Disney is moving forward with Descendants, a live-action original TV movie about the offspring Cruella De Vil, Jafar, Maleficent, and the Evil Queen. Disney is turning to Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) to direct, and here's the plot rundown....
In a present day idyllic kingdom, the benevolent teenaged son of the King and Queen (Beast and Belle from Disney’s iconic Beauty and the Beast) is poised to take the throne. His first proclamation: offer a chance at redemption to the trouble-making offspring of Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, the Evil Queen and Jafar who have been imprisoned on a forbidden island with all the other villains, sidekicks, evil step-mothers and step-sisters. These villainous descendants (Carlos, Mal, Evvie and Jay, respectively) are allowed into the kingdom to attend prep school alongside the offspring of iconic Disney heroes including Fairy Godmother, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and Mulan. However, the evil teens face a dilemma. Should they follow in their nefarious parents’ footsteps and help all the villains regain power or embrace their innate goodness and save the kingdom?
Part of what makes Disney's other live-action efforts intriguing has been the casting and the chance to see Angelina Jolie cut loose as Maleficent, or the Evil Queen played by Cate Blanchett. Disney isn't likely to be so ambitious here, and we can probably expect to see their usual troupe of teen non-stars landing most of the key roles. Otherwise this would a feature film headed to the big screen, not wedged in-between episodes of Shake It Up and Good Luck Charlie.
Filming begins next spring and we can expect to see Descendants hit the Disney Channel in 2015.
