Is Disney Working On An 'Aladdin' Sequel?

There is a trend in Hollywood that if a movie crosses the billion-dollar mark at the box office, then the studios need to work on a sequel so that people get what they want and it seems Disney is just following the trend. After becoming the only fourth live-action adaptation to cross the billion-dollar mark, "Aladdin" is finally getting a sequel.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, one of the richest studios in the world is working on a sequel to the highly-successful film with new writers Andrea Berloff and John Gatins getting on board for the second movie. It is believed that the movie is still in the early stages and the only thing confirmed is that the studio is planning to release the sequel in theaters and not thinking of taking it to their streaming service, Disney+.

Berloff was nominated for an Academy Award in the Original Screenplay category for “Straight Outta Compton.” On the other hand, Gatins was also nominated in the Screenplay category for Denzel Washington’s “Flight.”

Producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, the duo that was part of the original movie, will be back to produce the second movie. Guy Ritchie will be coming back to don the director’s hat while the original cast members, Will Smith, Naomi Scott, and Mena Massoud, are expected to reprise their respective roles.

The movie is based on the 1992 animated classic film that chronicles the journey of a man named Aladdin (Massoud), who lives on the streets and accidentally meets Princess Jasmine (Scott) one day. While visiting her extravagant palace, he stumbles upon a magical oil lamp that unravels a larger-than-life genie (Smith). Aladdin and Genie become the best of friends and embark on a journey to defeat the evil sorcerer.

The film received mixed reviews from the critics but audiences showered a lot of praises for the movie. Smith’s performance as Genie and the stunning visual effects were praised by everyone. The mixed reviews from the critics could not hold the movie from making a fortune at the box office.

It accumulated more than $355 million in the U.S. and earned a whopping $695 million in the international markets, taking the film’s total earning well over $1 billion. The original movie also had Marwan Kenzari, Nasim Pedrad and Billy Magnussen in pivotal roles.