After the success of 2014's Angelina Jolie-led "Maleficent," a new take on the classic "Sleeping Beauty" villain, Disney Channel's "Descendants" saw the company pursuing a similar theme by showing the world the children of the biggest villains of their different franchises - and it paid off so well they've announced a sequel!
Last summer, Disney Channel's "Descendants" premiered on the United States with a lot of success, and now that several other countries have shared in the fun of the new television film, execs behind the network have decided that it's profitable enough to warrant a sequel, which has already been commissioned.
According to E! Online, the network announced last Thursday that Disney Channel's "Descendants" would get a sequel in 2017, as Sarah Parriott and Josann McGibbon, the writers of the original film, have been commissioned to write the sequel.
"By almost every measure - domestically and globally - 'Descendants' has already become one of the biggest entertainment properties of the year and we're eager to delve deeper into the unfolding mythology of Auradon and Isle of the Lost," said president and CCO of Disney Channels Worldwide Gary Marsh in a recent statement about Disney Channel's "Descendants" sequel, through Variety. "This kind of compelling, innovative storytelling, alongside our animated 'Descendants: Wicked World' shorts and unique transmedia campaign, continues to lay the groundwork for multiple franchise opportunities across virtually every line of business at the Walt Disney Company."
As Deadline reports, the original showing of Disney Channel's "Descendants" last July broke all kinds of records in the U.S., delivering 12.2 million total viewers in the U.S. and capturing audiences of all ages (including 3.1 million adults between the ages of 18 and 49), turning into the biggest cable TV movie in over 3 years.
Kenny Ortega, who gave the world faces like Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale with his "High School Musical," was the executive producer of Disney Channel's "Descendants."
