Disney are pushing ahead with a sequel to ‘Aladdin’

It is being reported this morning that a sequel to the Disney live-action movie from last year, Aladdin, is in the works over at the studio. Variety say that the film is in the very early stages of development at the moment with writers John Gatins and Andrea Berloff penning a new screenplay.

The article also adds that producers hope that the film’s stars Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott will return for a follow-up. It’s not known yet if director Guy Ritchie will return either.

The trade does say that the new movie will be in a completely different direction to the two animated sequels released following the 1992 version of Aladdin and it will head to cinemas and not made for the Disney + streaming platform.

Related: Aladdin review

Aladdin scored some decent reviews when it was released last year and made a ton of money at the worldwide box-office – over $1 billion.

Here’s the official synopsis of the first movie.

The “Aladdin” cast includes: Two-time Oscar® nominee Will Smith (“Ali,” “Men in Black”) as the Genie who has the power to grant three wishes to whoever possesses his magic lamp; Mena Massoud (Amazon’s “Jack Ryan”) as Aladdin, the hapless but lovable street rat who is smitten with the Sultan’s daughter; Naomi Scott (“Power Rangers”) as Princess Jasmine, the Sultan’s beautiful daughter who wants to have a say in how she lives her life; Marwan Kenzari (“Murder on the Orient Express”) as Jafar, an evil sorcerer who devises a nefarious plot to unseat the Sultan and rule Agrabah himself; Navid Negahban (“Homeland”) as the Sultan, the ruler of Agrabah who is eager to find a proper husband for his daughter, Jasmine; Nasim Pedrad (“Saturday Night Live”) as Dalia, Princess Jasmine’s hand maiden and confidante; Billy Magnussen (“Into the Woods”) as Prince Anders, a suitor from Skanland and potential husband for Princess Jasmine; and Numan Acar (“Homeland”) as Hakim, Jafar’s right-hand man and head of the palace guards.

More as it comes in.