Descendants: The Rise of Red

Descendants: The Rise of Red is a musical teen fantasy comedy film directed by Jennifer Phang from a screenplay by Dan Frey and Ru Sommer. Produced by Disney Channel, the film is the fourth in the Descendants franchise, being a spin-off of the previous three films and a follow-up from Descendants: The Royal Wedding. The film was released on July 12, 2024 on Disney+, and is scheduled to debut on Disney Channel on August 9, 2024.

Kylie Cantrall and Malia Baker star as Red (daughter of Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland) and Chloe Charming (daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming from Cinderella), respectively. China Anne McClain and Melanie Paxton reprise their roles of Uma and Fairy Godmother, respectively, from previous Descendants films. Cinderella and King Charming are played by Brandy and Paolo Montalban, who previously played versions of the characters in the 1997 television adaptation of Cinderella.

With 6.7 million views in its first three days of streaming, the film broke a record in its debut on Disney+ as Disney Branded Television's most-viewed premiere ever on the streamer.

Plot
Following the events of Descendants: The Royal Wedding, Uma is now the headmistress of Auradon Prep. Her first order of business is to open the border between Auradon and Wonderland by inviting Princess Red, the rebellious daughter of the tyrannical Queen of Hearts, to join the academy.

Red and her mother travel to Auradon, where the Queen and Cinderella reunite for the first time since their days at Merlin Academy, the original name of Auradon Prep. The meeting quickly turns hostile as the Queen recalls a traumatic prank she endured during their time at school. During the opening ceremony, as Uma welcomes everyone, the Queen unexpectedly launches a coup, with her magical deck of cards, and takes the other attendees hostage. When Cinderella refuses to bow to the Queen, a reluctant Red is forced to condemn her to death by beheading, delighting her mother but angering the crowd. In horror and guilt, Red tries to use the magic pocket watch to go back a few minutes in time and prevent the coup by stealing her mother's deck of cards, but is attacked by Cinderella’s perfectionist and kindhearted daughter Chloe, accidentally activating the watch and sending both girls to the past, when Auradon Prep was still called Merlin Academy. Believing they were sent for a reason, Red and Chloe begrudgingly agree to work together for the sake of their mothers.

Posing as exchange students, the girls enroll at the Academy and meet Ella and Bridget, the teenage personas of Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts, and begin to seek ways to change the "present". They are shocked at their mothers' personalities, with Bridget being nice and Ella not wanting to join the royalty. They all hang out in the courtyard when they meet the younger versions of the villains and Uliana, Ursula's young sister. After purposely eating too many of Bridget's enchanted cupcakes, Uliana turns into a flamingo. When she does turn back into herself, she decides to take revenge on Bridget.

They decide to talk to Ella to find out more, and find out that Uliana hangs out at the Black Lagoon. Red and Chloe overhear the plan to give Bridget a cupcake that will turn her into a monster during the dance, using a sorcerer's cookbook. The girls find the cookbook in Merlin's study, and after struggling with the defenses Merlin has put in place, they are successful. However, the villain gang is able to take it from them, but because the book should not fall "into the wrong hands," they are magically frozen, and Merlin discovers them and gives them detention. Red is able to hide the cookbook and the two of them head back to the present.

They return to the time Uma was giving her speech, and Queen gives the same lines she gave as the original timeline. Red is initially scared that nothing changed, but is relieved to see that her mom is wearing a lighter gown and creates a series of heart bubbles for the celebration. Uma narrates that this is a happy ending, but hints that messing with the fabric of time can have dangerous consequences, telling the audience that the story is not over yet.

Cast

 * Kylie Cantrall as Red, daughter of Queen of Hearts, princess of Wonderland
 * Malia Baker as Chloe Charming, daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming and sister of Chad Charming
 * China Anne McClain as Uma, daughter of Ursula
 * Dara Reneé as Uliana, younger sister of Ursula and aunt of Uma
 * Rita Ora as the Queen of Hearts of Wonderland, Red's mother
 * Ruby Rose Turner as Bridget, the young Queen of Hearts
 * Brandy as Cinderella, Chad and Chloe's mother
 * Morgan Dudley as Ella, the young Cinderella
 * Joshua Colley as young Hook
 * Peder Lindell as Morgie, son of Morgana le Fay
 * Paolo Montalban as King Charming, Chad and Chloe's father
 * Tristan Padil as teen Prince Charming
 * Melanie Paxson as Fairy Godmother
 * Grace Narducci as Fay, young Fairy Godmother
 * Levin Valayil as Aladdin
 * Kabir Bery as teen Aladdin
 * Shazia Pascal as Jasmine
 * Aiza Azaar as young Jasmine
 * Jeremy Swift as Merlin
 * Leonardo Nam as Maddox Hatter, the son of the Mad Hatter
 * Alex Boniello as Jack of Diamonds, captain of the Queen of Hearts' Red Army
 * Sam Morelos as Meadow, a student at Merlin Academy
 * Mars as young Maleficent
 * Anthony Pyatt as young Hades
 * Julee Cerda as the Evil Stepmother, aka Lady Tremaine.

Dove Cameron, Mitchell Hope, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, Cameron Boyce (posthumously) and Brenna D'Amico, also appear in portraits taken from previous installments as Mal, Ben, Evie, Jay, Carlos and Jane respectively.

Production
On August 18, 2021, following the release of the animated special Descendants: The Royal Wedding, Lauren Kisilevsky, Disney Branded Television's Senior Vice President of Original Movies, responded to questions regarding the special's cliffhanger by saying that "[t]he tease is a tease", and was added due to the Descendants films ending with hints at additional stories, and also said that "Disney Channel would see where [they] get with the franchise".

On September 21, 2021, a fourth Descendants film was confirmed to be in development as part of an overall deal between Disney and former Disney Branded Television president Gary Marsh's production company. By May 2022, the film was greenlight by Disney+ as a spin-off under the working title of The Pocketwatch. Jennifer Phang was hired as director and co-executive producer, with Dan Frey and Russell Sommer writing the screenplay and Marsh executive-producing.

On March 21, 2023, the official title for the film was announced as Descendants: The Rise of Red.

Filming
Filming for Descendants: The Rise of Red began in early January 2023 under its working title The Pocketwatch. Mark Hofeling return from the original trilogy as production designer. Phang said she wants the choreography during action sequences to still be able to tell an emotional story. For Wonderland's design, Phang used Alice in Wonderland (1951) as a reference while also drawing inspiration from her previous filmmaking experience. Filming took place in Atlanta beginning at the end of January 2023 with plans to run through mid-March.

Casting
The featured cast announced at the 2022 D23 Expo included China Anne McClain, who is returning to portray Uma, with Kylie Cantrall (as Red) and Dara Reneé (as Uliana) joining the cast of the film. In November 2022, casting announcement revealed that Brandy Norwood was returning as Cinderella after playing the role in the 1997 film Cinderella and Melanie Paxson returned to the franchise as the Fairy Godmother. New cast members to the franchise were Rita Ora as the Queen of Hearts as well as Malia Baker, Ruby Rose Turner, Morgan Dudley, and Joshua Colley. After filming had begun, Jeremy Swift and Leonardo Nam were announced as cast additions in February 2023. In March 2023, was announced that Paolo Montalban was cast as King Charming, who like Norwood, played a version of the character in the 1997 film Cinderella. It was also announced in March 2023 that Alex Boniello was cast as the Jack of Diamonds. Rita Ora commented that the star of the previous films Dove Cameron helped her prepare for her role as Queen of Hearts by giving her advice about the franchise and the Descendants universe.

Visual effects
According to Phang, visual effects was used to "enhance" the locations featured in the film.

Reception
Descendants: The Rise of Red was watched by 6.7 million viewers in its first three days of streaming on Disney+. It is Disney Branded Television's highest original movie premiere on the streaming service.

Soundtrack
Descendants: The Rise of Red is set to feature 7 songs both original and from animated Disney films. The first single "What's My Name (Red's Version)" was released on April 26, 2024, along with the pre-order of the soundtrack. The soundtrack was released on July 12, 2024, to coincide with the film's release. The second single "Red" was released on June 21, 2024.

Prequel book
The novel Beyond the Isle of the Lost: Wonderland, fifth book in the series The Isle of the Lost, was published on May 7, 2024, serving as a prequel to the events of the film.

Release
Descendants: The Rise of Red was released on Disney+ on July 12, 2024, followed by the upcoming Disney Channel premiere on August 9, 2024.