Deadline Hollywood reports that the TV movie is tentatively titled "Descendants 2," and will have a script by the original movie’s screenwriters, Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon, who will also serve as executive producers.
Kenny Ortega ("Newsies," "High School Musical," "Hocus Pocus") directed the musical film, which premiered July 31, 2015, drew 6.6 million viewers and became the fifth-highest-rated cable TV movie of all-time. The "Descendants" soundtrack entered the Billboard 200 at #1.
No date for the new film's premiere has been set.
In the first film Chenoweth performed a song penned by her Tony-nominated You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown collaborator, composer-lyricist Andrew Lippa. Chenoweth's Tony-winning performance in that show was anchored by the show-stopping Lippa song "New Philosophy." Her song in "Descendants," called "Evil Like Me," took place during a scene where Chenoweth warns her daughter about inheriting her own evil throne. The Alan Menken-Howard Ashman song "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast got a hip-hop, a cappella make-over in the film. No word yet on songs for the sequel. The film, which was set in a present-day kingdom, focused on good-hearted Ben (son of the Beast and Belle), who is poised to take over the throne. His first act as King is to offer a chance of redemption to the children of some major villains. They include Carlos (son of Cruella De Vil), Mal (daughter of Maleficent), Evvie (daughter of the Evil Queen) and Jay (son of Jafar), who have all been imprisoned on a forbidden island with other villains from the Disney canon.
Deadline reports that the entire cast of villains are expected to return for the sequel. These include Dove Cameron as Mal, Cameron Boyce as Carlos, Booboo Stewart as Jay, Sofia Carson as Evie, Mitchell Hope as Ben, Wendy Raquel Robinson as Cruella de Vil, Maz Jobrani as Jafar, Kathy Najimy as the Evil Queen, Melanie Paxson as Fairy Godmother, Brenna D’Amico as Jane, Sarah Jeffery as Audrey, Zachary Gibson as Doug, Jedidiah Goodacre as Chad Charming and Dianne Doan as Lonnie.
Watch the trailer for the first film here:
