Hold on to your magic carpets because Disney just confirmed that a sequel to their mega hit live-action remake of Aladdin is in the works. Variety reported on Wednesday that Disney is developing a follow-up feature film to Aladdin with writers John Gatins and Andrea Berloff. This shouldn’t come as a big surprise given the massive success of the live-action remake, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide this past summer — which is a whole lot of buried treasure. While there’s no word on whether Guy Ritchie will return to direct, producers are hopeful that stars Will Smith (and his beard), Mena Massoud, and Naomi Scott will return for the sequel, which is exciting news, especially given the fact that Massoud told press that he was unable to get an audition despite having played Aladdin in Aladdin. There’s also no word on whether Billy Magnussen’s Prince Anders will return, but there’s a good chance as his character has already been granted a spin-off on Disney+. In any case, the sequel should fare better than the animated Aladdin film’s sequel, The Return of Jafar, which was released direct-to-video in 1994 despite Jafar being one of the best (and hottest) villains in the Disney canon.
