Story perspectives

Disney+ Orders Aquamarine Pilot Starring Emma Roberts

6/27/2026

Summary

Disney+ Orders Aquamarine

Disney+ and Disney Channel have ordered a pilot for a series based on Aquamarine.
Emma Roberts will guest star as Claire Brown and serve as executive producer, while Sarah Watson is writing the pilot.
The series follows teen Coral who moves to a seaside town, learns her missing mother was a mermaid and gains powers.
The project joins Disney’s revival slate that includes TV adaptations of Holes and Witch Mountain.

Summary

Emma Roberts Sequel

TikTok revived interest in the 2006 film, prompting Emma Roberts in a 2024 interview to say its popularity made her consider a sequel.
Sara Paxton said she still wears the starfish earrings, joking they now feel like an Apple Watch.
Emma Roberts noted she rarely sees co-star JoJo now because life and family commitments keep them apart.
Aquamarine became a teen-favorite cult classic that helped launch Emma Roberts’s acting career.

Summary

Disney Adds Aquamarine

Disney has added Aquamarine to its nostalgia-driven fantasy slate alongside Wizards of Waverly Place, Percy Jackson and WarriorCats.
The series could align more closely with the novel, which differs from the film in motives, marine-science focus and the mermaid’s daytime transformation.
Speculation that Sara Paxton may return as Aqua coincides with the absence of original screenwriters John Quaintance and Jessica Bendinger from the pilot’s creator list.

History

Historical Context

Disney’s 2024 Disney+ series Aquamarine follows the network’s strategy that began with the 2006 Disney Channel hit High School Musical, which premiered on Jan 20 2006 to 7.7 million viewers and sparked a teen-musical revival. Successes such as The Cheetah Girls (2003) and musical episodes of Even Stevens reinforced Disney’s habit of repurposing early-2000s teen properties for new platforms.

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Disney+ Orders Aquamarine

Disney+ and Disney Channel have ordered a pilot for a series based on Aquamarine.
Emma Roberts will guest star as Claire Brown and serve as executive producer, while Sarah Watson is writing the pilot.
The series follows teen Coral who moves to a seaside town, learns her missing mother was a mermaid and gains powers.
The project joins Disney’s revival slate that includes TV adaptations of Holes and Witch Mountain.

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