Disney’s Aladdin remake has raked in more cash than there is in the Cave of Wonders, with the live-action take on the 1992 animated classic earning over $1 billion at the box office. It’s no surprise, then, that Disney is already working on a sequel. Producer Dan Lin recently confirmed that talks are currently underway to expand the franchise and if the plan goes ahead, expect the follow-up to cover fresh ground for the property.
ComicBook.com spoke with Lin this week and asked him which of the animated movie’s sequels would he like to tackle in live-action: Return of Jafar or Aladdin and the King of Thieves? Interestingly, the producer said that Aladdin 2 wouldn’t adapt either one wholesale and would cherrypick elements from “different source material” to create a fresh storyline.
“If I told you the fans would go crazy. It’s just too early for me to reveal. But just know that we’re looking at a lot of different source material and it’s not going to be based on one singular source, but we’re going to take the best of everything that’s been done before and create something fresh and new.”
There’s certainly a lot of source material for Disney to choose from. After all, the Aladdin franchise also spawned an animated series that explored more of the city of Agrabah and gave Al and his friends a range of new enemies to battle. And, of course, there’s also the original Arabian Nights myths to dig into as well. Plus, The King of Thieves played with Greek legends, too, so the potential is really limitless.
There is one hitch, though. At the end of the live-action film, Aladdin wished Genie free of his bonds and he went off to live a happy life as a human. We last saw him years later, married with kids and sailing the world. Will Smith would have to come back for the sequel, of course, but how could the story wrangle it so that he’s a Genie again and doesn’t have a family? Good luck with that one, Disney.
Tell us, what would you like to see from an Aladdin sequel to make sure it’s one jump ahead of the first film? Have your say in the comments section down below.