Disney greenlights Cheetah Girls: Next Gen with Raven-Symoné, Bailon back

Disney has greenlit The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen, reuniting original stars Raven-Symoné and Adrienne Bailon for a new movie built around a fresh generation of teen singers, with filming starting in South Africa this month.

TL;DR

• Raven-Symoné and Adrienne Bailon return as Galleria and Chanel for Disney Channel and Disney+.
• Sabrina Bryan, Lynn Whitfield and Lori Alter also reprise their roles from the original trilogy.
• New cast includes Leah Sava’ Jeffries, Sophia Bush and South African newcomer Kamogelo Ramashala.
• Production begins in South Africa this month, with the story sending the girls to a wildlife sanctuary.

What Disney has confirmed

The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen has been greenlit for Disney Channel and Disney+, according to Disney’s announcement this week. Debra Martin Chase, who executive produced the original trilogy, returns alongside Symoné, who is also stepping into an executive producer role for the first time.

Symoné will reprise Galleria, and Bailon returns as Chanel. According to the studio’s official logline, the story follows Galleria and Chanel, along with Galleria’s daughter Faith and her three friends, as they travel to Africa to volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary and ultimately take the stage as the new Cheetah Girls.

Sabrina Bryan is set for a “special appearance” as Dorinda, while Lynn Whitfield and Lori Alter return as Dorothea and Juanita. Kiely Williams, who played Aqua in the original films, is not attached to the project.

Who’s joining the new cast

A new lineup of young actresses joins the franchise. Bille Woodruff, known for his work on “Bridgerton,” is directing and co-producing from a script by Kara Holden, Sarah Watson and Deborah Swisher.

• Leah Sava’ Jeffries (“Percy Jackson and the Olympians”) as Faith.
• Sophia Bush in a supporting role as Jennifré.
• Carmen Sanchez (“Electric Bloom”) as Dior, Chanel’s sister.
• Kaileen Chang as Ruby and Sophie Lennon as Brooklyn.
• Kamogelo Ramashala, a South African actor found through Disney’s global open casting call, as Kendi.

Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family, said the franchise’s themes of friendship and self-expression still resonate with fans today. Davis said the new cast would carry that legacy forward for a new generation of viewers.

Franchise legacy, by the numbers The original Cheetah Girls (2003) was the highest-rated movie on broadcast or cable that year; Cheetah Girls 2 (2006) repeated the feat. Source: Forbes

UK fans: how and where to watch

There’s no confirmed UK release date yet, as production has not started. Once it’s ready, The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen is expected to stream on Disney+ in the UK, where the ad-free Standard plan currently costs £9.99 a month and Premium costs £14.99 a month.

For readers catching up on the franchise’s original run, our features on what happened to other early-2000s Disney stars and Disney’s recent nostalgia-driven revivals, including The Brave Little Toaster’s return to the platform, offer more context on how the studio is mining its back catalogue. Disney has also greenlit other new Disney Channel and Disney+ projects this year, including an animated Warrior Cats series.

Why now

The Cheetah Girls franchise, based on Deborah Gregory’s book series, has stayed part of pop-culture conversation through nostalgia-driven social clips and streaming rewatches, according to Disney. The greenlight also lands in a year Disney Channel is marking anniversaries for “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana,” alongside new instalments of “Descendants” and “Camp Rock.”

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Reported from publicly available interviews and verified press sources. Last reviewed 10 July 2026.