When it comes to directing movies, there are undoubtedly some directors that are somewhat tailor-made for the movies they direct. Like Joss Whedon’s take on The Avengers, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, and Martin Campbell’s two James Bond Movies -Goldeneye and Casino Royale – to mention just a few.
Guy Ritchie, who is about to enter the Disney universe to direct the live-adaptation of Aladdin, isn’t particularly known for his Disney-type of stories, however, his ability to handle characters like Aladdin (from his take on Sherlock Holmes and Snatch) makes him perfect for the job according to Disney’s Sean Bailey.
“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 honour and respect the Disney of it all. We never want to feel like we have a playbook to these things because we worry it’ll make us creatively complacent. The idea of a highly energised Guy Ritchie Disney musical felt like, Oh, we haven’t done that before.”
As Sean Bailey recently explained to Vulture: if you intend to make a movie about Disney’s most famous riff raff street rat, then it only makes sense to hire a filmmaker who has specialised in those types of stories and those kinds of characters for years.
Ritchie already had a personal interest in doing a Disney film before he officially signed on to this particular project, so it almost feels serendipitous. Aladdin is wholly distinct from most other Disney princes because of his rougher origins. He was not born into affluence or power; he’s a scrappy kid who lives on the streets and gets by with his wits, agility, and brawn. That’s a pitch-perfect description of a Guy Ritchie hero, but Ritchie’s own style remains distinct enough that the live-action Aladdin movie will feel different from the rest of the upcoming remakes.