The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex

**The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex** is a 2013 live-action film directed by Victor Gonzalez. The film was released on March 15, 2013.

It is based on the television series Wizards of Waverly Place.

## Plot

The Russo family, Harper, and Alex's boyfriend, Mason, arrange "another" congratulations party for Justin for taking over WizTech. A student named Dominic visits the family to inform them that Justin is too busy to get away from work, and flirts with Alex, which makes Mason jealous. Jerry announces a family reunion in Tuscany, Italy. Alex creates a portal between the villa in Italy and their loft back in New York to ease the travel, but Jerry scolds her for being immaturely selfish.

After a talk with Dominic, Alex tries to prove that she is not the irresponsible wizard she used to be by casting a spell to expel the negative parts of her personality, but accidentally creates an evil reflection of herself in a mirror. Evil Alex escapes the mirror and runs to Italy. Meanwhile, Max gets the attention of an Italian girl and tries to find her, unaware that she is his cousin, and Jerry and Theresa follow to get him back. They accidentally meet with their cousins and the reunion begins early.

Evil Alex shrinks and imprisons Max, Jerry, and Theresa with the help of another anonymous wizard, who is later revealed to be Dominic, the nephew of Gorog, the former leader of the Angels of Darkness. Harper and Alex follow them to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, where Harper is also captured. Dominic wants to use Alex's magic to capture all mortals in tiny beads through a spell replicator installed at the top of the tower so he can take over the world. When she refuses, Evil Alex goes to capture Mason.

To save her family, Alex goes through with Dominic's plan, activating his machine. Before she is able to turn on Dominic and reverse the spell, she is instantly transported away and found guilty of attempting to destroy the mortal world, with Dominic's twisted testimony. She is later saved by Mason who manages to destroy her jail cell. The two race back to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, where evil Alex and good Alex end up in a battle by magic and combat at the Russo house and the Jumbotron, while Mason fights Dominic. Alex manages to recover the bracelet from Evil Alex's hands.

When Dominic knocks out Mason, Alex is about to defeat him. Evil Alex and Dominic join forces against her, but she manages to destroy one of them and free her family. After that, Mason pushes Dominic off the tower. Evil Alex reforms and Alex gives up all of her powers to destroy her evil twin. In the end, Alex is given her magic back after accepting that she doesn't truly need it. The Russo family, Harper and Mason enjoy the rest of their family reunion before heading back to the Sub Station.

The movie ends with Alex telling Harper that they should have to stay in Italy for a while because Jerry and Theresa got upset about their living room being destroyed from the battle between both Alex and Evil Alex.

## Cast and Characters

* Selena Gomez as Alex Russo / Evil Alex
* Jake T. Austin as Max Russo
* Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle
* Gregg Sulkin as Mason Greybeck
* Beau Mirchoff as Dominic
* Maria Canals Barrera as Theresa Russo
* David DeLuise as Jerry Russo

## Production

### Casting

The majority of the cast of the Disney Channel Original Series Wizards of Waverly Place (with the exception of David Henrie as Justin Russo, who was frequently mentioned) starred in the special.

### Filming

The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios in California, with background sets for the Italy scenes. The special was filmed from October 22, 2012 to November 10, 2012.

Unlike the previous made-for-television special film, this was an hour-long episode.

## Release

The special premiered on Disney Channel as a TV special on March 15, 2013 in the United States.

### Home Media

The special was released exclusively on DVD on June 25, 2013 in a release that included the hour-long final episode of Wizards of Waverly Place, "Who Will Be the Family Wizard?" as a bonus feature. The actual special was presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, with English, Spanish and French audio and subtitle tracks.

## Reception

The episode was viewed by 5.9 million viewers on the day of its initial release. In the United Kingdom, the episode premiered with 575,000 viewers making it Disney Channel UK's third most watched episode ever.