While 2019's Aladdin earned massive success, the time has come to look ahead to the release of a potential live-action Aladdin 2.
Director Guy Ritchie delivered a thrilling live-action remake of the Oscar-winning 1992 animated film (with the help of a stacked cast), breaking the box office by grossing over $1 billion for Disney (per Box Office Mojo).
Thus far, Disney has only greenlit a second movie to one live-action remake (2024's Mufasa: The Lion King), leaving no guarantees that a movie like Aladdin 2 would become a reality.
Is Aladdin 2 Still Happening?
Deadline first reported that Aladdin 2 was in development in 2020 behind a script written by John Gatins and Andrea Berloff. It was said to bring back the core cast from the first movie, including Mena Massoud (Aladdin), Naomi Scott (Jasmine), and Will Smith (Genie).
However, Massoud gave an update on the film in a chat with MovieWeb in March 2023, indicating it was unlikely that Aladdin 2 would ever come to fruition.
Massoud sparked controversy on social media by comparing the results of Aladdin to those of 2023's live-action The Little Mermaid. He did not feel that The Little Mermaid would perform as well at the box office as Aladdin did but also expected the former would still get a sequel before his movie did:
"Our film was unique in that audiences went to watch it multiple times. It’s the only way we reached the billion-dollar mark with our opening. My guess is ['The Little Mermaid'] doesn’t cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel."
Director Guy Ritchie shared his hope to continue into a second movie with Collider in February 2023. He remarked that he Enjoyed the experience he had, calling it "so much fun" and pointing to ideas for what he would do for Aladdin 2:
"I'd very much like to. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that experience. It was a great experience. That whole Disney thing, as you can imagine, is such a professional outfit. Just from that perspective, it was so much fun. I would very much like to, we'll wait and see. We have been kicking some ideas around for some time now, but it'd be great to do, it would be great to go back there."
In December 2023, Massoud commented on the status of Aladdin 2 with ScreenRant, explaining how the writers' and actors' strikes "kind of just put everything on hold:"
"I don't have any updates. I think like you said, the strike kind of just put everything on hold. I know they were trying to get it off the ground for a long time but I have no idea where it's at. Listen, we shot in 2017. It's been six years now since we shot and wrapped the project. To me, at a certain point, life just goes on. I'm sure they have their reasons. I know they were trying for a long time, so I don't know what the obstacles exactly were. But maybe now after the strike is over, they'll continue to try to get it off the ground."
At the time of writing, Aladdin 2 seems to have been put on the shelf, but nothing official has been made public confirming that.
When Could Aladdin 2 Release?
Should Aladdin 2 still be on the table, its release most likely would not come for a few years.
Filming for the first movie started on September 6, 2017, and it was not released in theaters until May 24, 2019, nearly two years later.
If a sequel is officially greenlit and starts shooting within the next year, it would likely be at least two years until it debuts in theaters, setting up a release date no earlier than 2026.
Important to note is that director Guy Ritchie currently has multiple movies in various stages of development. The most immediate of those releases is In the Grey (featuring Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill), which is due for theatrical release in January 2025.
He also has two other movies in the early stages of development titled Fountain of Youth and Wife and Dog, which would theoretically all come before Aladdin 2.
If he were to direct Aladdin 2 after those movies, that would almost certainly add another year or two until he would be available to work on it.
Aladdin 2's Potential Cast
If Disney decides to greenlight Aladdin 2, most of its main cast would be expected to return to reprise their roles.
Front and center would be Mena Massoud's Aladdin and Naomi Scott's Jasmine, who wind up married after Jasmine is named sultana-regnant. They then start their rule over Agrabah together after celebrating their union.
Also expected to return would be Jasmine's father, the Sultan (played by Naid Negahban), as he likely trains Aladdin further ahead of him taking over as Agrabah's true leader.
On the villain side, it would be a surprise not to see Marwan Kenzari come back into the story as Jafar. Currently, he is locked away in a lamp after becoming a genie, which sets him up to be an even more terrifying antagonist if he were to get out and wreak havoc once more.
The full list of expected returning cast members can be seen below:
- Mena Massoud - Aladdin
- Naomi Scott - Jasmine
- Will Smith - Genie
- Navid Negahban - The Sultan
- Marwan Kenzari - Jafar
The biggest question in terms of casting would be Will Smith's return as the Genie, which would come a few years after the controversy surrounding his slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Guy Ritchie looked back on his time with Smith as "one of the most wonderful, great experiences" of his life. Using some NSFW language, he even called Smith "the fucking perfect gentleman," showing no qualms about bringing him back:
"I’ve never met a more lovely man, and working with him was one of the most wonderful, great experiences I’ve ever had,” he said. “I never saw anything other than the consummate, generous gentleman. I wouldn’t have any issue casting Will Smith in anything, because, as I say, he was just the fucking perfect gentleman."
What Could Happen in Aladdin 2?
The easiest choices for story direction in Aladdin 2 would likely be taken from either of the animated Aladdin sequels - 1994's Aladdin: The Return of Jafar and 1996's Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
The Return of Jafar sees Aladdin trying to balance his life as a street rat and a prince before the Sultan asks him to be his royal vizier in Jafar's absence. Jafar eventually makes his way out of his lamp to seek revenge on Aladdin, all while Iago goes through a crisis in conscience as he debates what side of the fight he's on.
King of Thieves reunites Aladdin with his long-lost father, Cassim, who is revealed to be the leader of the 40 Thieves as he searches for the Hand of Midas. Aladdin and Jasmine also hope to finally get married to one another, but those plans are quickly derailed once Aladdin learns his father is alive from an all-knowing oracle.
Aladdin 2 has the opportunity to adopt either one of those stories, although it would most likely lean towards The Return of Jafar to keep the story going chronologically the way it did in the '90s. However, with only a few small changes, either or both animated movies could be adapted for a live-action sequel.
Will Other Live-Action Aladdin Spin-Offs Still Happen?
In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter shared news about a live-action Genie spin-off being in development, which was two full years before the live-action Aladdin even began filming.
Due to the timing of that announcement, the odds of that series being brought to life are slim, especially considering there has been no news on that project since that report.
Additionally, Billy Magnussen's Prince Anders from 2019's Aladdin was set for his own spin-off movie (per The Hollywood Reporter) focused on his supporting character, who was a potential suitor for Princess Jasmine.
The last update from that project came in 2022 as Magnussen told ScreenRant that the movie was still being worked on. He explained that it was in the middle of rewrites and shared his excitement to "create a world and a story with him in it:"
"It's in development. We are in the stages of rewrites right now, and it's still moving forward. Yeah, it's really exciting ... I loved making that character up, and to have the opportunity to create a world and a story with him in it has really been a treat. I love that. That's what I really love about this industry; to play in such a way like that ... To be the not-Prince-Charming Prince, you know? We always see Prince Charming, so I was like, 'Let's mix it up."
2019's Aladdin is now streaming on Disney+.
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