Disney Channel Orders 'Wizards Of Waverly Place' Sequel Series Pilot
Disney Channel Orders 'Wizards Of Waverly Place' Sequel Series Pilot
David Henrie and Selena Gomez executive produce the Justin-starring series with an Alex appearance in the pilot
Now this is a wizard show I can get behind. Just as Disney Channel fans were processing what they learned about Disney+’s scrapped Lizzie McGuire sequel series, the network has cast the nostalgia spell again. Disney Branded Television has ordered a pilot for a Wizards of Waverly Place sequel series. Selena Gomez and David Henrie, who played siblings Alex and Justin Russo, are among the executive producers.
The revival pilot comes from writers and executive producers Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, coming over from Raven’s Home, the That’s So Raven sequel series. As the plot goes, Justin, who in the original series finale succeeded Professor Crumbs as headmaster of WizTech, allowing him to keep his wizard powers despite losing the Wizard Competition, has left them behind following a mysterious incident at the school. He has instead opted for a normal, human life with his wife and two sons. A surprise shows up at his door in the form of a powerful young wizard in need of training. Justin finds he must embrace his past to ensure the future of the Wizard World. A photo of the script tentatively called Wizards was shared on Henrie and the network’s socials.
The series description does indicate that Justin and Juliet did not make it, as Justin’s wife is named Giada and played by Mimi Gianopulos. The powerful young wizard that comes to Justin is named Billie, played by Janice LeAnn Brown, while only Justin’s older son is currently known: Alkaio Thiele will play Roman Russo, Justin’s oldest son.
Additional executive producers to Gomez, Henrie, Elinoff and Thomas include former Disney Branded Television President and Chief Creative Officer Gary Marsh, who, having ascended to the position in 2001 after 13 years at the company, oversaw the channel’s entire cable-dominating era that Wizards was a part of and well after it, departing at the end of 2021 to launch his own Disney-backed production company that would develop shows like this. He’s also credited with getting Gomez on the network following her discovery at an open casting call in Dallas. One may remember her being Miranda’s little sister Stevie Sanchez in the attempted Lizzie McGuire spin-off also known as What’s Stevie Thinking?, guest starring on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, recurring as Mikayla on Hannah Montana, and being a lead niece in the Arwin! spinoff pilot. Andy Fickman, who directed The Game Plan, Race to Witch Mountain, and 32 episodes of Disney Channel sitcom Liv & Maddie will also executive produce and direct.
The original Wizards of Waverly Place was created by Todd J. Greenwald and ran for four seasons from October 2007 to January 2012 and was one of Disney Channel’s longest-running series. Henrie and Gomez starred alongside David DeLuise as dad Jerry, Maria Canals-Barrera as mom Theresa, Jake T. Austin as brother Max, and Jennifer Stone as Alex’s best friend Harper Finkle. Uniquely, the series has already had a continuation, managing to garner a reunion special that aired just a little over a year after the series ended, The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex which Henrie was unable to partake in. Stone and DeLuise launched a rewatch podcast last year Wizards of Waverly Pod, where in an early episode Selena guested and spoke fondly of her experiences and memories.
Henrie has said that once the project has a more stable future, that’s when more alums will start to be invited back. While it is just at the pilot stage, it is a step in building back up Disney Channel’s lineup of multi-camera sitcoms as they seek to do, especially if this means Raven’s Home has ended after six seasons on top of Bunk’d’s impending end after seven.
