Disney’s ‘Teen Beach Movie’ attracts 8 million viewers
It looks like “Teen Beach Movie” is making waves for Disney Channel. The made-for-TV flick drew 8.4 million viewers on Friday night, making it the channel’s most-watched original film in four years.
Targeted at tweens, “Teen Beach Movie” was Disney Channel’s third-highest-ever-rated original among kids aged 2-11 and kids aged 9-14.
The premiere of the movie musical, in which a pair of teenagers are transported into a 60s-style beach movie called “Wet Side Story,” is now the fifth-most-watched original for the channel, beating the debut of the original “High School Musical,” which attracted 7.7 million.
“High School Musical 2” delivered 17.2 million viewers in its 2007 debut, a cable record.
“Teen Beach Movie” received mixed reviews from critics, with the New York Times’ Mike Hale calling it “a perilously high-concept but intermittently pleasurable concoction that goes back to the future in several ways.”
-- Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times