Disney’s live-action remakes have been some of the most successful films at the box office that the House of Mouse has produced in recent years. The remake of Aladdin is one of four remakes that have grossed $1 billion at the global box office, so the announcement that an Aladdin sequel was on the way wasn’t too surprising. However, star Mena Massoud indicates it could still be a while before we see it, as the movie is still trying to find its script.
Speaking with Variety, Mena Massoud, who played Aladdin in the live-action film along side Will Smith’s Genie and Naomi Scott as Jasmine, makes it sound like he’s not fully convinced that Aladdin 2 will actually happen. He uses the word “if” more than once in regards to the sequel, but he does say the producers are committed to getting the movie right, to the point that the production changed writers and a new draft of the script is currently being written. The actor says…
I don’t know that there is movement. There was a change with the writers, and they are working on a brand new draft. That’s all I know. If Aladdin 2 happens, that’s fantastic. I think it should happen. Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich of Rideback Productions, who did the Lego movies and Aladdin, want to make sure they get this right. So if we do see Aladdin 2, it’s not going to be based off the animated version at all. This is going to be a brand new original story.
Whatever this new take on the script is, it’s not to turn the movie into The Return of Jafar. It had previously been said that the live-action sequel would not follow in the footsteps of Aladdin’s direct-to-video animated sequel, and it appears that’s still the case. Who the new writer or writers for Aladdin 2 are has not been confirmed. It had previously been announced that John Gatins and Andrea Berloff were on board to pen the sequel script, but it sounds like they’ve moved on.
Aladdin is far from the first Disney remake to get a sequel. Both Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent have seen big screen follow ups. In addition, the remake of The Lion King is moving forward on a prequel story, Mufasa: The Lion King, which is currently set to open in theaters in July 2024. The Aladdin sequel has no release date yet, showing that the movie is still in a state of development limbo.
Considering the success of the Aladdin remake it seems there are certainly a lot of fans that would love to see this sequel happen. And since it won’t be based on any previous film, it has the chance to really break out on its own and be something new and different.
