Julie and the Phantoms is a musical comedy-drama streaming television series created by Dan Cross and David Hoge that was released via streaming on Netflix on September 10, 2020. The series is based on the Brazilian television series Julie e os Fantasmas. In December 2021, the series was cancelled after one season.
Cast and characters
Main
Madison Reyes as Julie Molina, a high school musician who is struggling to make music after the death of her mother but accidentally summons the spirits of a deceased band from the year 1995. This band helps restore her love for music and brings her closer to the dead mum Charlie Gillespie as Luke, a singer and the lead guitarist the band that he was in before he died. Music also helps him become closer to his mother who is still alive. Owen Patrick Joyner as Alex, the Phantoms' drummer who ends up falling for a ghost named Willie. Jeremy Shada as Reggie, the bass player of the Phantoms Jadah Marie as Flynn, Julie's best friend, who is very confused about the whole thing but still loves her friend Julie. Sacha Carlson as Nick, Carrie's boyfriend, and Julie's lifelong love interest who she slowly starts to fall out of love with later in the series. Savannah May as Carrie, Julie's nemesis, and a former friend; the lead singer of Dirty Candy and the daughter of Trevor Wilson a famous millionaire and was apart of the boy group that the guys were in. The boys were in a band but died after they ate rotten hot dogs and were summoned 25 years later.
Recurring
Cheyenne Jackson as Caleb Covington, a famous ghost who owns the Hollywood Ghost Club Carlos Ponce as Ray Molina, Julie and Carlos's father Sonny Bustamante as Carlos Molina, Julie's younger brother, who becomes suspicious of the ghost band and becomes a junior ghost hunter Alison Araya as Aunt Victoria, Julie's aunt, and Ray's sister-in-law Marci T. House as Mrs. Harrison, Julie's music program teacher Booboo Stewart as Willie, a fellow ghost who loves to skateboard, and who also becomes Alex's love interest
Production
Development
On April 9, 2019, Kenny Ortega signed a multi-year overall deal with Netflix, including production of Julie and the Phantoms. Ortega executive produced the series alongside Dan Cross, David Hoge, George Salinas, and Jaime Aymerich. Cross and Hoge also serve as showrunners. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Crossover Entertainment and Mixer Entertainment. On August 26, 2020, an official trailer was released and the series was released on September 10, 2020. On December 18, 2021, Netflix cancelled the series after one season. On March 4, 2022, Ortega confirmed that there are no plans for the series to return to Netflix or anywhere else for the time being.
Casting
On July 21, 2020, upon series premiere date announcement, Madison Reyes, Charlie Gillespie, Jeremy Shada, Owen Patrick Joyner, Jadah Marie, Sacha Carlson, and Savannah May were cast in the starring roles while Booboo Stewart, Cheyenne Jackson, Carlos Ponce, and Sonny Bustamante were cast in recurring roles.
Filming
Principal photography for the series began on September 17, 2019 and ended on December 14, 2019 in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Music
A soundtrack was released on September 10, 2020, alongside the series' debut on the streaming service.
Episodes
Reception
Critical response
Caroline Framke of Variety wrote, "Sure, their ghost adventures become very silly, very quickly. But who cares! Julie and the Phantoms is just fun and adorable enough for none of that to really matter."
For the series, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 93% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "With catchy tunes and just the right amount of ghost jokes, Julie and the Phantoms is a fun, feel-good show that proves a perfect showcase for newcomer Madison Reyes." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".