To quote the title song of Descendants 2, there’s so many ways to be wicked — more than two and at least three. What does this mean? Well, it means Disney is moving forward with a third Descendants film, according to two reputable industry sources.
The first sign that Descendants 3 is a go came in the most recent issue of Production Weekly, “the entertainment industry’s leading source for tracking upcoming film and TV production data.” The details are only available to paid subscribers, but we do know that Descendants 3 is included in this week’s listings. The film is operating under the working title “The Big Sleep,” which is more likely to be an in-joke than it is an indication of the actual plot of the film.
@Descendants2015, a popular fan account on Twitter and Instagram, discovered that a second source, What’s Filming, has just added Descendants 3 to its list of upcoming films and television shows set to be filmed in Vancouver and British Columbia. The preceding films were also shot in Vancouver, so that seems to check out. According to the site, Descendants 3 will begin shooting in just about three months from now, on May 16, 2018. It is categorized here as a “TV movie,” which suggests the film won’t be released theatrically like the third High School Musical film was. (That could change, of course.)
It’s also worth mentioning that Kenny Ortega, who directed the previous Descendants films, spent some time in Vancouver last month per his Instagram account. I wouldn’t take this as absolutely confirmation that Kenny is directing Descendants 3, buuuuut there’s a pretty good chance that he is and that he was in Vancouver to do some location scouting for the film.
Disney hasn’t made the news official just yet, but I expect an official announcement will be made sometime in the next few days as social media is already running rampant with excitement from fans over the news of another Descendants film.