Heading back to Waverly Place, Disney Branded Television has just ordered a pilot for a sequel to live-action comedy series Wizards of Waverly Place, which aired on Disney Channel from 2007 to 2012.

Wizards was among the kidsnet’s top-performing sitcoms of its era, alongside tween shows like Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Its last episode even set a record at the time as the most-watched Disney Channel series finale ever, attracting 9.8 million viewers.

The original show explored the lives of teenage wizards navigating adolescence while hiding their magical abilities from the outside world. Selena Gomez (pictured) and David Henrie, who starred as sibling lead characters, will now executive produce the reboot’s pilot. 

Henrie is also reprising his role as a regular cast member, and Gomez will make a guest appearance. The sequel will see the introduction of a new wizard-in-training named Billie as well.

On board to write the pilot script are Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, who have a proven track record of successfully reviving vintage tween programming for today’s kids. They helmed the development of Raven’s Home—a spinoff to sitcom That’s So Raven, which aired on Disney Channel from 2003 to 2007. (Raven’s Home debuted in 2017 and rolled out its sixth season last year.)

Elinoff and Thomas are also EPs on the new Wizards pilot, along with Gary Marsh (Hannah Montana) and Andy Fickman (Race to Witch Mountain), who is pulling double duty as a director. 

This project plays into Disney Branded TV’s strategy to expand its slate with more multi-cam TV series. Last fall, the division hired development SVP Jenna Boyd to drive an expansion along these lines in its pilot pipeline for both Disney+ and Disney Channel.

Featured image: Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)