After much speculation and debate over choosing a non-Caucasian cast, Disney has finally announced that the live action version of Aladdin and His Magic Lamp, to be directed by Guy Ritchie, will star newcomers Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott as Aladdin and Jasmine respectively. Will Smith will be playing the role of Genie.
The casting was announced at Disney’s D23 Expo in California on Saturday.
Mena Massoud announced as Aladdin, Naomi Scott as Jasmine, and Will Smith as Genie in live-action Aladdin! #D23Expo
— Disney (@Disney) July 15, 2017
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
24-year-old British star Naomi Scott is best known for her role in the recent Power Rangers reboot. Mena Massoud who hails from Egypt and brought up in Canada. Apart from Aladdin, Mena Massoud will soon star in the upcoming Jack Ryan television series.
Naomi and Mena also announced the news via twitter:
So excited to be a part of this adventure! This is gonna be fun 🙂 https://t.co/fFpkkEg2kR
— Naomi Scott (@NaomiScott) July 15, 2017
So honored & grateful for the opportunity to help bring this magical story to life once again. Let’s get to work! #Aladdin #Disney https://t.co/itxmiDHtLL
— Mena Massoud (@MenaMassoud) July 15, 2017
Written by John August, the live action film is based on the original animated movie that starred Robin Williams as Genie and won Academy Awards for best score and best song for ‘A Whole New World‘ in 1992.
Incidentally, a few days back, Hindustan Times reported that Guy Ritchie finalised Indian actor Siddharth Gupta as Aladdin. Jasmine, Aladdin’s love interest, was also almost finalised, choosing between Sasha Agha and Tara Sutaria. However, the news was neither confirmed nor denied by Disney themselves.
Feature Image: IMDB/YouTube
