Aladdin Live-Action Prequel in the Works at Disney

2 minute read

Disney is going back to the world of Aladdin, its 1992 animated classic, with a live-action prequel.

The studio is developing Genies, a live-action comedy adventure that is being written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. Tripp Vinson is on board to produce via his Vinson Films banner.

Aladdin is a centuries-old Arabic folk tale that got the animated Disney treatment in 1992 in a film featuring Robin Williams as the voice of the blue-skinned Genie.

The movie tells the story of Aladdin, a street urchin who finds a lamp that unleashes a Genie who grants him three wishes. A love interest and a sorcerer also figure into the proceedings.

The new project would focus on the realm of the Genies and reveal how Aladdin’s Genie ended up enslaved in the lamp.

Although Genies is only in the early stages of development, the long-term plan is to have the project lead into an Aladdin live-action movie.

Vinson, an exec producer on this summer’s hit San Andreas, is producing Bob the Musical, Disney’s music-inclined comedy which Michel Hazanavicius is directing, as well as Prince Charming, also for the studio.

Shannon and Swift made their mark early working on horror movies such as Freddy vs. Jason and the Friday the 13th remake. But they segued into comedy, working most recently on the Baywatch movie project and O’Lucky Day, which has Peter Dinklage attached, both at Paramount.

The duo are repped by UTA and attorney Jeff Frankel at McKuin, Frankel.

This article originally appeared on Hollywoodreporter.com

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com