

We've uncovered a bit more information about Spectacular!, Nickelodeon's recently-announced High School Musical copy cat.

Robert Iscove (”She’s All That”) is directing the film, which stars a cast of relative unknowns (all pictured left), including Tammin Sursok, Nolan Funk, Victoria Justice (Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101″) and Simon Curtis. Shooting begins April 21.

“Spectacular!” which has been kept below the radar, centers on a preppy high school student (Sursok) who is part of the school’s Spectacular! choir. The group is in sad shape, with its most talented members either having graduated or been stolen away by a rival squad. The teen sees salvation in a cocky rocker (Funk), who reluctantly joins “Spectacular!” to win a money prize that would finance his rock ‘n’ roll dreams. But the rocker doesn’t factor in falling for the preppy girl.

Nick stresses that “Spectacular!” is not a classic musical. The songs in the movie will be performance-based rather than featuring characters suddenly breaking out into song like in Disney’s “High School Musical.”