Aladdin Is Getting a Live-Action Sequel Based on Brand New Story

We’ve been going on and on about the flood of remakes, reboots, reimaginings, sequels, prequels, even the cursed legacyquel. Disney has been cornering the market on these kinds of projects, not only relaunching old projects for Disney+ and movie theaters alike, and slowly but steadily rolling out live-action versions of their beloved animated classics.
Not even slowly, tbh. Beauty and the Beast and Dumbo and Cinderella and The Jungle Book and Lion King have already happened. Mulan is coming soon, The Little Mermaid is in the works, even Snow White is getting the live-action treatment. And now, Disney has found a new way to milk the cow by pioneering a new kind of movie: the live-action sequel!
That’s right, this summer’s live-action Aladdin movie is getting a live-action sequel! And instead of being treated like redheaded stepchildren by getting pushed straight to VHS – the way Disney handled sequels to their animated flicks – this one is actually going to hit theaters. Even better? According to Variety, it won’t be based on the lesser Aladdin sequels like The Return of Jafar that actually did get pushed straight to VHS when it was released.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that this new movie will be an original story and that writers have already been brainstorming for it, “looking at other tales from One Thousand and One Nights,” including something like the Seven Voyages of Sinbad or Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Not the comedian. That’s already been done. (OR HAS IT?!)
Apparently, the people behind the first (live-action) Aladdin have had an inkling for a sequel for a while.
“When we first made the movie wanted to just make the best movie we could and let audiences tell us if they wanted to see more,” Lin said. “And I would say resoundingly audiences want to see more. They’ve watched this movie multiple times. We have lots of fan letters about people who really go back and they bring their friends and bring their family. And so we feel like there’s more story to tell. We are going to treat it the same way we treat the original Aladdin movie and not going to do a shot by shot remake of anything that’s been done before. We’re really looking at what’s been done before in the past and the home video, and there’s just more story to tell with the underlying materials. So without giving away too much, we are certainly exploring where we can go with this franchise.”
Right now it seems that director Guy Ritchie and the original stars will return, including Will Smith, but there’s a long way to go before anything is official. But once this gets made, except another 50 live-action sequels. Can’t wait for Bambi: First Blood Part 2!