All the negative commotion over Will Smith’s “genie with abs,” who looks like everything from “the first Smurf to have a Four Loko” to blue Shrek, was based on five seconds of footage. Maybe a full-length trailer for the live-action Aladdin remake will convince fans of the Robin Williams-starring original that he doesn’t look like Thanos dipped in blue paint? Or maybe he’ll just wear glasses.
Genie also sings “Friend Like Me,” adding a little “hip-hop flavor” to the Alan Menken and Howard Ashman classic. In non-Genie news, there are other characters in Aladdin (I know, right?), including Mena Massoud as the eponymous street rat and Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine (who duet on “A Whole New World”), as well as Marwan Kenzari as Jafar, Nasim Pedrad as Jasmine’s handmaiden Dalia, and Billy Magnussen as Jasmine’s suitor Prince Anders. The trailer also includes sequences not in the original, diminishing fears that director Guy Ritchie had made a shot-for-shot remake. Unless I’m misremembering a scene from the animated version where Genie rides an ostrich.
Here’s the official plot synopsis.
A thrilling and vibrant live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic, Aladdin is the exciting tale of the charming street rat Aladdin, the courageous and self-determined Princess Jasmine and the Genie who may be the key to their future. Directed by Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes), who brings his singular flair for fast-paced, visceral action to the fictitious port city of Agrabah, Aladdin is written by John August and Ritchie based on Disney’s Aladdin.
Aladdin opens on May 24.
