Some filmmakers seem tailor-made to take on certain iconic stories. J.J. Abrams was clearly the right director to bring the Star Wars franchise back, and Martin Campbell deftly introduced two James Bonds to the world with Goldeneye and Casino Royale. It's all a matter of finding the right creator for the right fictional world. On that note, Guy Ritchie is about to enter the wonderful world of Disney for an adaptation of Aladdin. Despite the fact that the Snatch director isn't known for Disney-esque stories, his knack for handling characters like Aladdin make him perfect for the job. Disney's Sean Bailey explained:
Guy became interested in doing a Disney movie and we talked a lot about it. When we talked about Aladdin, he said, 'My stories are really about street hustlers. That's what I know how to do. And Aladdin is a classic street hustler who makes good.' Guy's got his own version of that story in his life. But he wanted to honor and respect the Disney of it all. We never want to feel like we have a playbook to these things because we worry it'll make us creatively complacent. The idea of a highly energized Guy Ritchie Disney musical felt like, Oh, we haven't done that before.
As Sean Bailey recently explained to Vulture: if you intend to make a movie about Disney's most famous riff raff street rat, then it only makes sense to hire a filmmaker who has specialized in those types of stories and those kinds of characters for years. Ritchie already had a personal interest in doing a Disney film before he officially signed on to this particular project, so it almost feels serendipitous. Aladdin is wholly distinct from most other Disney princes because of his rougher origins. He was not born into affluence or power; he's a scrappy kid who lives on the streets and gets by with his wits, agility, and brawn. That's a pitch-perfect description of a Guy Ritchie hero, but Ritchie's own style remains distinct enough that the live-action Aladdin movie will feel different from the rest of the upcoming remakes.
Beyond that, his first major musical number of the animated Disney classic is an entire song about how he knows how to evade capture by the police.
Guy Ritchie's filmography even proves that he has a history of turning characters that aren't inherently scrappy underdogs into loveable street rats. If he can bring the same degree of style and finesse that he used on Sherlock Holmes and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (which still hasn't debuted yet, but looks awesome nonetheless), then we can rest easy knowing that Aladdin is in reliable hands.
We will bring you more information related to the live-action Aladdin as more details become available to us. You can catch Disney's latest contemporary live-action musical adaptation, Beauty and the Beast, in theaters now.
