By Courtney Potter
Dancing with the Stars Winner Alfonso Ribeiro Returns as Co-Host
As D23 has previously covered, Dancing with the Stars is making a big move this fall—to Disney+! And when it does, it’ll have a new co-host hitting the ballroom dance floor with mic in hand…
Season 19 Mirrorball Champion Alfonso Ribeiro will now co-host the show, alongside supermodel and businesswoman Tyra Banks, who returns as host and executive producer for her third consecutive season. Expert judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough also return to their seats on the ballroom floor. The season 31 premiere on Disney+ will be announced at a later date, so stay tuned!
“Dancing with the Stars has been such an important part of my life for so many years, and I am ecstatic to officially rejoin this tight-knit family as co-host,” Ribeiro recently said. “Tyra and I have a longstanding friendship that I hope will resonate with all of the fans at home as we kick off this new season on Disney+.”
Banks added, “I’ve known Alfonso since I was 19 years old, and he always puts a smile on my face whenever I see him. Having such a fun-loving, longtime friend as co-host warms my heart. Plus, he’s won the competition before, so he knows exactly what the stars are going through. Bantering back and forth with him live is going to be so much fun!”
After an incredible 30 seasons on ABC, Dancing with the Stars moves to its new home on Disney+, premiering exclusively in the U.S. and Canada this fall, making it the first live series to debut on the streaming service.
5 Fantastic Things to Watch This Weekend Presented by State Farm®
We’ve made it to the weekend once again—and as we look toward the second half of July (time doth fly!), there’s lots of fun stuff to take in from around the worlds of Disney. Celebrate the 67th anniversary of Disneyland with The Pre-Opening Report from Disneyland on Disney+; get a double dose of game show fun with ABC’s The Final Straw and The $100,000 Pyramid; and more.
Disney Original Documentary Mija Coming to Theaters This August
Earlier this week, Disney Original Documentary released the official trailer for Mija, the award-winning feature documentary debut from Emmy®-nominated director Isabel Castro. It premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival as an Official Selection of the NEXT section, which featured innovative works with a forward-thinking approach to storytelling.
The film features Doris Muñoz and Jacks Haupt, two daughters of undocumented immigrants from Mexico who are both navigating careers in the music industry. Seeking to provide for their families while achieving their dreams, Doris and Jacks bond over the ever-present guilt of being the first American-born members of their undocumented families and the financial risks of pursuing their dreams. For them, the pressure of success is heightened due to their families’ hope for green cards and reunification. Mija is a poignant and emotional tribute to immigrants and their children.
The film will be released in theaters in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco on Friday, August 5—and will stream globally on Disney+ later this year, so keep your eyes peeled.
All the ZOMBIES 3 Info You Need…
With the premiere of ZOMBIES 3 fast approaching, D23 sat down with the stars of the film—including Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Trevor Tordjman, and others—for an exclusive look into what audiences can expect upon their return to Seabrook. Read up on what all your favorite werewolves, vampires, and (now) aliens will be up to by clicking here.
Disneyland Paris Preps to Launch Marvel Avengers Campus
Our friends at Disneyland Paris are preparing for the official opening day of Marvel Avengers Campus—but some fans have already gotten the Super Hero treatment, from a star-studded campus unveiling to an exclusive panel with Imagineers and members of the Marvel Studios team. (Luckily for those of us who couldn’t attend the panel, it was recorded and can be viewed in the video above.)
Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, was joined by Natacha Rafalski, President of Disneyland Paris, Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson, and Ms. Marvel’s Iman Vellani to introduce the campus to 1,200 invited guests July 9. Summoned around the Quinjet for the grand finale, guests danced the night away thanks to tunes from DJ The Avener—and the evening ended with a spectacular drone show, orchestrated by none other than Doctor Strange himself!
The following day, more than 600 Disney fans, influencers, and media representatives attended the “Creating Avengers Campus” conference to learn more from the Imagineers and Marvel Studios team about the creative and collaborative process that brought Avengers Campus to life—the inspiration for the land; the guiding principles of designing the first-ever Marvel-themed universe in Europe; and the challenges encountered throughout the process.
Look for Avengers Campus to open at Disneyland Paris on July 20!
BTS is Coming to Disney+ in New Streaming Deal
It’s news that rocked the music (and streaming) world this week, and we’re pretty pumped about it too: One of the biggest bands in the world is coming to Disney+!
The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and HYBE have announced an exciting new global content collaboration that will bring the best of Korea’s huge—and hugely successful—entertainment industry to the world stage. The agreement includes global distribution of five major content titles from HYBE, several of which are exclusive series starring international pop icons BTS.
Three of the projects included are BTS: Permission to Dance On Stage – LA, a cinematic 4K concert film features BTS’ live performance at Los Angeles’ Sofi Stadium in November 2021; In the Soop: Friendcation, an original travel reality show with a star-studded cast including V of BTS; Itaewon Class’ Seo-jun Park; Parasitestar Woo-shik Choi; Hyung-sik Park; and Peakboy; and BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star, an original docuseries that follows the incredible journey of the group, with unprecedented access to a vast library of music and footage from the past nine years.
Stay tuned for more info on when you can expect these series and films to hit your streaming devices!
49th Annual CMA FEST to Air on ABC
It’s the music event of the summer, and it’s back in a big way… CMA Fest will bring top music acts together on one stage for three full hours of can’t-miss collaborations and unforgettable performances on Wednesday, August 3, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and available next day on Hulu.
Hosted by Dierks Bentley and Elle King, the special features 30 performances from music’s hottest stars as they took the stage during the 49th CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, in June. Stellar collaborations include Bentley and Billy Ray Cyrus; Wynonna Judd and Carly Pearce; Dustin Lynch and MacKenzie Porter; Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson; King and Ashley McBryde; Lady A and BRELAND; and Zac Brown Band and Darius Rucker. Additional performers include Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Brothers Osborne, Kanwe Brown, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Russell Dickerson, Parker McCollum, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett, and Carrie Underwood.
ICYMI: The Walt Disney Company Earns 147 Primetime Emmy® Award Nominations
Broadcast and streaming content from all across the worlds of Disney made a stellar showing when the nominations for this year Primetime Emmy® Awards were announced earlier this week. See the complete list here. We’ll know the winners after the big ceremony on Monday, September 12!
