THE RUSSO FAMILY REUNITES IN THE TELEVISION EVENT "THE WIZARDS RETURN: ALEX VS ALEX," PREMIERING MARCH 15 ON DISNEY CHANNEL

Selena Gomez returns to executive-produce and star in one of Disney Channel's most successful series ever in the television event "The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex," premiering FRIDAY, MARCH 15 (8:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel. Starring Gomez, Jake T. Austin, Jennifer Stone, Maria Canals-Barrera, David DeLuise, Gregg Sulkin and Beau Mirchoff, the special is based on the multiple Emmy Award-winning Disney Channel original series "Wizards of Waverly Place," which, during its series run was TV's #1 series across Kids 2-11, Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14.

In "The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex," the Russo family and friends travel to Tuscany, Italy, to meet their long lost relatives... but when Alex (Gomez) tries to prove she's more than a seemingly carefree young Wizard, she inadvertently conjures a spell that creates a Good Alex and an Evil Alex. When Evil Alex gets roped into a charming young wizard's foreboding plan to take over the world, Good Alex must find a way to save her family and humankind, which leads to a monumental battle between the two versions of herself - all atop the Tower of Pisa.

To hone their magical skills, viewers can visit disneychannel.com/wizards which will feature a host of activities, including an enchanted Italian card game with a Russo twist, and a sweepstakes competition where viewers can enter to win fun prizes used during the making of "The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex."

The multi-platform schedule is as follows:

FRIDAY, MARCH 8

· Preview of "The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex," available via Disney Channel On Demand, a video-on-demand service available to a variety of major affiliates including AT&T, Cablevision and Time Warner customers

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

· Disney Channel premiere of "The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex"

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

· Download of "The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex" available on iTunes

"The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex" was written by Vince Cheung and Ben Montanio ("Wizards of Waverly Place") and Dan Berendsen (ABC Family's "Baby Daddy"). Selena Gomez, Cheung and Montanio and Dan Cross and David Hoge are the executive producers. It was directed by Victor Gonzalez ("Wizards of Waverly Place"). "Wizards of Waverly Place" was created by Todd J. Greenwald ("Hannah Montana") and is a production of It's a Laugh Productions for Disney Channel.

"Wizards of Waverly Place" inspired "Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie," which delivered 13.5 million Total Viewers, ranked as the #1 cable television movie of 2009 and is the #2 cable TV movie of all time (after "High School Musical 2"). The "Wizards of Waverly Place" series finale in January 2012 was the #1 cable TV telecast -- among all kids' programming -- in Total Viewers (11.3 million), and is TV's #1 scripted telecast among Kids 2-11, Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14, 2012 to-date.

Disney Channel is a 24-hour kid-driven, family inclusive television network that taps into the world of kids and families through original series and movies. Currently available on basic cable in over 99 million U.S. homes and to millions of other viewers on Disney Channels around the world, Disney Channel is part of the Disney/ABC Television Group.