Guy Ritchie’s Remake Of This Disney Movie Is His Biggest Test In 5 Years After $1Bn Disappointment

Guy Ritchie’s upcoming live-action Disney remake could be one of the biggest tests of his career after the mixed critical reception of Aladdin. Ritchie, who has recently written and directed The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), The Covenant (2023), and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023), was the director for Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin that starred Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, and Will Smith as the iconic Genie. Aladdin remains Ritchie’s highest-grossing movie of his career.

It has been previously announced that Ritchie is expected to direct both Aladdin 2 and the upcoming live-action adaptation of Hercules. Although both projects have received disheartening rumors in recent months, including the possible cancelation of Aladdin 2 and Ritchie stepping away from directing Hercules altogether, both franchise films are still officially in development or pre-production as of April 2024. If Ritchie does stay on to direct Hercules, it will be a great opportunity to bounce back from the mixed reviews of 2019’s Aladdin.

Guy Ritchie’s Live-Action Hercules Will Be The Director’s Big Test Following Aladdin

2019’s Aladdin received mixed reviews despite making more than $1 billion worldwide

Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin is the highest-grossing movie of his career, earning more than $1.05 billion at the worldwide box office which makes the film the 42nd highest-grossing movie of all time as of April 2024. With a reported production budget of $183 million, Aladdin was undoubtedly a box office hit. However, the film earned just a 53 on Metascore and a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, which could spell trouble for Ritchie’s future as a franchise live-action adaptation director for Disney classics.

The initial hype for the live-action Aladdin likely fueled a major part of its impressive billion-dollar box office run in 2019. Apart from The Lion King (2019) and Beauty and the Beast (2017), no other Disney live-action adaptation has made more than Aladdin at the box office. With high hopes for the upcoming Lilo & Stitch live-action adaptation, as well as Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa: The Lion King, which will both be released in 2024, the current state of Disney live-action remakes could make a comeback after the underwhelming box office performance of The Little Mermaid (2023) and the mixed critical reception of Peter Pan & Wendy (2023).

Why 2019’s Aladdin Was So Disappointing (Despite The Box Office)

Aladdin did little to improve on the original source material

With the recent post-pandemic downtrend in Disney’s live-action adaptation at the box office, Ritchie may have to make an extra effort to ensure that Aladdin 2 and Hercules are not only highly profitable but are great movies as well. There is no denying the impressive run that Aladdin had at the box office, becoming one of only 54 movies to ever cross the coveted threshold of a billion-dollar worldwide box office. Aladdin’s critics, however, were harsh on Ritchie’s first Disney live-action remake for doing little to improve on the original film’s source material, a critique that should be noted as Hercules continues to be developed.