Disney is officially bringing back The Cheetah Girls.
The company announced Wednesday that The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen has been greenlit for Disney Channel and Disney+, with production starting this month in South Africa, per The Hollywood Reporter (link THR).
Raven-Symoné returns as Galleria and also executive produces alongside Debra Martin Chase, who produced the original trilogy. Adrienne Bailon is back as Chanel and co-produces.
Sabrina Bryan returns as Dorinda for a “special appearance,” while Lynn Whitfield and Lori Alter reprise their roles as Dorothea and Juanita.
Worth noting: Kiely Williams, who played Aqua across all three original movies, is nowhere in the announcement.
The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen cast
The movie centers on a new generation of Cheetahs:
- Leah Sava’ Jeffries (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) as Galleria’s daughter, Faith
- Carmen Sanchez (Electric Bloom) as Chanel’s sister, Dior
- Kaileen Chang as Ruby
- Sophie Lennon as Brooklyn
- Kamogelo Ramashala, a South African newcomer discovered through a global open casting call, as Kendi
Sophia Bush also appears in a supporting role as Jennifré.
The official logline: “The story picks up when Cheetah Girls Galleria (Symoné) and Chanel (Bailon), alongside Galleria’s daughter Faith (Jeffries) and her three friends, travel to Africa to volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary. Along the way, these four teen girls test their friendship, find their voice, and discover the true Cheetah spirit as they save the preserve and ultimately take the stage as the new Cheetah Girls.”
Bille Woodruff (Bridgerton) directs from a script by Kara Holden, Sarah Watson and Deborah Swisher, with choreography by Kyle Hanagami. Like the original trilogy, Next Gen will be music-driven.
Raven-Symoné teased the news on Instagram earlier Wednesday: “It’s happening, and it’s CHEETAHLISHIOUS!”
Why Disney keeps going back to the 2000s
The numbers explain the greenlight. The original Cheetah Girls was the highest-rated movie on broadcast or cable in 2003, and The Cheetah Girls 2 topped 2006 across key demos, records Disney made sure to cite in the announcement. All three movies, based on Deborah Gregory’s book series, stream on Disney+.
Next Gen also isn’t arriving alone. Descendants: Wicked Wonderland premieres July 16, and Camp Rock 3 — starring and executive produced by the Jonas Brothers, with Demi Lovato also exec producing — debuts in August.
Disney is systematically working back through its 2000s Disney Channel vault, and it’s not hard to see why: the brands are pre-sold, the budgets are TV-movie cheap, and the millennials who made these movies ratings juggernauts now have kids and Disney+ subscriptions of their own. Nostalgia is the cheapest customer-acquisition tool in streaming.
“The Cheetah Girls has always been about friendship, music and empowering young people to use their voice,” said Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family. “That spirit connected deeply with a generation of fans, and it still resonates today.”
A premiere date for The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen has not been announced.
