Descendants 2 ratings set the stage for Descendants 3 nicely
When you look across all of the different broadcasters of the movie (which included Disney Channel, ABC, Disney XD, Freeform, Lifetime and Lifetime Movies), Descendants 2 ended up generating around 13 million viewers. That is almost twice as many viewers as the first movie, and this total tops out viewership for even the recent Game of Thrones premiere on HBO. Sure, we know we’re talking about a premium cable channel as opposed to multiple networks airing the same thing including a broadcast network, but it’s still impressive nonetheless given that few things anywhere get more than 10 million viewers these days. Also, this aired on a Friday in the middle of the summer, which is sometimes a rough night for TV with people off doing other things.
What this viewership does is effectively raise the stakes for the third movie in so many different ways — the cast and crew are more valuable financially, the show’s story is meant to be more epic, and we do wonder more if Disney will consider a big-screen option. Even if the movie remains on the linear family of networks, it’s possible that they could opt for a larger theatrical release to get the product even more exposure — also, it seems like there is some value in putting it in theaters for rewatches, and getting like-minded fans together to sing or talk about some of their favorite characters. You certainly have a director in place in Kenny Ortega who is more than capable of making such things happen. The man is a wizard behind the camera! Just look at the success of Frozen in theaters to know that families will flock back to see the same thing time and time again.
We are still a long ways away from the third movie happening, given that today we’re just now a weekend removed from Descendants 2 airing! Nonetheless, we don’t think it’s ever too early to start up the sequel conversations, especially when you realize that the folks behind the scenes have probably been having these conversations for a little while already. All we are likely doing here is providing some sort of extension to that and showing some of what their process is. They’ll have their talks, figure out their story, and then start to plan out more of the future. We’re sure that there could be some new characters, but also still plenty of love for some established favorites.
If you missed it…
You can head over to the link here in the event you want some other news when it comes to a potential third movie, including insight from the cast. (Photo: Disney Channel.)