Guy Ritchie Is Set to Direct Live-Action ‘Aladdin’ Movie

Guy Ritchie is in talks to direct a live-action Aladdin film. The 48-year-old filmmaker – whose previous films include Sherlock Holmes and Snatch – is wanted to recreate Disney’s classic 1992 animation as a new adventure which transforms the story from the original cartoon.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory writer John August has penned the script, which is said to include many of the musical elements from the original but will be non-linear in its structure, something that is a hallmark of Ritchie’s early work such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Dan Lin, who previously worked with Ritchie on Sherlock Holmes, is already on board to produce.

Disney’s original Aladdin movie was based on the Middle Eastern folk tale Aladdin and the Magic Lamp which is from One Thousand and One Nights a story about a peasant boy who retrieves a magic lamp from a booby-trapped cave and gets three wishes from the Genie he unleashes.

In the cartoon movie, the late Robin Williams voiced the madcap Genie and the beloved film won two Oscars for the music that featured including Best Music, Original Song for “A Whole New World”.

Aladdin remains one of Disney’s most beloved and successful classics earning over $504 million worldwide and the characters are prominent at the company’s theme parks.

It has also been turned into a hit stage show playing at theatres all over the world.