With the live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast now in theaters (and making a ton of money during opening weekend), it seems like a good time to check in on the other properties Disney is looking to bring to life, specifically Mulan and Aladdin.
In an interview with Vulture, President of Motion Picture Production at Walt Disney Studios Sean Bailey spoke of how Mulan may not be a musical and also spoke about director Guy Ritchie’s involvement with Aladdin.
First, Mulan.
Fans have been anticipating a live action version ever since it was first announced with plenty of actresses being thrown into the conversation and rumor mill. Bailey said, “Mulan is clearly an empowered-female story but we can also do something new in this re-imagining, make it a little more muscular, stronger, with touch of Ridley Scott.”
Mulan is not expected to feature many prominent songs, mainly to focus more on the historical side of the character and to also appeal to a lucrative Chinese box office market.
Of Guy Ritchie’s involvement in directing Aladdin, Bailey said, “Guy became interested in doing a Disney movie and we talked a lot about it. When we talked about Aladdin, he said, ‘My stories are really about street hustlers. That’s what I know how to do. And Aladdin is a classic street hustler who makes good.’ Guy’s got his own version of that story in his life. But he wanted to honor and respect the Disney of it all.”
Aladdin is getting set to start casting some of their major roles. Princess Jasmine is one of the main characters that is expected to be cast soon.
Aside from these two films, Disney also has about a dozen other properties currently in development including Tim Burton Dumbo with Eva Green and Danny DeVito, a new Peter Pan written and directed by David Lowery, and a 101 Dalmatians riff called Cruella starring Emma Stone.
You can read the full article here, including how Disney could essentially continue their stream of remakes and re-imaginings for decades to come and their continued expansion through Asia and Europe.