If the Wizards of Waverly Place taught us anything, it’s that everything is not what it seems. That was also the case with a Selena Gomez and David Henrie reunion teased to fans over the weekend. “Hmm @selenagomez,” Henrie captioned a video of the former co-stars, who played siblings Alex and Justin Russo, as they posed on opposite sides of a wall.
While some suspected a Wizards reboot was on the way, the pair announced an entirely new collaboration the next day. Gomez and Henrie invited fans to the virtual premiere of their new movie, This Is the Year. Henrie directed, co-wrote, and co-stars in the film. Meanwhile, Gomez signed on as a producer. “With all the craziness going on on the world, a feel-good movie is just what we need,” Gomez explained. “Most premieres are only for a very small, select group of people but not this one,” she continued, “We want all of you to watch it with us.”
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Ahead, everything we know about This Is the Year and how to watch the movie with Selena, David, and the D’Amelio sisters.
The film is David Henrie’s directorial debut.
Back in 2018, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Henrie would make his feature directorial debut with This Is the Year. Henrie also penned the script, along with Bug Hall, Pepe Portillo, and Sienna Aqualini.
“I can’t wait to bring to life a heartfelt and fun movie in the vein of what John Hughes did so well in the ’80s. My hope is that it will truly mean something to our audience,” Henrie said in a statement, per THR. The comparison to teen movies from John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) is evident in the film’s IMDB synopsis:
“In a last ditch effort to win over the girl of his dreams, a nerdy high school senior and his best friends embark on a road trip to see their favorite band at the biggest music festival of the year.”
Filming on the project began later that year, the actor commemorating the first table read with members of his cast on Instagram.
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The cast includes another Wizards reunion.
Henrie also co-stars in the movie alongside Lorenzo James Henrie, Vanessa Marano, Jeff Garlin, and another Wizards of Waverly Place alum. Gregg Sulkin, who played Alex’s werewolf love interest Mason on the hit Disney Channel show, is also in the cast. Sulkin and Henrie recently reunited with fellow cast mate Jennifer Stone (Harper on Wizards) for a few Wizards-themed videos on Sulkin’s YouTube channel.
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Selena Gomez and the D’Amelio sisters are hosting a virtual premiere event.
For those itching to see Gomez and Henrie reunited onscreen together, you’re in luck. A digital premiere for This Is the Year will take place on August 28 at 4:30 PM PT/7:30 PM ET. It will include a Q&A with Gomez, Henrie, and the movie’s cast. The event, which benefits the Plus1 COVID-19 Relief Fund, will be hosted by TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio and include a performance from lovelytheband.
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But a Wizards reboot isn’t out of the question…
Although 2020 won’t bring a Wizards of Waverly Place reunion (at least not now), talks about rebooting are ongoing. Last September, Henrie teased ideas he and Gomez had about a reboot. “It’s not formal,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “But, Selena and I sit and talk about what would the reboot be, and we have a whole take. We have a whole thing.”
He continued, “We want to start the show like a few years later. Start them off at the worst place ever so that way throughout the series you give them a nice, beautiful arch of reuniting. Start them off divided. Alex is a fashionista, off killing it in some other part of the realm. Justin’s, like, the principal [of WizTech] who has a family now… [Jake T. Austin’s] Max has the sub shop, but it’s run down. Start us all completely discombobulated and then throughout the course of the series you bring us all together.”
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Time for a reboot would have to be carved out amid Gomez’s busy schedule. On August 13, her quarantine cooking show for HBO Max, Selena + Chef, is premiering. She’ll return to acting with Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, is launching her Rare Beauty line in September, and has admitted she’s already working on her next album (which could possibly include a Taylor Swift musical collaboration).
Get tickets to the This Is the Year virtual premiere.
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