Guy Ritchie, famous for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Swept Away, has been enlisted to direct the upcoming live-action remake of Aladdin.
The move follows Disney's bid to re-imagine their classics for contemporary audiences after the success of The Jungle Book earlier this year which grossed a whopping $996.2 million worldwide.
Ritchie told Spurious magazine that he is "wicked excited" about the project and compares it to his marriage to Madonna: "It's gonna be difficult, testing, perhaps ultimately unfulfilled, but I'm gonna give it a shot anyways, ain't I?"
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Owing to my investigate prowess, and through the help of a few people in the right places, I actually managed to get my hands on a first draft copy of the screenplay. WARNING: Spoilers below.
The film, going by the working title 'Arabian Geezer On A Magic Carpet', doesn't exactly stay faithful to the 1992 original. For one, it's set in Canning Town.
Ritchie's vision of the classic tale is also typically structured in a non-linear fashion, much like his early work. The opening scene sees our protagonist Aladdin, played by Jason Statham, aboard his carpet on the run from some loan sharks. "Look at me," Statham says in V.O as we freezeframe on him losing balance. "What a total muppet. I suppose you're wondering how I got here, in this situation? Well let me tell you a story about summink that happened to me three years ago."
We are then taken on a rollercoaster ride of guns, booze, cigs, women, betrayal and of course, magic. Vinnie Jones stars as Jafar while Alan Ford takes over the late Robin Williams as The Genie.
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"At the end of the day," Ritchie said, "we're just trying to add a bit of aggro to this Aladdin guy's story. The tropes are still there, this remake simply concerns community, you know? It's about never breaking the code and putting family first, even if that means butchering someone else's family."
We can't wait!
Featured image credit: PA
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