The film genre of horror is no stranger to trends. One slasher movie comes out, a bunch of them follow. You get one found footage pic, you get a bunch of imitators. It has always been this way and those trends will forever continue. The current kick that we seem to be on though is a bit of an unexpected one; public domain characters being twisted into horror showcases. “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” kicked the trend off launching the Poohniverse, and projects for Steamboat Willie, Peter Pan, and others have been released and announced. And just to make things a bit more exotic, Aladdin has entered the mix.
The more modern conception of Aladdin that most people would have is likely tied to the animated Disney film from 1992 and its live-action remake from 2019. But like many a classic Disney film, the films are just an adaptation of an age-old story. In this case, from “One Thousand and One Nights.” These stories are often cited as coming from centuries ago and published in the 1700s, so unlike Winnie-The-Pooh or Steamboat Willie, Aladdin has been in the public domain for a LONG time. So a horror themed take on the man who finds a genie could’ve been made decades ago, but it wasn’t trendy then. Unless you count the “Wishmaster” film series, but that’s a different franchise for a different article.
B22 films is going to be adapting the story of “Aladdin” into a two-part series, “Aladdin” and “Aladdin’s Revenge.” Filming is set to be taking place this month in Oklahoma and will star Devanny Pinn and Billy Blair Brett Bentman will be writing and directing the story about a woman who finds a magic lamp and makes some wishes that go terribly wrong. “This Aladdin is rooted in the ancient tale,” Bentman said. “It’s the story about wanted things so badly, unaware of the consequences, that these characters just wish for them and from there, things go haywire.”
Or basically, it sounds like the classic story “The Monkey’s Paw.” A story so classic that it was the subject of both an episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and a “Treehouse of Horror” segment of “The Simpsons.” Actually for that matter, the subject of wishes gone awry was also the plot to the movie “Bedazzled,” in a more Faustian take on it.
Anyway, we’ll have to see if this take on “Aladdin” conjures up anything new as it aims for its 2026 release.
