Draft:Aladdin 3477

Aladdin 3477 is a media franchise based on a trilogy of live-action science fiction adventure films written and directed by Star Wars Artist Matt Busch, and distributed by Buffalo 8, a Bondit company. It is loosely based on the Aladdin and the Magic Lamp tale from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights ("The Arabian Nights"), and stars Erik Steele, Christi Perovski, Aaron Golematis, Lin Zy, Jon Rick, Tony Miello, Brian Dalling, Jerry Hayes, Irfan Sheikh, Robert Shannon, and Sydney Solomon.

Aladdin 3477
Created by	Matt Busch
Based on	Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp
Owner	Kaleidoscope Koi Entertainment, LLC
Years	2010–present
Print publications
Books	Aladdin 3477: Official Collector’s Edition (2023) The Art of Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom (2025)
Films and television
Film(s)	Aladdin 3477- I: The Jinn of Wisdom

Contents

• 1 Story
  • 1.1 Setting
  • 1.2 Plot
  • 1.3 Style
• 2 Production
  • 2.1 Early Development
  • 2.2 Pre-Production
  • 2.3 Principle Photography
  • 2.4 Music
  • 2.5 Visual Effects
• 3 Marketing
• 4 Release
  • 4.1 The Jinn of Wisdom
  • 4.2 Future Films
• 5 Reception
• 6 Controversy
• 7 Award
• 8 Merchandising
  • 8.1 Books
  • 8.2 Toys
• 9 References
• 10 External Links

Story

Setting

Set in the year 3477, Aladdin 3477 is a cyberpunk adventure based on the Arabian Nights Tale Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp, taking place throughout Asian countries, including Hong Kong, India, China, Thailand, and the Kingdom of Cambodia. The year 3477 is an inside reference to Matt Busch's TK number (being an Honorary Member of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers) and also leet for "Matt" if you turn the numbers sideways.

Plot

In a futuristic Hong Kong, an orphaned con artist named Aladdin dreams of living among the elite. Alongside his loyal, hovering robot, Fidgi, he and his sidekick pull off daring heists with smooth charm and sharp wit. But his life changes the moment he sneaks into a posh spa and glimpses Princess Kamala Shivali, India’s royal celebrity whose beauty captivates him instantly.

Aladdin escapes royal guards, but can’t shake the memory of the princess. Kamala, however, returning to India is a prisoner in her own palace under the iron hand of Lochan Shyamal, the scheming Grand Vizier with plans to overthrow the Sultan with his mastery of Nanotechnology.

Later, when Aladdin is drawn into a perilous mission to recover a legendary lamp in the Kingdom of Cambodia, he is reluctantly paired up with Oomi, a fearless young vagabond whose mischief derails his every move. Their journey reveals more than either expected when they encounter a mysterious sage who claims to be the legendary Jinn of Wisdom. Aladdin is skeptical, dismissing the claim and promise of a wish that could change his world.

As they venture back, the mismatched team weave through the neon landscapes of Thailand where Aladdin faces a troubled past he hoped to leave behind. Amidst narrow escapes, he is forced to make a choice: pursue the allure of power and prestige or embrace the unwavering loyalty of Oomi, whose friendship might be the most valuable treasure Aladdin has ever known.

Style

Considered to be the magnum opus of creator Matt Busch, Aladdin 3477 has a look and feel closer to Star Wars and Indiana Jones than the Disney musical versions that most are familiar with. Having grown up in the Lucas / Spielberg golden era of popcorn blockbusters, Busch was inspired to create his own fantastical cinematic wonder beyond what you would normally see in an independent film. Busch claims the trilogy is epic in scope, similar to Lord of the Rings, and is darker in tone, mixed with Eastern culture, Hindu mythology and Asian design motifs.

This version of the Aladdin character has been compared to Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China and Han Solo from Star Wars. While most versions have Aladdin meeting a Genie of the lamp, this version introduces a Jinn, which is the more commonly used term in Asia. The story does not feature Disney-owned characters like Iago and Abu, but has many new characters such as Oomi, Brej, and Aladdin's robot sidekick Fidgi.

Production

Early Development

In the early 1990s, Matt Busch began to create the world of Aladdin 3477 during the time he was a student at Macomb Community College in Detroit and the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles where he studied Illustration, Entertainment Design, and Film. The initial project which became Aladdin 3477 began as an illustrated graphic novel titled Kastar Shandax. The first version of the Skysail was also designed by Busch for a student project at Art Center.

Professionally, Busch got his start working on Hollywood movies like Con Air and The Matrix, but always had dreams of his own science fiction saga in development. Busch found more notoriety in the world of publishing, most notably producing art for franchises like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Stranger Things, and Lord of the Rings, as well as music art for music acts like Mötley Crüe, Poison, and Ozzy Osbourne. While Busch was living a childhood dream to draw Star Wars professionally, he was more interested in becoming a creative visionary like George Lucas himself than just to be working for Lucas as an illustrator.

Pre-Production

Matt Busch set out to begin pre-production for the Aladdin 3477 trilogy in 2010, 15 years before the first film was released. While the look of Aladdin 3477 has a Star Wars feel set in Asia, Busch designed the adventure to be reminiscent of Indiana Jones, and the overall trilogy is epic in scope like Lord of the Rings.

Prior to filming with actors, Busch traveled extensively throughout India, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the Kingdom of Cambodia to film background plates, including chartering a helicopter to film through the mountains of Switzerland. Upon visiting India, Busch was so taken with the Taj Mahal that he envisioned it being forged into a floating vessel where the Princess would live in as a royal palace.

Having experience creating concept art and previz for larger studio films, Busch created dozens of production paintings and illustrated storyboards for every single shot in the Aladdin 3477 trilogy. In designing Aladdin's sidekick robot Fidgi, Busch determined that Aladdin would build his own robots out of junk from the past, thus Fidgi's head is actually a modern-day portable radio / CD player.

A world-wide open casting call was set up for Aladdin 3477 and received more that 10,000 applicants. After narrowing down 100 candidates for the part of Princess Kamala, Christi Perovski's audition won her the lead role. Lin Zy was cast as the character Oomi because of her expertise in multiple styles of martial arts. While Busch purposely built a cast of unknowns, Seasoned-Actor Jerry Hayes, "indie-darling" of the industry was cast as the Sultan in a much more serious role.

Principle Photography

The physical production was incredibly grueling for Matt Busch, but he was beaming the entire time, creating the kind of wondrous and fantastical films he used to camp out in line for growing up. Busch financed the film project himself beginning with his savings from George Lucas purchasing a plethora of his original art from Star Wars products via Lucasfilm and associated licensees before depending on credit cards. It is estimated that Busch spent $600,000 on the trilogy's production, making each film's cost approximately $200,000 each. While all of the shots filmed with actors were filmed across Michigan, Busch has stated the Michigan Film Office wasn't helpful with tax incentives normally offered to bigger studios, nor helped in securing any locations.

The Aladdin 3477 trilogy of films are true independent films with no studio support, but rather a team of family, friends, and Busch's industry colleagues who believed in the project. The actual filming of the production took 5 years, almost to the day. For efficiency, all of the scenes across the 3 movies were filmed out of order. Famed photographer Paul Michael Kane visited the set extensively to photograph behind-the-scenes images.

The production exclusively used Blackmagic Design cameras for filming, particularly the Cinema Production Camera 4K, and the URSA Mini Pro.

The films' desert scenes were filmed at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Mears, Michigan. Most of the indoor sets were filmed on a soundstage in Clinton Township, Michigan, which Busch leased for 6 years. One of the reasons filming took so long is because the modest soundstage only had room to build a single set for filming, before it could be torn down to begin building the next one. The Taj Mahal Throne Room was the largest freestanding indoor set built at the soundstage, taking 11 months to complete. Outdoor greenscreen sets were also filmed at the soundstage's parking lot. The majority of the outdoor sets were filmed in Busch's own backyard, as well as backyards of other notable cast and crew.

To create dozens of unique robots, armor, and miniatures, Busch used a technique called kitbashing to recycle parts from model kits, toys, radios, and other devices to reassemble new pieces with a retro manufactured look. Over 300 costumes were hand crafted for the films to help round out the characters and extras which helped fill out the futuristic world. The trilogy features lots of stunts and intense martial arts fighting. Several Sensai from different dojos came together to help choreograph the fighting in a karate style called Shorinji-Ryu. While Busch preferred to work behind the camera, he was often the one to puppeteer Fidgi, as he wanted to get the quirky movements on camera just right.

Music

Aladdin 3477 features the music of Celldweller, which is helmed by Multi-instrumentalist Klayton, known for producing music for films and trailers like Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, and John Wick, as well as video games like Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, and Killer Instinct. Matt Busch also licensed production packs like Sonix and Transport, which were also produced by Klayton through his company Refractor Audio. Klayton and Busch have collaborated on other projects, including Busch illustrating the comic book cover for Celldweller's End of an Empire, and Klayton's electronic / new wave moniker Scandroid filmed the music video for "Eden" on the Aladdin 3477 Hong Kong Marketplace set.

Visual Effects

Post Production for the first Aladdin 3477 film took 4 years to complete. Rather than use CGI which is prevalent in most science fiction films today, Director of Photography Alex Jacobson and First Assistant Director Steven Pankotai helped utilize in-camera practical effects for the visuals. Rather than deal with the uncanny valley of animated effects, Busch preferred classic Hollywood tricks with mechanical puppets and forced perspective miniatures. In total, 688 visual effects shots were composited beyond what was acheived in-camera.

Marketing

Matt Busch first shared public footage of Aladdin 3477 in 2015 at Full Sail University for their annual Hall of Fame event where Producer Ric Viers was being inducted. In subsequent years, Busch would set up large exhibitor booths at the Star Wars Celebration shows where fans could see clips projected on a screen and also meet with cast and crew.

To help hype the release of the first Aladdin 3477 film, The Jinn of Wisdom, Busch ran a successful Kickstarter campaign, which was fully-funded in just 8 hours, and ended up generating over 6 times the initial goal. This was key for Busch to build a fan base and begin producing merchandise for the IP, which included books, toys, apparel, posters, and more. One of the top tier Kickstarter rewards was to become an Executive Producer, to which the Peter Mayhew Foundation supported to have Peter Mayhew's name attached, as he was a big supporter of Busch's artistic pursuits. Another of the creative rewards that Kickstarter backers could receive included a viewing the film before anyone else with Busch in his own personal home theater. At the end of the Kickstarter campaign, Busch hosted a 24 hour Livestream Lounge event to help drum up support in the final hours.

Busch also created half a dozen contests during the Kickstarter campaign and the release of the film, mostly based around "draw-this-in-your-style" competitions, where artists would illustrate a particular character with their own techniques. One of the more ambitious contests was Busch's "Recreate My Trailer" competition, where applicants recreated the first Aladdin 3477 trailer using any creative DIY methods as possible.

The first movie trailer for Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom received 2.1 Million views on YouTube alone.

Releases

The Jinn of Wisdom

The first Aladdin 3477 film, The Jinn of Wisdom, is represented by Circus Road Films and is distributed by Buffalo 8, a Bondit company. The film debuted on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Fandango at Home, Cable VOD and Digital HD on January 3rd, 2025.

Future Films

Because all three Aladdin 3477 movies were filmed at the same time, two more movies in the trilogy are already completed, although titles and release dates for the subsequent films haven't been revealed yet.

Reception

On average, The Jinn of Wisdom has been critically reviewed as extremely positive, with Movie Show Plus claiming it's "a visually stunning sci-fi adventure that redefines independent filmmaking". Critics were overwhelming delighted to see hand-made sets invoking a lived-in universe, something they hadn't seen since the original Star Wars trilogy.

Controversy

While many assume the original Arabian Nights tale takes place in the Middle East, there has been concern that Aladdin 3477 instead takes place throughout Asian countries and India. However, the original Aladdin story in fact takes place in China, so one could argue this version correctly returns the locale to the original source material.

It has been said that Fidgi resembles BB-8 from Star Wars, another round quirky robot with white armor and orange accents. However, Matt Busch actually created Fidgi back during his college days (decades before BB-8) in the Kastar Shandax graphic novel, and though the robot's design changed over the years, it was always illlustrated as having white armor with orange accents.

Award

At the 2018 Hong Kong Business Awards hosted by Apac Magazine, Aladdin 3477 was awarded "Most Anticipated Film Project".

Merchandising

Books

Kaleidoscope Koi Entertainment, LLC has published the following titles:

• Aladdin 3477: Official Collector's Edition by Matt Busch, 2023 ISBN:978-0-9717890-6-7
• The Art of Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom by Matt Busch, 2025 ISBN:978-0-9717890-7-4

Toys

Through the support of a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2023, Matt Busch designed numerous toys based on the first Aladdin 3477 film, including 10 block figures of the main characters and a set of 6 FIDGI Designer Toys which come in blind-boxes to collect them all.

External Links

Aladdin 3477 Official Website

Aladdin 3477 on IMDb