Though it featured one of the rockiest beginnings to a marketing campaign, Guy Ritchie’s “Aladdin” remake, starring Will Smith, has become a box office powerhouse for Disney. Once the film hit theaters, all that laughing at Smith’s blue, CGI Genie character went out the window and fans of the film began praising it and buying insane numbers of tickets.
And speaking to Syfy, producer Dan Lin spoke about the film’s success and what it means for the future, namely a possible sequel.
“We’d love to,” Lin said. “People clearly loved the movie and watched it multiple times and we get lots of fan letters and people asking us to make ‘Return [of] Jafar,’ and I can just tell you that we’re in the early stages right now, but we’re certainly talking about another movie. Like with ‘Aladdin,’ it will not be a straight remake of any movie that’s been made before, so we’re looking at ‘where’s the best way to go with these characters?”
He added, “The audience response has really touched us in thinking about where we can go with these stories, and we feel like these characters have more adventures in store.”
While you may roll your eyes at the idea of Disney making another live-action “Aladdin” film, considering all that the studio seems to pump out nowadays are revivals of old franchises and sequels, keep in mind that if this was any other studio, the same thing would happen.
“Aladdin” has grossed more than $1.03 billion worldwide to date, and it is easily one of the biggest films of the year. So, even though this is Disney making the decision, you can’t fault a studio for wanting to make a sequel to a film that has already earned more than $1 billion. That’s just sound financial advice.
Now, if you want to call into question the public’s need for an “Aladdin” sequel, well, that’s a whole different debate.