The remake of the classic movie "Aladdin" is making waves as the members of the cast were revealed during D23 on Saturday. This was also a good opportunity to launch the Holywood career of newbie Mena Massoud who will play Aladdin in the movie. Massoud is an Egyptian-born actor who grew up in Canada. There is also Scott who is a British actress who brings some Indian influence t the story.
Will Smith received the most raves when it was announced that he will be playing the role of the genie inside the magic lamp.
'Aladdin the remake'
There was a fuss earlier when the production team is still casting "Aladdin." They needed to make the right choice to portray the role of Aladdin well.
There was also an uproar when rumors spread that a white actor would play the most coveted role. Eventually, the newcomer Massoud was tapped for the role. The pressure is on him now to prove to the world how perfectly he can play the role. Scott will be his princess in the remake of the Disney musical.
Guy Ritchie, an English filmmaker will be directing the movie. But the fans of the movie are all excited to see Will Smith as the genie. It is expected that the three cast members will showcase their musical abilities in the movie as well.
Casting
Casting the actors wasn't easy, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It took about a month to find the best fitting actors for the roles. In the search for the perfect Aladdin, the casting director even went overseas to see about 2,000 actors who auditioned for the various roles.
Some foreign actors' names were mentioned during the casting and these included Dev Patel and Riz Ahmed. But Disney opened its gates to the new actor Massoud who, according to some, adds to the anticipation of the movie.
The movie will start shooting in August. The cast and crew will fly to London soon but before that, the casting director needs to find his villain.
So far there is no confirmed actor to play Jafar. Aside from Jafar, they still need to cast Lago, Jafar's right-hand man and the role of the Sultan.
Aladdin will continue Disney's exciting lineup of the live-action remakes of their classic films. Other movies such as "Mulan" and "The Lion King" will follow suit.
Other big names in the filmmaking industry were mentioned.
Joining Ritchie is Dan Lin who he worked with in "Sherlock Holmes" and he will be a producer for the movie. Jonathan Eirich will be the Executive Producer and Marc Platt (Mary Poppins Returns) and Chris Montan (Frozen) will be consulting for the movie.
