So, three things. Maybe four. Let’s see how this goes once we get started.
1) Guy Ritchie is reportedly in talks to direct a new, live-action version of the animated Disney classic, Aladdin. The story from The Hollywood Reporter uses the following terms to describe the project: ” ambitious, “non-traditional,” non-linear,” and “right out of the Ritchie playbook.” We will circle back to this in point number three.
2) Disney has a few other live-action versions of animated classics in the works. A Mulan movie is in development and a live-action version of The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau, is on the way, too. If there’s any sort of supreme being in the sky who loves us and wants us to be happy, this all ends with Michael Bay directing a live-action version of Fantasia that replaces the classical music from the original with a thumping EDM soundtrack and swaps out Mickey Mouse for squadron of Victoria’s Secret Angels wearing lingerie and mouse ears.
3) A live-action Aladdin directed by Guy Ritchie actually makes sense, if you think about it. It’s a story about a young street criminal and his plucky sidekick getting recruited to steal a valuable item by a powerful figure with devious intentions. The whole Cave of Wonders scene is basically a heist gone awry. This works. This really works.
4) Jason Statham as Aladdin, please and thank you.
