'Zoey 102' reunites Spears with her original castmates, but who's missing?
The Zoey 101 gang is back!
Jamie Lynn Spears will reunite with her castmates for Zoey 102, a follow-up movie to the Nickelodeon comedy that ran from 2005 to 2008, it was announced Thursday. The reunion film will debut exclusively on Paramount+ later this year.
Spears, who portrayed Zoey Brooks in the original series, will be joined by co-stars Erin Sanders (Quinn Pensky), Sean Flynn (Chase Matthews), Matthew Underwood (Logan Reese), Christopher Massey (Michael Barret), Abby Wilde (Stacey Dillsen) and Jack Salvatore (Mark Del Figgalo).
Based on the characters from the Nickelodeon series, Zoey 102 (working title) follows Pacific Coast Academy alumni as they reunite for a wedding in the present day. Filming has already begun in North Carolina.
The first photos from the set of the movie was released as part of Thursday's announcement.
Notably absent from the cast list is Paul Butcher, who played Zoey's younger brother, Dustin, in the original series. Victoria Justice and Austin Butler, who recently won a Golden Globe for playing Elvis Presley, and both starred in later seasons are also not listed as returning.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be back alongside my PCA family and continue the story of Zoey and all the characters fans know and love," Spears said in a statement. "As an executive producer, it’s been an exciting opportunity to work with such incredible talent as well as Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.”
Zoey 102 is directed by Nancy Hower from a script by Monica Sherer and Madeline Whitby. Spears serves as executive producer along with Alexis Fisher, Hower, Sherer and Whitby.
Debuting Jan. 9, 2005, Zoey 101 followed Zoey, her brother, Dustin, and her friends as they attended Pacific Coast Academy (PCA), a fictional boarding school in Southern California. The theme song, "Follow Me," was partially composed by Spears' older sister, Britney. The series ran for four seasons, officially wrapping in May 2008.
In recent years, Spears has reunited with her castmates on various platforms -- most notably in an All That sketch that aired in July 2020 and a TiKTok reunion later that year in October, along with a reimagined version of "Follow Me" featuring cameos from the Zoey 101 cast.
Spears told ET in October 2020 that "creative conversations are already being had" about a Zoey 101 reboot.
"I think that the reboot is going to happen even faster now that we have done this song because, not only was the chemistry still there, but we saw what the world will look like in today's world," she said at the time. "So I think that all this did was push this to happen sooner."
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