Will Smith Is In Talks To Play The Genie In Disney’s Live-Action “Aladdin” Movie

We learned last year that Disney’s live-action Aladdin movie would be “nontraditional” and directed by Guy Ritchie. Well, it’s not going to stray that far away from tradition; there will still be a genie in a lamp, and Deadline says that genie might be played by Will Smith. An all-knowing cosmic human-like magical creature? Are we sure they want Will and not Jaden?

Deadline has been told that Will Smith is currently in talks to play the genie, whose name is simply Genie, like Cher or Madonna. Will had also been in talks to appear in the live-action Dumbo movie, but he never ended up signing on. He may not sign on to Aladdin either. It’s scheduled to shoot for a long six months, and Deadline thinks that could possibly be a deal breaker for Will. Oh, I’m sure it will be fine. Just as long as he has a strong internet connection so he can convince the crew he’s having twice-daily FaceTime sex on his iPad with Jada Pinkett Smith.

The original Genie was voiced to perfection by Robin Williams, and anyone who takes that role should be prepared to hear “Okay, but he’s no Robin” at least six hundred times. But I think Will is a great choice. When I was a kid, I thought Genie always looked like a cross between a Smurf and Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince. Since the real Uncle Phil is up in Heaven with Robin, they might as well get the next closest thing.

Pics: Disney, Wenn.com