Disney’s tactic of remaking their classic animated movies in live-action might not always go down well with critics, but you can’t argue with those box office numbers. Analysts predict that The Lion King will hit big when it arrives next week, much as the Aladdin remake smashed through $900 million back in May. It’s not too surprising, then, that we’re hearing the House of Mouse is working on another Arabian night.
We Got This Covered has been told by sources close to the studio that Disney is developing an Aladdin 2. From what we understand, much of the cast from the first film is expected to return but given that the project is only in the earliest stages of development at present, it’s unclear whether Guy Ritchie will be back to direct the sequel. Our sources say that the plot will follow closely to The Return of Jafar though, the straight-to-video follow-up to the animated flick released in 1994.
As the title suggests, the sequel’s story saw the evil Grand Vizier-turned-Genie escape from the Cave of Wonders to wreak havoc on Agrabah once again. Honestly, the movie isn’t one of Disney’s finest hours, as the plot is pretty slight. But the filmmakers behind the new Aladdin could maybe just use the framework of the animated version to come up with something different – and not slavishly recreate the original for once.
All that being said, there might be one hiccup here. 2019’s Aladdin ended with the titular hero wishing for Genie to become human, with Will Smith’s character last seen sailing around the world with his new family. Genie’s magic powers are a major part of the franchise’s appeal, though, so they might have to come up with some way of putting him back into the lamp. Perhaps Jafar, who’s now a Genie himself, might change reality once again as part of his revenge?
In any case, while Disney has resisted the urge to turn their live-action remakes into franchises (apart from Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent, but those are slightly different cases), it looks like Aladdin might be the first one to get a sequel, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted as more about this potential second magic carpet ride comes to light.
