Disney is gearing up to release its next live-action movie — Aladdin is set to hit the big screens on May 24. The first full trailer debuted to the public and gives us our first proper look at the soon-to-be released Guy Ritchie-directed movie.
The movie stars some well known faces and some not so well-known faces. Disney has cast Mena Massoud, an Egyptian-born Canadian actor, to play Aladdin; Marwan Kenzari, Naomi Scott to play Princess Jasmine and Will Smith as the fast talking, smooth, wish granting genie.
So who is Aladdin’s breakout Egyptian star Mena Massoud?
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In the trailer, Massoud shows off his parkour skills dodging the guards in the busy market of Agrabah. The opening scene is very reminiscent of the 1992 animated movie.
He previously starred in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. Massoud played alongside John Krasinksi, in Amazon’s big-budget thriller series that came out late last year. While this was his first blockbuster production, he’s no stranger to television screens. He played Jared Malik in Open Heart, and he has also appeared in Nikita and Saving Hope.
Will Smith as the genie will not be blue throughout the film.
Disney faced a lot (and by a lot we mean A LOT) of backlash after the first couple of teasers were released and most of the complaints had to do wil Will Smith’s blue genie.
Digital Spy reports that speaking previously about replacing the late Robin Williams in the iconic role, Smith revealed his ambitions to bring a more “hip-hop flavour” to the role.
“Whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying,” Smith told EW. “The question is always, ‘Where was there meat left on the bone?’ Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character.” According to Smith, Robin Williams “infused the character with a timeless version of himself”, and he hoped to do the same.
“I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Williams but was musically different,” he said.
The movie will have couple of new songs
The songwriters working on Disney’s upcoming live-action Aladdin remake have revealed they’ve written two new songs for the movie. The team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, whose previous soundtrack credits include La La Land and The Greatest Showman write new music for Princess Jasmine.
“We got to write a new song for Jasmine,” Paul told Variety. “Alan wrote a beautiful piece of music and [Scott] is incredible.”
But don’t worry, the ‘A Whole New World’ is definitely going to be a part of the new film and we even get a short look at it towards the end of the trailer.
A Whole New World changes EVERYTHING. I’m 100% in! #Aladdin pic.twitter.com/3UAfobvkN7
— (@itsjustanx) March 12, 2019
Princess Jasmine is already a fan favourite
Guy Ritchie has previously explained that Jasmine’s character generally has been altered a bit to make her more feminist and reflect present-day ideals that will make her “a more rounded character and maybe not being such a stereotype of the time.”
That #Aladdin trailer was light years better than the two previous teases. I’m just here for Princess Jasmine pic.twitter.com/I01MvY99ME
— Tuhmesken (@tuhmesken) March 12, 2019
Marwan Kenzari as ‘Hot Jafar’ is a break out star
Jafar in the form of Marwan Kenzari has been trending on social media as ‘hot Jafar’. Disney has gone the other way with their casting of Jafar. The Royal Vizier of Agrabah has been given a new look and instead of an older person he’s young in the trailer.
but why am I excited for this? Oh yes, because of hot Jafar #Aladdin https://t.co/QTlrOWCA1z
— Zee (@zeerawi) March 12, 2019
Counterpoint: hot Jafar pic.twitter.com/ECJd5c4Sbu
— Kerfuffle Actual (@shoshido) March 13, 2019
