Disney announced at the D23 Expo in Anaheim that Will Smith has officially been cast to play Genie in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming live-action remake of “Aladdin.”
The studio also announced that necomers Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott will play Aladdin and his Arabian-princess love interest Jasmine, respectively. Massoud, who was born in Egypt and raised in Canada, is one of the stars of Amazon’s “Jack Ryan.” Scott, who is British and whose mother is from India, was most recently seen as the Pink Ranger in Lionsgate’s “Power Rangers.”
Walt Disney Studios’ President of Production Sean Burch said that Ritchie’s film will draw influence from far more than just the 1992 animated film. It will also be inspired by cultures from the Middle East, India, and even China, and will also be based in part on the original Arabic tales from “One Thousand and One Nights.”
