Disney Channel Orders “Descendants: The Royal Wedding” Animated Special Starring Sofia Carson

Sofia Carson is getting animated…

Disney Channel has ordered Descendants: The Royal Wedding, an animated special starring the 27-year-old Colombian American actress/singer as Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen.

Sofia Carson

In addition to Carson, the Descendants special, set to premiere this summer, will feature a number of stars including Dove Cameron and Booboo Stewart.

The special will also pay memory to late cast member Cameron Boyce. The actor, who appeared as Carlos, died in July 2019 of epilepsy. He was 20. The absence of Boyce’s character will also be acknowledged.

Descendants: The Royal Wedding will follow Auradon’s epic social event, the marriage between Cameron’s Mal and Mitchell Hope’s Ben. Also reprising their roles for the special are Sarah Jeffery, Melanie Paxson, China Anne McClain, Jedidiah Goodacre, Anna Cathcart, Dan Payne, Bobby Moynihan and Cheyenne Jackson.

Descendants introduced a fantasy world of stories and characters anchored in Disney mythology. For the past six years, it captivated young viewers and grew to become among Disney Channel’s biggest entertainment franchises ever. It had the benefit of immensely talented stars, who we now welcome back for this animated ‘Royal Wedding’ special that will bridge the audience to what we hope will be a new chapter of compelling ‘Descendants’ stories and characters yet to come,” said Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Branded Television.

Descendants: The Royal Wedding, by Sara Parriott & Josann McGibbon and Ricky Roxburgh, is based on the Descendants movies by Parriott and McGibbon.  The special is produced by Le Cube with Salvador Simó is set to direct.

Pedro Correa to Star in the Indie Film “My Dead Dad”

Pedro Correa sees dead people…

The Peruvian-American actor, writer and producer has been cast in My Dead Dad, a coming-of-age indie drama from executive producers Declan Baldwin and Karl Hartman of Big Indie Pictures.

Pedro Correa

Correa will star opposite Booboo Stewart, Raymond Cruz, Simon Rex and Steven Bauer in the film.

Correa also co-wrote My Dead Dad alongside the film’s director Fabio Frey.

The film centers on a young burnout who discovers his estranged father is dead and has left him an apartment complex. With hopes of cutting ties, he’s forced to grow up and learn about the father he never knew through the eclectic tenants.

Wanderwell Entertainment’s Tara Ansley produced the film with Correa for Never Norm Films.

Correa’s previous projects include Little Fires Everywhere, The Middle and Deadly Scholars.

Netflix Releases Music Video Teaser for Madison Reyes’ “Julie and the Phantoms”

Madison Reyes is livin’ on the Edge…

Netflix has released a music video teaser from Kenny Ortega’s new musical-dramedy Julie and the Phantoms, starring the young Latina actress.

Madison Reyes

The acoustic performance features Reyes and the rest of the main cast singing “Edge of Great,” an original song from the show’s soundtrack.

Created by Ortega, who directed Disney’s High School Musical and Descendants, the series will start streaming on Netflix on September 10.

Reyes stars as Julie, a high schooler who lost her passion for music after her mom died last year. But when the ghosts of three dreamy musicians (played by Charlie Gillespie, Jeremy Shada and Owen Patrick Joyner) from 1995 suddenly appear in her mom’s old music studio, Julie feels her own inner spirit begin to reawaken and is inspired to start singing and writing songs again. As their friendship with Julie grows, the boys convince her to create a new band together: Julie and the Phantoms.

Though the show is based on Julie e os Fantasmas, a Brazilian television series for children produced by Rede Bandeirantes in partnership with Nickelodeon Brazil, EP and choreographer Ortega said the Netflix original will not follow the original too closely. Ortega said “we were given complete license to explore through the boundaries of what it was and to begin anew. That’s what excited me. This was really a completely new exploration of the idea.”

Playing the titular role, Reyes disclosed that providing visible role models that reflected her identity is what drove and inspired her to play the character of Julie.

“I definitely push myself to follow my dream more for my family and also for my little sister. I wanted her to have someone she could look up to that looked like her and that she could have a connection with whether it be my ethnicity or curly hair. It was about making sure that my sister had somebody that she could look up to. I wanted to be that role model for her. That was what motivated me to follow my dreams,” said Reyes.

Booboo Stewart, Cheyenne Jackson, Carlos Ponce, Sonny Bustamante, Jadah Marie, Sacha Carlson and Savannah Lee May round out the cast.

Some episodes of the single-camera series are directed OrtegaThe series hails from Ortega’s one-year deal with Netflix, which he inked last year.

Netflix to Release Madison Reyes’ “Julie and the Phantoms,” From Kenny Ortega, in September

Madison Reyes is ready to rock…

Netflix has released new details on its upcoming musical series from Kenny OrtegaJulie and the Phantoms, starring the Latina actress

Julie and the Phantoms

Reyes has been cast as the lead of the live-action series, which will premiere on September 10. She plays Julie, a high school student who lost her passion for music after her mom’s death a year earlier. 

But when the ghosts of three dreamy musicians (Charlie GillespieJeremy ShadaOwen Patrick Joyner) from 1995 suddenly appear in her mom’s old music studio, Julie feels her own inner spirit begin to reawaken, and she’s inspired to start singing and writing songs again. As their friendship with Julie grows, the boys convince her to create a new band together: Julie and the Phantoms.

Julie and the Phantoms

Booboo StewartCheyenne JacksonCarlos PonceSonny BustamanteJadah MarieSacha Carlson and Savannah Lee May round out the cast. 

Ortega, who helmed Disney’s High School Musical and Descendants films and Michael Jackson’s This Is It, will direct some of the episodes of the single-camera series

The series is part of a multi-year Netflix deal Ortega signed in 2019.

Fox Releases Latest “X-Men: Days of Future Past” Trailer, Prominently Featuring Canto

There’s no denying Adan Canto’s Hollywood career is on fire… And now he’s literally all-aflame in the biggest project of his career.

Adan Canto in X-Men

20th Century Fox/Marvel Comics has released the latest trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past, featuring the 32-year-old Mexican actor who appeared on FOX’s serial killer drama series The Following.

Canto joins the cast of the latest superhero action flick, starring as the mutant Sunspot.

In addition to Canto, the cast includes Ellen Page’s Shadowcat, Daniel Cudmore’s Colossus and Shawn Ashmore’s Iceman, as well as Fan Bingbing’s Blink, Omar Sy’s Bishop and Booboo Stewart’s Warpath.