Summary
- Disney has put a hold on Aladdin 2, Maleficent 3, Jungle Book 2, Queen of Hearts as part of slowing down its live-action plans.
- The box office flop of Snow White has made Disney rethink its live-action strategy, leading to shelving of these projects.
- Despite shelving projects, success of Lilo & Stitch 2 may indicate that future live-action remakes could still hold potential for success.
Walt Disney Studios might have just greenlit Lilo & Stitch 2 following the impressive success of the first live-action adaptation. However, that doesn’t mean the company is ploughing forward with all of its original live-action plans. While live-action movies have proven to be popular over the years, Disney is starting to slow down in that regard.
The box office failure of Snow White hasn’t helped Disney’s decision to push further live-action movies, and it has become clear now that it has been reported that the company has shelved four significant projects.
Related
Lilo & Stitch 2 Might Be Exactly What Disney’s Live Action Franchises Need
Disney’s live-action franchise might be given a significant boost by Lilo & Stitch 2 being greenlit as a project.
According to a Q&A from Skyler Shuler of DisInsider, Disney has halted plans to create Aladdin 2, Maleficent 3, Jungle Book 2, and Queen of Hearts. The status of each movie and Disney’s progress in developing each individual film are currently unknown, but for the time being, no more work will be done on them.
Disney’s live-action remakes of popular animated movies have always proved divisive among fans, with some fans finding them to be quick cash grabs rather than new, insightful movies with fresh ideas. That has led to some struggles at the box office, with Snow White being a recent example of that. The 2025 live-action went through development hell due to various controversies, and that led to the movie only earning $205 million at the box office, which was a loss against the $240-270 million production budget. That has forced Disney to rethink many of its plans, which could have impacted these four movies that had been planned previously.
However, even though Disney is shelving those projects right now, the fact that Lilo & Stitch has almost earned $1 billion at the global box office proves that there is still life in the live-action remakes. These projects are able to gross huge sums of money, which is why Disney has pumped so much focus into this aspect of the business. If future movies continue to provide similar levels of success, it will undoubtedly help convince decision makers to create further films. Moana is the next live-action remake that is set to take place, with Dwayne Johnson taking on one of the lead roles as Maui. Meanwhile, Lilo & Stitch 2 could prove whether sequels work, giving Disney a better idea for these shelved movies.
Ultimately, the decision to shelve these four movies doesn’t mean that they will never end up being used in the future. Aladdin, Maleficent, and The Jungle Book all proved to be successful at the box office in a live-action format; therefore, they could possibly end up being brought to life down the line. Disney had previously shelved plans for the expected Tangled live-action movie, which had disappointed many fans. Still, that project is now expected to be brought back to life following the success of Lilo & Stitch. That proves that no idea is ever truly over in Disney if the idea is good enough, and sometimes it’s all about the timing that matters.
