Disney is moving forward with a sequel to Aladdin, the reboot that made more than $1 billion at the box office in 2019. According to Variety, the producers spent six months try to find a direction of the sequel, and now the movie is in the early stages of development.
Disney is reportedly replacing the 2019 movie’s writers, John August and Guy Ritchie, and bringing in new writers John Gatins (Flight) and Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) for the sequel, according to the report. The original movie’s producers, Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, are reportedly set to return.
The report goes on to say that it’s unclear if director Guy Ritchie will return as well. The film studio also hopes to bring back Will Smith, Mena Massoud, and Naomi Scott, but the report says they won’t receive official offers until the script is finished.
Also of note, Variety reports that Aladdin 2, or whatever it’s called, will play in theatres as opposed to premiering as a Disney+ film. That’s expected, given the 2019 Aladdin made more than $1 billion at the box office.
The original Aladdin movie had two sequels–Return of Jafar and King of Thieves–but they were released on direct-to-video. Sources told Variety that the sequel to the live-action Aladdin will not follow the plots of those earlier sequels.
