Following the critical and box offices successes of Cinderella, The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast, it’s no surprise that Disney is planning to remake even more of their animated classics. The studio has over ten live-action films planned and Aladdin is one of them.
The original animated feature came out in 1992, and told the story of a young peasant boy in the fictional Arabian city of Agrabah, who finds a magic lamp with a Genie inside, who offers to grant him three wishes. The new version will see Guy Ritchie direct a screenplay from Big Fish writer John August, and they promise to deliver a “highly-energized” musical that will do justice to Disney’s first Aladdin film.
Though Ritchie’s most recent big-budget revival, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, didn’t do much to win over critics or audiences, the director has a strong track record that includes the action-oriented blockbusters Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, so many are keen to see what he can bring to the table for Aladdin. Here’s everything we know about the live-action remake so far.
NO WHITE-WASHING
![Everything We Know So Far About Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin Remake](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Aladdin-Disney-Lamp.jpg)
The original Aladdin (directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who recently collaborated on Moana) featured the voices of white actors, despite the fact that all of the characters were of Arabian descent. Producer Dan Lin – who most recently worked on The Lego Batman Movie – made it very clear that the cast of the live-action film will be authentic and feature an ethnically-accurate cast. “I am diverse,” he told Collider, “so when I come to make the movie, I want to make a diverse version of the movie.” Guy Ritchie has also confirmed that his Aladdin film “will have its own authentic voice,” which suggests that he’s looking to fill the cast with Middle Eastern actors. The production has already held auditions in the United Arab Emirates, and the casting notice specifically required those auditioning for the roles of Aladdin and Jasmine to be Middle Eastern.
ALADDIN AND JASMINE WILL BE PLAYED BY RELATIVE UNKNOWNS
![Aladdin and Jasmine in Aladdin (1992)](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Aladdin-jasmine.jpg)
As well as the UAE, Disney has held open auditions in the United States and London in order to find the two leads. American actor Armani Salado (of Dominican and Persian descent) is in the running to play Aladdin after having had two auditions – one with casting director Lucinda Syson and another with Disney’s Head of Casting Randi Hiller. “I had to do a singing piece along with a sheet and a half of lines from the script,” Salado told ScreenRant. “It was exhilarating. I haven’t done a screen test yet but they aren’t even that far into the casting process yet so fingers crossed.”
Elsewhere, Mory Hatem, the Lebanese star of The Voice Arabia, confirmed that he had auditioned for the lead role after being contacted by Disney to audition, according to Arab News. There was also the suggestion that British actor Luke Pasqualino (Skins) had been approached to play Aladdin, but considering he’s of Italian descent it seems unlikely that he’d be cast.
There’s not been much confirmed about possible actresses auditioning to play Jasmine, but one British pop star has been linked to the role. Jade Thirlwall of the girl group Little Mix is reportedly in talks to play the Disney princess, despite having no acting credits so far. According to British tabloid, The Sun, the 24-year-old “is delighted to have got this far in the process and the talks have been going on for some time now.” Thirlwall certainly has an excellent singing voice going for her, and is of Yemeni and Egyptian descent, but whether she’s got the acting chops is certainly another story.
We came up with a few Aladdin casting suggestions too.
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![Genie in animated Disney Aladdin](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Robin-Williams-as-the-Genie-from-Disney-Aladdin.jpg)
THE GENIE BRINGS THE STAR POWER
The late Robin Williams’ portrayal of the Genie is one of the most memorable performances in cinematic history, so the actor taking over the role has big shoes to fill. Kevin Hart was originally considered to play the magical lamp dweller, according to Variety’s Justin Kroll who tweeted back in April that the Central Intelligence star was approached before Disney moved on to Will Smith. Smith had originally been linked to Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo movie, but was reportedly asking for $20 million to star, and Disney balked at the fee.
Still, the studio and Ritchie are keen to work with the Suicide Squad star and are reportedly in talks with him to play the Genie now. “I can’t give you any updates, I mean, I like Will Smith very much,” Guy said of the casting rumor. “It would make me very happy to be making it with him, but the whole thing is very exciting.”
Casting Smith in the role would certainly reinforce the film’s star power if they end up choosing relative unknown actors for the Aladdin and Jasmine. And given his music career, it could be fun to see the Fresh Prince himself take on Genie’s catchy musical numbers.
THE PLOT AND MUSIC WILL STAY TRUE TO THE ORIGINAL
![Jasmine and Aladdin holding clouds during A Whole New World Song in Aladdin.](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Aladdin-A-Whole-New-World-Song.jpg)
There was a minor uproar when director Niki Caro initially said the live-action Mulan would not be a musical, but thankfully Ritchie has made it very clear Aladdin will be, telling Nerdist that “it’d be tough not to.” Disney’s production head, Sean Bailey, had previously confirmed this, adding to Vulture that it would be a “highly-energized musical.”
“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.” Anyone who’s seen a Ritchie film knows it’s going to be a bit gritty but Bailey also said they would take into account the expectations held by fans of the original.”
Alan Menken wrote the original music for the Disney film, winning two Oscars for his efforts in 1993. Since Menken returned to score the recent Beauty and the Beast remake, one can expect him to be involved with Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin as well – perhaps even writing a new musical number or two.
FILMING SCHEDULE AND RELEASE DATE
![Guy Ritchie directing King Arthur: Legend of the Sword](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/king-arthur-legend-sword-aladdin.jpg)
Disney is going to be shooting Aladdin in the UK at Pinewood Studios for a full six months, beginning this July to January 2018. Nashwa Al Ruwaini, chief executive of Pyramedia, helped organize Disney’s Abu Dhabi casting calls and said shooting on location in the UAE could be a possibility too. “We’re hoping some filming will take place in the Arab world,” she told The National. Considering the shoot length, one can assume Disney will give Ritchie a lot of money to play with. Beauty and the Beast had a budget of $160 million and The Jungle Book had $175 million, so it’s likely Aladdin will get a similar figure.
There is no confirmed release date for the film, but considering the production dates and the schedule that Disney recently released, Aladdin could be in cinemas as early as November 8 or December 20, 2019.