Disney has seen a lot of success from its live-action remakes, with Mufasa: The Lion King currently dominating the global box office as proof of that fact. That movie is a prequel to The Lion King, which grossed over a billion dollars globally. So that begs the question. If a movie grosses that amount, why no sequel? Well, back in 2019, Aladdin brought the cherished 1992 film to life with a colorful live-action rendition directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Will Smith as a not-as-blue Genie alongside Mena Massoud as the titular street rat. But six years later, there has been very little movement on another outing for Aladdin, Jasmine (Naomi Scott), Genie and, of course, Carpet. Why that is can’t be answered, but it has been discussed.
Massoud has recently shared what the next chapter of Aladdin could have been. During a press tour for his latest romantic drama Wish You Were Here, directed by Julia Stiles, Massoud told MovieWeb that the potential sequel could have explored Aladdin and Jasmine as older, more mature character, and perhaps even as parents.
“That was such a fantastic experience,” Massoud said about filming the first live-action Aladdin. “I grew up on that film, the animated version, so we could do it. And I’m glad people loved it. And, yeah, it’d be great. You know, I think there’s opportunity to do one when Aladdin and Jasmine are a little older. Maybe they have kids. That was something we actually talked about doing when they were talking about a sequel. So it can still happen, you know? We’ll see. I’d love it.”
Was the Live-Action ‘Aladdin’ Remake Any Good?
Collider’s review was critical of how overblown the movie was, and bemoaned how things were shoehorned in as “when the movie lurches into its third act, you can really feel how bloated the whole production has become.“
It also criticized how flat and lifeless the movie felt whenever Smith wasn’t on-screen, which perhaps shouldn’t be too big a surprise given the charisma he carries. Per the review, “For a movie that should be as spritely and whimsical as the Genie, that energy doesn’t really carry over to the rest of the picture, especially when Smith isn’t on-screen.” Still, The Lion King remake similarly had mixed reviews and yet still spawned a very successful follow-up. Only time will tell if we ever get to see Aladdin and the magical land of Agrabah on-screen once again.
Aladdin is streaming now on Disney+. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Aladdin
- Cast
-
Will Smith
, Mena Massoud
, Naomi Scott
, Marwan Kenzari
, Navid Negahban
, Nasim Pedrad
, Billy Magnussen
, Numan Acar
, Jordan A. Nash
, Taliyah Blair
, Aubrey Lin
, Amir Boutrous
, Omari Bernard
, Nathaniel Ellul
, Sebastien Torkia
, Buckso Dhillon-Woolley
, Ceara Batson
, Vinani Mwazanzale
, Demii Lee Walker
, Elena Zacharia
, Nazerene Williams
, Bessy Naidu
, Marisha Wallace
, Maya Saroya
, Amar Chadha-Patel - Runtime
-
127 minutes
- Writers
-
John August
Watch on Disney+
