Disney Theatrical Productions’ Tony® Award-winning new musical Aladdin will have its West End premiere in June 2016 at London’s Prince Edward Theatre, and will open later in 2016 in Sydney at The Capital Theatre. The two premieres will mark the third and fourth international productions of Aladdin, respectively, joining the previously announced Hamburg production, opening on December 6, 2015 at The Stage Theatre Neue Flora, and the Tokyo production, which opened last May at The Dentsu Shiki Theatre Umi, selling out through its first year of performances. This year on Broadway, Aladdin has established itself as the biggest hit in several seasons, welcoming its one-millionth guest last this summer.
Disney Junior’s television movie event, The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, will premiere Sunday, November 22 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel. A brand-new trailer has been released for the movie event, which continues the epic storytelling of Disney’s The Lion King and introduces Kion—the second-born cub of Simba and Nala—who is destined to become leader of the Lion Guard, a team of animals comprised of the Pride Lands’ fiercest, bravest, fastest, strongest and keenest of sight. The movie’s voice cast includes Rob Lowe (Simba), Gabrielle Union (Nala), Max Charles (Kion), Atticus Shaffer (Ono) and Sarah Hyland (Tiifu); along with James Earl Jones and Ernie Sabella reprising their roles as Mufasa and Pumbaa, respectively.
The Lion Guard television series will premiere in early 2016.Yesterday Disney Channel announced that a sequel is in development for Disney’s Descendants, the hit movie that premiered on Disney Channel on July 31 and has gone on to rank as cable television’s fifth-highest-rated movie of all time. The movie’s screenwriters, Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon, have been commissioned to write the sequel script and will also serve as executive producers on the project. In making the announcement, Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide, said, “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. 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.”