Disney has been doing some great work with their live action remakes of animated classics: The Jungle Book was a surprising (and beautiful) take on the classic story, and Beauty and the Beast releases this week (and looks pretty promising). Mulan, The Jungle Book 2, and The Lion King are also slated to receive the treatment. Comedian Dani Fernandez recently posted a casting call on her Twitter account for yet another upcoming, live action remake: Aladdin. It reveals the shooting schedule, and should also assuage some fears about the film possibly being “whitewashed.” Check it out:
Alright kids, if you know someone who fits this, you better share this with them. Submit asap. Good luck my babies pic.twitter.com/PLP37ritcV
— Dani Fernandez (@msdanifernandez) March 9, 2017
Guy Ritchie is helming the remake, which will begin shooting July 2017 and is set to wrap in January of 2018. No word on the film’s release date, but the live action Mulan is set to release in November of 2018. It seems likely that Aladdin would be the next film on the schedule.
One glaring question that is surely on everyone’s mind with the remake of Aladdin: who could possibly replace the late, great Robin Williams as the voice of Genie? The 1992 animated film took in a ridiculous $504 million, in large part due to the energy and humor that Williams brought to the film. Will Ritchie and the script writers lean as heavily on pop culture references as the original, or will they attempt to take Genie in another direction, knowing that any comparison to Williams’ performance will most likely come up short?
Rehearsals begin next month for Aladdin and Jasmine, so send those tapes in soon if you want to give yourself a shot at Disney’s next surefire hit.
Any perfect casting ideas for Aladdin or Jasmine? Who could possibly play Genie? And what about the evil Grand Vizier, Jafar? Let’s hear your casting ideas in the comments below.
