Live Action 'Aladdin' Looks to Guy Ritchie To Direct

Disney unused poster concept art by John Alvin

It's not official yet, but it's official enough that people know the deal is legitimately being worked out: Guy Ritchie, director of the Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. is in negotiations to direct the Disney live action version of Aladdin, titled Genie.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Dan Lin, who was a producer on the Holmes movies for Warner Bros., is producing what Disney touts will be an ambitious and non-traditional take on Aladdin via his Lin Pictures banner.  

John August wrote the script for the live-action version, which sources say will keep many of the musical elements of the original. 

Still to be determined is the approach to the Genie, which to this day remains closely associated to Williams' singular and defining performance. 

Also, part of the non-traditional aspect of the project is the studio's intent to make it non-linear, a move right out of the Ritchie playbook.

Ritchie is also known for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which use a similar non-linear approach to narrative, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Ritchie's current project is slightly more in the vein of directing a fantasy. He's in post production on Warner's King Arthur.