Guy Ritchie to Direct Disney’s Live-Action ‘Aladdin’ Remake
Offering an unconventional edge to the 1992 animated classic.
Guy Ritchie, the British director behind the Robert Downey Jr.-starring Sherlock Holmes movies and other award-winning films, will reportedly take the helm on Disney’s live-action adaptation of Aladdin. Dan Lin, who was a producer on the Holmes movies for Warner Bros., is producing what Disney touts will be an ambitious and non-traditional take on Aladdin via his Lin Pictures banner.
The 1992 animated classic was part of Disney’s major animation renaissance, bringing the Middle Eastern-set folk tale to homes worldwide. Robin Williams’s impressionable performance as the genie helped push Aladdin to become the highest-grossing film of the year. Aladdin also won Oscars for best score and best song, “A Whole New World.”
John August wrote the script for the live-action version, which sources say will keep the musical elements of the original. A non-traditional aspect of the project is the studio’s intent to make it non-linear, in true Ritchie fashion. The director came to prominence with his stylistic crime thrillers Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, both of which make use of this storytelling mode.
