Aladdin is one of the most beloved movies from the Disney Renaissance era, so when the Mouse House started digging through its library of animated films to adapt into live action, it was expected that eventually the 1992 hit would be added to the bunch. Sure enough, it was announced in October 2016 that Guy Ritchie would direct a live action Aladdin movie, and two years later, the first trailer for this spellbinding project has finally arrived. Check it out!
Talk about a teaser! Rather than give fans a close look at what's in store for Aladdin, this trailer opted to only give a taste of what happens outside the city of Agrabah, namely the Cave of Wonders, where the lamp containing the powerful Genie rests high above all the other treasures. Kudos to the Aladdin design team, by the way, for making the entrance to the live action Cave of Wonders look so similar to the one we remember so fondly from the animated film.
We can assume that the parrot flying around in the middle of the Aladdin trailer is Iago, though whether this version of the bird talks or not remains to be seen. And we can also spot the villainous Jafar, played by Marwan Kenzari, in the distance thanks to that snake staff he wields. But it's Mena Massoud's Aladdin whose easily seen at the very end, reaching for the lamp. Little does he know what will be unleashed from it.
This trailer certainly does a good job of piquing the interest of the average moviegoer catching this while in the theater, but I doubt I'm alone in wishing we'd gotten just a little more footage to chew on. Among the notable absentees from the preview are Naomi Scott's Jasmine and Will Smith's Genie. I'm especially eager to finally see the latter and find out how his version of the character compares to the one Robin Williams voiced nearly three decades.
From what's been revealed so far about Aladdin, the movie appears to be taking a similar approach as Beauty and the Beast by being a relatively straightforward remake rather than take a lot of creative liberties. In other words, street rat Aladdin is in love with Jasmine, he finds the Genie, is granted three wishes, etc. Along with the previously mentioned players, Aladdin's cast includes Navid Negahban as The Sultan, Nasim Pedrad as Dalia, Billy Magnussen as Prince Anders and Numan Acar as Hakim.
Aladdin will work its magic in theaters on May 24, 2019, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, don't forget to also look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what other major movies are coming out next year.
