Selena Gomez knocked back Disney’s offer to headline a Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff series, according to her co-star, Jennifer Stone.
Stone discussed the proposed Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff in an episode of the Wizards of Waverly Pod. “Now, I don’t know how true this is, but I was told that it was pitched to Selena to do a Harper-Alex spinoff, and she said no,” Stone said. “And [it was] because she had a lot of other things going on.” The actor added that Disney apparently approached Gomez “right after” The Wizards of Waverly Place wrapped up in 2012, and suggested that Harper and Alex moving into an apartment together in the show was intended to lay the groundwork for the unrealized project.
A Harper-Alex spinoff isn’t the only way the Wizards of Waverly Place‘s story didn’t move forward as its creative team had planned, either. In a recent interview, showrunner Peter Murrieta confirmed that he would’ve liked to explore the romantic aspect of the relationship between Alex (Gomez) and Stevie (Hayley Kiyoko), had Disney allowed it. “I wished we could have played more with what was quite obvious to a lot of us, which was the relationship between Stevie and Alex… We weren’t able to in that time, but it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was,” Murrieta said.
Disney+ Removes Movies and TV Shows from its Library
While fans never got a Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff, they can still revisit the show’s four-season run on Disney+. The same can’t be said of several other movies and TV shows previously available on the platform, which were recently removed as part of a recent Disney+ and Hulu content purge. Titles taken down include Willow, Y: The Last Man, Turner & Hooch and The Mysterious Benedict Society. Documentary Howard, which covers the life of songwriter Howard Ashman, was also slated for removal, however, it earned a last-minute reprieve following subscriber backlash.
Willow showrunner Jonathan Kasdan recently opened up about the Disney+ content purge on Twitter, arguing that it could actually benefit his series. Kasdan likened Willow‘s de-listing to the “Disney Vault” practice of periodically re-releasing content, arguing that the fantasy show becoming less accessible could make it “more special” as a result.
All four seasons of The Wizards of Waverly Place are currently streaming on Disney+.
Source: Wizards of Waverly Pod, via Twitter
