Guy Ritchie to direct live-action Aladdin movie for Disney

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Sigh. Is anyone really surprised by this news? With live-action remakes of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, LITTLE MERMAID, LION KING, and the recently announcement of MULAN (among others) on the way, a resigned sigh is really the only response at this point.

To be fair, the fact that Disney is in talks with Guy Ritchie to direct is kind of cool, as it means the film will at least have style (even if it's a style that hasn't really grown much since the mid-90s, it's a unique style nonetheless). I mean, I liked the first SHERLOCK movie, enjoyed MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., and I'm one of the few who actually thinks the weird juxtoposition of Guy Ritchie's humorous/fast-cut-style melded surprisingly well with a modern fantasy telling of King Arthur in the new KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD trailer. Furthermore, ALADDIN is known for being fast-paced and humorous, as well as being about criminals (where Ritchie's arguably best films – LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and SNATCH – originate from), so there's a stylistic marriage between the two as well.

Though, this all depends on execution. I've been on record as saying that I don't hate remakes, nor do I really care that Disney is remaking their animated films on priniciple. I've been lukewarm to the films themselves, but not the impetus behind them. It will also be nice to have some Middle Eastern characters that are positive depictions in a big-budget tentpole film. Let's just hope they cast actual Arab actors and not white guys like Jake Gyllenhaal, Christian Bale, or Jaime Lannister.  

So what do you guys think? And who do you think could fill Robin Williams's shoe in the unenviable role of the Genie?