Disney ain’t ever had a friend like money, as the studio eyes a sequel toGuy Ritchie’s live-actionAladdinjust a few weeks after the remake flew over the billion-dollar mark. This astronomical number easily marksAladdinas the second highest-grossing live-action remake in Disney’s catalog, withBill Condon’sBeauty and the Beasttaking the top spot andJon Favreau’sThe Lion Kingtaking no spots because that’s an animated movie.
So it’s no surprise, really, that a sequel may be on the horizon. Nothing is officially in the works, but producerDan LintoldComic Bookthat the house of mouse is “exploring” that route:
“We certainly, 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. 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.”
It’s absolutely worth noting that the original 1992 animated film itself spawned a sequel. It’s calledThe Return of Jafar, it was the first Disney direct-to-video animated film, and it’s honestly kind of terrible. (Also worth noting that the second sequel,Aladdin and the King of Thieves, is Good, Actually.) Funny enough,AladdinstarMena Massoudtold Collider’s Thomas Reimannhe’d “absolutely” be down for aReturn of Jafaradaptation, back when the idea of the film making $1 billion seemed like some sort’ve mystical genie wish. So, you know, stay tuned.
