The Will Smith led live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin conjured up an impressive $1.05 billion at the global box office. So the question became will Disney want a follow up? The answer, of course, is yes.
For the last six months or so, Disney has been workshopping potential ideas for an Aladdin sequel and has settled on one. As reported in Hollywood rags, like Variety and THR, tonight, the Disney live-action Aladdin will get its wish granted for a second film. This will go to theaters, not a Disney+ release.
After looking at a number of treatments, Disney has settled on a pitch from John Gatins (Flight) and Andrea Berloff (Straigh Outta Compton). The script from Gatins and Berloff will feature a completely original story and is not a remake of one of Aladdin’s two direct-to-video sequels. A whole new world, you might say.
Disney has reportedly reached out to the original cast and possibly director Guy Ritchie hoping they’ll return, but can’t officially offer any roles until the script is complete. The big question is will they ask Alan Menken to write new songs? Hopefully they’ll all be willing to jump on for a magic carpet right one more time.
There are a wealth of other stories in the legacy of “One Thousand and One Nights,” from which the tale of Aladdin originally came. Once of those is Sinbad the Sailor, a story that Disney hasn’t yet told on the big screen, but does have an attraction for in Tokyo Disney Resort. That might seem like a natural tie-in, if you ask me.