'Wizards Beyond Waverly Place' Sets Magically Spooky Premiere Dates On Disney Channel, Disney+
'Wizards Beyond Waverly Place' Sets Magically Spooky Premiere Dates On Disney Channel, Disney+
David Henrie and Selena Gomez return as Justin and Alex Russo for the 'Wizards of Waverly Place' sequel series premiering in 2 months
Disney Channel has cast Edgebono Utoosis on the linear rollout of its Wizards of Waverly Place continuation Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Missing its 17th anniversary by a couple of weeks, the series will be premiering on October 29 at 8 PM with 2 episodes. This makes for an unusual Tuesday start and a grand finale for Disney Channel and Disney+’s Halloween festivities it was certainly expected to be part of.
But that’s not all, after all, Disney+ was mentioned. The next day, October 30, two more episodes will premiere on Disney Channel, including an appropriate Halloween episode, in the same slots. The day also marks its Disney+ arrival, with the first eight episodes. The series will move to its normal Friday night 8 PM timeslot starting November 8, but continue to premiere two episodes weekly. It is unclear how many episodes the season has. The regular double-episode premiere practice that has already been discussed as used for the network’s Saturday morning cartoons actually began for its live action fare when Bunk’d ran its final 10 episodes from early July to early August.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place sees the return of David Henrie’s Justin Russo, now with his wife Giada, played by Mimi Gianapulos and sons Roman, played by Alkaio Thiele, and Milo, played by Max Matenko, who he has chosen to give a normal, magic-free life, make up most of the main cast. Selena Gomez’s Alex Russo, his sister, is still only set to appear as a guest star in the first episode to essentially kick off the plot. She and Henrie also serve as executive producers, and it seems that any return will not happen in the seven subsequent episodes. It is she who brings Billie, played by Janice LeAnn Brown, to his home seeking help. It forces Justin out of retirement to mentor her wizard-in-training while also juggling his everyday responsibilities, and taking on safeguarding the future of the Wizard World again. Taylor Cora also stars as Billie’s friend Winter, and David DeLuise will guest star as Jerry Russo, Justin and Alex’s father, reprising his role from the original series.
Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas write and executive produce Wizards Beyond Waverly Place with Gary Marsh, Jonas Agin, Gomez, and Henrie. Andy Fickman who directed and executive produced the pilot will direct multiple episodes. Danielle Fishel, who began directing while starring as Topanga Lawrence on Boy Meets World sequel series Girl Meets World with four episodes there, will direct at least one episode of this series. It continues what has become regular directing work on the network, encompassing 30 episodes across Sydney to the Max, Coop & Cami Ask the World, Just Roll with It, The Villains of Valley View, Pretty Freekin Scary and Raven’s Home. That series’s star Raven-Symoné also directs here, with experience including 16 episodes of her own show. A poster was also released. The witching hour is upon us.
Source: The Walt Disney Company