With the tragic death of Cameron Boyce, the Disney Channel has made the decision to cancel the red carpet premiere event for Descendants 3. The event had been slated to occur later in July, but with his unexpected loss fresh in everyone’s minds, the studio decided to forgo the traditional celebratory atmosphere and interviews and instead to focus on the legacy that Boyce left behind by keeping the focus on his work on the screen.
The Descendants television movies have all focused on the children of various Disney villains. Boyce has been a part of each of the franchise’s installments in the role of Carlos, the son of One Hundred and One Dalmatians’ Cruella de Vil. Prior to Descendants, Carlos had been a Disney Channel regular across a number of productions, including Shake It Up and Jessie. Boyce had recently said that while he was looking forward to moving on to roles beyond Disney Channel, he had waxed positive about the experience, expressing that it was exciting to have that kind of impact on people for them still to be excited about a project several years after it had initially been released.
In a statement (via: Variety), Disney Channel said that they - with the permission of Boyce’s family - would donate an unspecified amount of money to a charity organization which was close to Boyce’s heart, the Thirst Project. Boyce had raised nearly $30,000 for the organization which helps develop clean water sources for underserved and developing communities around the world. The organization had presented Boyce with their 2018 pioneering spirit award.
In addition to Descendants 3, Boyce had several other projects in post-production, including a role as a recurring character in the upcoming HBO coming-of-age comedy Mrs. Fletcher, and in the American Satan spinoff series, Paradise City. So far, there has been no word if either of those projects are intending to adjust their production plans to address Boyce’s loss. While Paradise City is currently only planned as a single 6-episode season, Mrs. Fletcher is an open-ended project and Boyce’s character has been described as an ongoing, recurring character.
For Disney Channel’s part, they hope to keep the focus on their final work with Boyce, rather than having a red carpet with a dark cloud hanging over their proceedings. That the studio appears to be continuing to remain in touch with his family and coordinating with their wishes is laudable. Boyce finished his work on Descendants 3, while also completing some of the non-Disney material he’d been working on.
More: Mrs. Fletcher Trailer: Kathryn Hahn Leads HBO’s New Series
Source: Variety
