Julie and the Phantoms – Picture: Netflix
Julie and the Phantoms is a show that we’ve been waiting for renewal news on for over a year and now, Kenny Ortega has confirmed that the show has been canceled and will not be returning for a Season 2 at Netflix. Here’s what we know.
The series, helmed by Kenny Ortega (who was poached from Disney and is known for Descendents and High School Musical), works with Netflix on an output deal that was struck back in April 2019.
Season 1 of Julie and the Phantoms dropped on Netflix on September 10th, 2020 globally and is an American adaptation of the Brazillian series Julie e os Fantasmas. The series stars Madison Reyes, Charlie Gillespie, Owen Patrick Joyner, Jeremy Shada, and Jadah Marie.
Julie and the Phantoms season 2 renewal status
Official Netflix renewal status: Canceled
Both ProductionWeekly and TheCinemaSpot are both reporting that season 2 is in active development but months on, there was no news from Netflix.
Sadly, on December 18th it was announced that Julie and the Phantoms would not be returning for a season 2.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Kenny Ortega announced that the show wasn’t returning saying:
“Our @julieandthephantoms family want to send our love and endless thanks to our Fantoms all over the world for the tremendous outpouring of love and support you have shown us since our premier. We learned this week that Netflix will not be picking us up for another season. Although our hearts are saddened, we move on with such pride for what we accomplished as a team and the family we built while creating Julie. We hope you will continue to follow us as we move forward with our work and careers. Happy Holidays to you all. Wishing you good health, love and #perfectharmony in all you pursue! Kenny, the Cast, Writers, Producers, Creatives, BC Crew, @columbiarecords, and our devoted @Netflix Team! @netflixfamily”
How did the series perform? No official viewing stats have been announced but the series has featured in the top 10s in countries such as the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, and Canada. In the United States, the series peaked at position 5. Emily Horgan, an independent media analyst published an article for us that states the show is Netflix’s best attempt at a kids franchise to date.
There was hope throughout the period between the first season dropping and the cancelation. In a NYTimes profile of Kenny Ortega, there was a mention of live events (concerts) for Julie and the Phantoms in development too with the article saying:
“The pandemic means that as far as “Julie and the Phantoms” goes, the madness and the hoped-for live events have been postponed. But he still checks in with his showmates. “He always texts us,” Reyes said. “Like: ‘Hey, are you OK? Hey, is everything all right? Do you need any help?’”
Frustrated with the lack of official news on renewal four months on, fans organized to get the show trending on social media on January 13th, 2021 which it achieved in most regions around the world. Most posts simply included the phrase “NETFLIX WE NEED MORE JATP”.
NETFLIX WE NEED MORE JATP IS TRENDING AS IT SHOULD. BECAUSE WE REALLY DO. pic.twitter.com/6r3M4uU0TL
— ashley (@gngxmagic) January 14, 2021
There are some other positive signs for renewal as Netflix keeps the show firmly in the limelight. It’s one of the few shows to ever be live-streamed constantly on YouTube with anywhere between 100 and 500 watchers at any point in time. In addition, the social media accounts that Netflix runs for the show remain active as of May 2021.
The show’s soundtrack also continued to do well on platforms like Spotify as highlighted by Kenny Ortega on Instagram as of May 2021.
Spotify numbers for Julie and the Phantoms post
In an interview with SunsetDrive Podcast by Anthony Smith released on April 1st, season 2 was mentioned where Kenny said the following: “We’re now developing, we’re now writing [season 2], we’re now moving forward” adding that he has “high hopes”. However, he did concede that they’re still waiting for Netflix to greenlight them and “enable them to move forward with the next adventure of Julie and the Phantoms.”
Ortega also put out a massive heartfelt thank you to the fans for their support.
What to expect from season 2 of Julie and the Phantoms
In terms of what we were expecting from the story, the series certainly set up nicely a second season given it ended on a massive cliffhanger.
As DigitalSpy covered, Kenny Ortega discussed some of his plans for season 2 with him saying “We’re hoping that the world will join us, first of all.” adding “we have some big plans for season two, to go even further into our stories, and even further into our music. We hope to maybe even take this on the road, and tour Julie and the Phantoms as a live musical experience.”
Ortega also teased we may get answers regarding what actually happens in the finale episode of season 1 whether or not the Phantoms are ghosts in the finale or not. He says “that gets answered very early on in the next season” but doesn’t clarify beyond that.
Beyond the big question overhanging season 1, we’d also expect lots of new music for the second season.
Julie and the Phantoms – Picture: Netflix
Are you sad that there won’t be a season 2 of Julie and the Phantoms? Let us know in the comments.
Netflix Synopsis: "Julie lost her passion for music when she lost her mom. But when three ghostly guys appear and lift her spirits, they decide to start a band together!"
