While the many live-action remakes Disney has made of their own animated canon of movies have been very profitable for the most part, they have not been immune to criticism which goes beyond the nostalgic complaint that said remakes are unnecessary. Another jibe against the more recent productions was the slavish attempt to mimic the originals right down to replicating camera angles. Among the most badly-hit by this charge are the 2019 live-action adaptations of 1994’s “The Lion King” and 1992’s “Aladdin,” both well liked for their visual and musical presentation but derided for not doing anything new. The fact that the “Aladdin” remake is getting a sequel is surprising.
You read right. Variety reports that Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is beginning to run ideas towards developing a direct big-screen follow-up to “Aladdin,” the live-action remake of the classic animated canon entry starring Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott that was released last year. In fact, the production already had its new writing team of Andrea Berloff and John Gatins brainstorming on what the plot of this film would be over the past six months. Inside sources note that the crew now has a guideline to elaborate on.
As an indicator of just how big this “Aladdin” sequel project will be, it will be a cinematically-released film rather than a streaming offering on Disney+. While the original 1992 animated “Aladdin” movie had sequels of its own, they were all direct-to-video, plus a TV series. And apparently none of these material will be recycled for the live-action follow-up, opting for new material in a similar fashion as to how the upcoming live-action “Mulan” has minimal similarity to its own animated original from 1998. Gatin’s writing credits include the Denzel Washington 2012 starrer “Flight” and Lionsgate’s “Power Rangers” remake film, while Berloff co-wrote the 2015 hit biopic “Straight Outta Compton.”
It has not been determined yet whether or not Disney plans to recall Guy Ritchie to direct the sequel to his work on “Aladdin.” As for the cast, they will apparently not be contacted until the writing team has finalized a script for their consideration. It should be recalled that following his appearance in the film, actor Mena Massoud allegedly found that upcoming movie offers have dried up for him. There is no release date given yet for this movie.
Image from Comic Book.com
Morgan Magazine 