Will Smith in talks to play the Genie in Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Disney's live-action adaptation of ALADDIN is set to be directed by Guy Ritchie (KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD) and production is beginning to gear up for a July start, which means that we'll be hearing much more about casting in the coming weeks, but most people have been wondering who Ritchie will choose as the Genie. It will certainly be tough for anyone to follow in the footsteps of Robin Williams, but apparently Will Smith may be the man for the job.

It's still in the very early stages, but it has been reported that Will Smith is in talks to voice the powerful character in ALADDIN. Smith certainly isn't a name I expected to see come up in regards to the Genie, but after talks to take on a lead role in Tim Burton's DUMBO fell apart due to scheduling conflicts, it seems that the actor is still keen on working with Disney. As for Aladdin and Jasmine, the studio is hoping to cast newcomers in the roles and put out an open casting call just last month.

Sean Bailey, president of Motion Picture Production at Walt Disney Studios, recently spoke about ALADDIN and seemed very excited by the thought of Ritchie's "highly energized" take on a Disney musical.

Guy became interested in doing a Disney movie and we talked a lot about it. When we talked about Aladdin, he said, ‘My stories are really about street hustlers. That’s what I know how to do. And Aladdin is a classic street hustler who makes good.’ Guy’s got his own version of that story in his life. But he wanted to honor and respect the Disney of it all. We never want to feel like we have a playbook to these things because we worry it’ll make us creatively complacent. The idea of a highly energized Guy Ritchie Disney musical felt like, Oh, we haven’t done that before.

How do you feel about Will Smith potentially taking on the role of the Genie?