Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie

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Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie is a 2009 American television film adaptation of the Disney Channel Original Series, Wizards of Waverly Place. Filmed primarily in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it premiered on August 28, 2009 on Disney Channel in the United States. The film received 11.4 million viewers at its premiere, making it the second-most-viewed DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie) premiere after High School Musical 2. It was also cable's No. 1 scripted telecast of 2009 in total viewers.

Plot

The entire Russo family, except Alex (Selena Gomez), who is to be staying with her best friend Harper Finkle (Jennifer Stone), are preparing for a vacation to the Caribbean. Alex decides to sneak a peek at Justin (David Henrie)'s personal belongings when his enchanted backpack attacks Alex trapping her as Justin had planned. When her father, Jerry (David DeLuise) comes down to help he accidentally speaks of the forbidden book of spells and how he let Justin borrow it, which Alex takes when no one is looking. Alex wants to go to a party with Harper but her mother, Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera) tells her she can not go to the party because she is untrustworthy even with Harper around.

After her parents go out, and her brothers are not in sight, Alex puts a spell on the sub-station train so it will take them to the party (without actually leaving the building since her parents told her she wasn't allowed to), but Alex and Harper miss the party after almost getting killed by a real subway train, only to be saved by Justin, using the full-wizard wand to do so. Unfortunately, the frame of the substation falls off, just as their parents come back. Because of this, Alex is forced to go on vacation with the rest of the family to the Caribbean, having to leave their wands at home. Along the way they meet a street magician and former wizard (Steve Valentine) (who lost the full-wizard contest to his older brother) named Archie who wants to turn his girlfriend, Giselle, from a parrot back into a human by finding the Stone of Dreams, which has the power to grant any wish or reverse any spell. Jerry considers it crazy since many wizards have gone on the quest and never returned.

Later, after Alex was about to use a spell on her mother to convince her to let Alex hang out with a boy, she gets caught, grounded and forbidden to use magic. After a heated argument with Theresa, Alex, in a fit of rage, wishes that her parents had never met; unfortunately, the smuggled full-wizard wand and spell book, which Alex was holding at the time, grants her wish. As a result, Jerry and Theresa do not remember Justin, Alex and Max (Jake T. Austin) or each other.

Alex, Max and Justin attempt to get a spellbook from Jerry by levitating it out of his pocket, but he catches it. Jerry is shown to still have his powers, since he never gave them up to marry Theresa. Jerry has a more carefree attitude with magic due to this change. Justin asks him "hypothetically" what would happen if a wizard wished that her parents never met. Jerry explains how they would gradually forget their past, and then disappear forever. He says it would take a miracle to fix it, whereupon Justin mentions the Stone of Dreams (La Piedra de los Sueños), which Jerry says would work too.

After consulting Jerry, Justin and Alex set off to find the Stone of Dreams, guided by Archie. Meanwhile, Max stays at the resort to keep his parents from meeting other people. Over the course of the day, Max visibly begins losing his memory.

Realizing the possibility of not existing if they don't find the stone, Alex and Justin apologize to one another for all the trouble they caused one another. Along the way, Justin and Alex face many obstacles such as getting across a wide canyon, escaping death from quicksand, and getting across a narrow ledge. Realizing that something is wrong, Max asks Jerry to help him find Alex and Justin, and Jerry agrees after some persuasion. They are joined by Theresa, who believes them to simply be treasure hunting, but nonetheless proves useful, as she is the only one of them who can speak Spanish.

Eventually, Alex and Justin succeed in finding the Stone of Dreams, but Giselle steals the stone. The kids tell Theresa and Jerry their story. Theresa doesn't believe them because she thinks she would never forget her own children. While trying to figure out how to reverse the spell without the stone of dreams, Jerry mentions that if one of the kids was a full wizard, they might be able to cast a spell to reverse it. While preparing to begin the full-wizard contest, Max finally loses all memory of who he is and gets sucked into the vortex of non-existence. Theresa remembers him slightly, and realizes that they were telling the truth. Realizing they must work quickly, Alex and Justin are transported to an ancient battlefield, where the contest will be held. Jerry explains that they will only be allowed to use spells involving the four elements (earth, water, fire, and air). The winner will become a full wizard, and the loser gets nothing. Alex and Justin engage in what turns out to be an intense battle, and Alex narrowly wins.

In trying to come up with a spell to fix everything, she turns to Justin for help. However, Justin has lost all his memory (despite the fact that he is older than Alex). In a rare moment of love and compassion, Alex tearfully tells him who she is and that she's his little sister. Alex tells him that even though they pick on each other, she looks up to him and is jealous of him and begs Justin not leave her here alone. Justin tells her that he'd never leave her and that even though he doesn't know her, he believes her, and wants to help, but he cannot and is sucked into the same vortex that Max was. Desperate, Alex tries to cast a reversal spell, but Jerry tells her it may be too late.

Meanwhile Theresa is back at the resort, and seeing that Giselle has returned to human form, with the Stone of Dreams hanging by her neck, tries to get it from her. Archie manages to get the stone from Giselle, who wished to leave him now that she was in human form. He turns her back into a parrot and gives the stone to Theresa. Theresa then wishes to be where Alex, Justin and Jerry are, giving Alex the stone. Jerry tells Alex she can wish for her brothers to reappear and still keep her full wizard powers. Instead, Alex makes her wish and time rewinds back to the beginning of the argument between Alex and Theresa that started all the trouble, which is quickly stopped when Alex apologizes and accepts her punishments with grace; while Theresa and Jerry remember nothing about the ordeal, Alex, Justin, and Max do. The three of them hug and Alex reveals to them that she gave up the full wizard powers. Justin asks her why and Alex said she wanted everything to go back to the way it was before. Justin warns her that the next time they compete, he's not going to take it easy on her. Everyone regardless becomes closer from the events that had occurred, as the kids remember what they went through, and as their parents notice a change in attitude. They happily walk off together as the end credits roll. The credits show the cast dancing and also Jerry wearing a skirt and dress.

Cast

• Selena Gomez as Alex Russo
• David Henrie as Justin Russo
• Jake T. Austin as Max Russo
• Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle
• Maria Canals-Barrera as Theresa Russo
• David DeLuise as Jerry Russo
• Steve Valentine as Archie
• Xavier Torres as Javier
• Johnathan Dwayne as Activities director
• Jennifer Alden as Giselle
• Jazmín Caratini as Bartender
• Marise Alvarez as Greeter
• Bettina Mercado as Woman in Village #1
• Veraalba Santa as Woman in Village #2
• Gabriela Alejandra Rosario as Village Girl

Promotion

Selena Gomez recorded a "Magic" cover for the film that is featured on the soundtrack for the film and television show. A sneak peek of the film aired during the conclusion of the four-part "Wizards vs. Vampires" event on Disney Channel on August 8, 2009 and on Family Channel during the week of August 24, 2009. The What's What Edition of the film premiered on October 24, 2009 on Disney Channel.

What's What Edition

The "What's What Edition" of the film premiered on October 24, 2009 on Disney Channel, part of a Wizards of Waverly Place marathon. The "What's What Edition" features behind the scenes information on the film during the presentation.

Viewership

The film garnered 11.4 million viewers on its premiere night, making it cable's No. 1 scripted telecast of 2009 and Disney Channel's second most-viewed film premiere after High School Musical 2. On its second night, the film's second showing received 5.8 million viewers. The next day, the film's third showing got 4.3 million viewers, and its fourth showing received 4.7 million viewers. When the film premiered in the UK, as part of Wiz-tober, the film received 1.04 million viewers, which made it the 7th most watched program on multi-channel viewing for that week, and the second highest views watched on Disney Channel UK.

DVD release

The film was released on DVD in the United States and Canada on December 15, 2009 as an "Extended Edition", which also came with a replica of the Stone of Dreams in a necklace. The film is in English, French and Spanish, and has subtitles in the same languages. The film was also released on DVD in Australia on December 15, 2009, in Germany and France on December 2, 2009, and in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2010.

Sequel

It was announced on June 3, 2010 that a second Wizards of Waverly Place film would be produced, though no details are known as of yet regarding the plot, filming, release or casting.

Release

Country / Region	Network(s)	Premiere	Movie title in country
United States (including Puerto Rico)	Disney Channel	August 28, 2009	Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie
Canada	Family
India	Disney Channel (India)	November 30,2009	Wizard of Waverly Place: The Movie
The Netherlands	Disney Channel (Netherlands)	December 24, 2009 (as part of WishCember)	Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie
Latin America	Disney Channel Latin America	October 11, 2009 (as a part of Abracadubre 2009)	Los Hechiceros de Waverly Place: La Película
Spain	Disney Channel Spain	October 17, 2009 (as a part of Magoctubre 2009)	Los Magos de Waverly Place: Vacaciones en el Caribe
Portugal	Disney Channel Portugal	October 17, 2009	Os Feiticeiros de Waverly Place: Férias nas Caraíbas
	SIC	December 24, 2009
UK	Disney Channel (UK and Ireland)	October 23, 2009 (as a part of Wiz-tober 2009)	Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie
Ireland
Brazil	Disney Channel Brazil	October 25, 2009 (as a part of Abracadubro 2009)	Os Feiticeiros de Waverly Place: O Filme
France	Disney Channel France	October 27, 2009	Les Sorciers de Waverly Place: Le Film
Québec	VRAK.TV	December 21, 2009
Germany	Disney Channel Germany	October 30, 2009	Die Zauberer vom Waverly Place – Der Film
	Pro 7	November 29, 2009
Switzerland	SF ZWEI Aired in Dual Audio Channel - English & German
Austria	ORF 1
Greece	ET1 (Greece)	December 5, 2009	Οι Μάγοι του Γουέιβερλυ – Η Ταινία
Italy	Disney Channel Italy	October 30, 2009 (as a part of Magottobre 2009)	I Maghi di Waverly – The Movie
	Italia 1	January 06, 2010
Poland	Disney Channel Poland	October 31, 2009 (as a part of Magic October 2009)	Czarodzieje z Waverly Place – Film
Taiwan	Disney Channel Taiwan	December 25, 2009	少年魔法師:電影版
Denmark	Disney Channel Scandinavia	October 30, 2009	Magi på Waverly Place: Filmen
Sweden			Magi på Waverly Place - The Movie
Czech Republic	Disney Channel (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia)	October 31, 2009 (Wiz-tober 2009)	Kouzelníci z Waverly - Film
Slovakia
Hungary			Varázslók a Waverly helyből - A Film
Romania	Disney Channel Romania	October 31, 2009 (as part of Un Octombrie Magic	Magicienii din Waverly Place: Filmul
Israel	Disney Channel Israel	November 26, 2009	המכשפים מווברלי פלייס: הסט
Arab World	Disney Channel Middle East	October 31, 2009 (as a part of Wiz-tober 2009)	Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie
Russia	Disney Channel Russia	2010

External links

• Official website
• Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie at IMDb