In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Glee creator Ryan Murphy shocked Gleeks everywhere by announcing that Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer and Lea Michele will be graduating at the end of season three of the hit high school musical. The three have been with Glee from the beginning and are arguably the series’s biggest stars.
The news of Montieth, Colfer and Michele’s departure comes just weeks after another cast shake up saw news that Chord Overstreet was not returning to the show full time for the third season, Overstreet’s Sam will be limited to just a handful of episodes this fall.
Meanwhile, Darren Criss and Harry Shum who play Blaine and Mike, have been upped to full time cast members. They will be joined this fall by the winner of the Oxygen Network reality series The Glee Project.
Naturally, fans were in an uproar upon hearing that season three will be the last season for Cory Montieth as Finn, Chris Colfer as Kurt and Lea Michele as Rachel Berry. The Hollywood Reporter chronicled the doom and gloom of Gleeks all over Twitter which erupted with the news. Reaction was universally grim with fans calling it ‘the end of Glee‘ and ‘Good riddance Rachel Berry.’
Cory Montieth seems ready for Finn to graduate, the actor has been booking movie roles with a recent supporting role in the teen rom-com Monte Carlo and wrapping production on his first starring role in the movie Brothers and Sisters. Lea Michele will have the opportunity to return to Broadway where she earned the Drama Desk award for her work in Spring Awakening, a role that led to her being cast on Glee.
Michele has booked her first major movie role, she’s one of the galaxy of stars in the Garry Marshall comedy New Years Eve. As for Chris Colfer, he is going the indie root for his first starring movie role. He will play opposite Allison Janney in the comedy Struck By Lightning which is set for a 2012 release. Colfer wrote the screenplay himself. The film was directed by Brian Dannelly who directed the indie smash Saved back in 2007.
What do you think Gleeks? Is graduation the end of Glee?
Glee returns to Fox for season three on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011.
