The studio and Aladdin director Guy Ritchie launched a global casting call in March to find the stars for the musical based on the hit 1992 animated film about a street kid who teams with a genie to woo the princess Jasmine. Disney, Ritchie and casting director Randi Hiller brought on casting agents around the world, from London to Egypt to Abu Dhabi and India, for what sources say is a massive global search: Around 2,000 actors and actresses have read for the lead roles of Jasmine and Aladdin.

But finding a male lead in his 20s who can act and sing has proven difficult — especially since the studio wants someone of Middle-Eastern or Indian descent (the animated film is set in the fictional Middle Eastern city of Agrabah). The original casting call specified that production was slated to begin by July, but the search has dragged on, with Disney and Ritchie having to go back to the drawing board multiple times. Sources say there have been several rounds of tests in London, with the actors coming in for up to two weeks at a time. “The test process was a mess,” says one agent with a client who tested.

Disney has officially found its Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie for the live-action “Aladdin” remake. The three cast members were announced at the D23 Expo on Saturday.

The House of Mouse may have been having problems finding its titular Aladdin for the remake of the 1992 animated classic prior to D23 this weekend, but the same cannot be said for Jasmine and Genie. Naomi Scott has officially been cast as Princess Jasmine, while Will Smith will be taking on the Genie. Newcomer Mena Massoud has also joined the cast as Aladdin.

Guy Ritchie was previously announced as director.

John August, whose credits include “Big Fish,” wrote the new “Aladdin” script. Dan Lin, who produced Ritchie’s two “Sherlock Holmes” movies for Warner Bros., is also producing “Aladdin” through his Lin Pictures company. Jonathan Eirich is exec producing.

The original animated movie was a comic take on the Arabic folk tale of a young man granted three wishes by a genie trapped in a lamp.

“Aladdin” was the highest-grossing film of the year in 1992, and won Academy Awards for best score and best song for “A Whole New World.”

Smith can be seen next in Netflix’s fantasy actioner “Bright.” He is repped by CAA and Overbrook Entertainment.

AUGUST 04, 2017 11:09am PT by Borys Kit
Disney's Live-Action 'Aladdin' Finds Its Jafar (Exclusive)


Former 'SNL' star Nasim Pedrad also joins the live-action remake, which has Will Smith playing Genie.

Marwan Kenzari, the actor who is poised to breakthrough as part of the all-star cast of the upcoming Murder on the Orient Express, is in negotiations to star as the villain in Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin.

At the same time, former Saturday Night Live comedienne Nasim Pedrad has landed a role created specifically for the new movie.

Will Smith is toplining as the wish-granting genie while Mena Massoud is the title character, a riffraff street rat who ends up over his head when he pretends to be a prince in order to win the hand of princess Jasmine, played by Naomi Scott.

The story, which aims to remake Disney’s 1992 animated classic while also taking cues from the folk tales in One Thousand and One Nights, is set in Agrabah, a fictional cosmopolitan city inspired by locations and cultures from the Middle East to India and China.

If a deal makes, Kenzari will play Jafar, the vizier to the sultan of the city who wants to use the genie for his own nefarious plan of taking power. The character is in the pantheon of the most recognizable Disney villains and was voiced by Jonathan Freeman in the animated movie.

Pedrad will land the role of Mara, the handmaiden and friend to Jasmine. The part is described as a comedic supporting role.

Kenzari, who appeared in MGM's Ben-Hur and had a role in Universal's The Mummy, stars opposite Noomi Rapace and Glenn Close in Netflix’s action thriller What Happened to Monday.

In Fox’s all-star remake of Orient Express, Kenzari plays the conductor of a train filled with duplicitous characters played by Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp, and Josh Gad.

He is repped by ICM Partners and Janey van Ierland at Nummer19 Films in Holland.

Pedrad, who has also appeared on TV's Scream Queens and New Girl, is repped by CAA.