Will Smith's Genie Goes Blue in Aladdin Special Look

On May 24, director Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes) presents a new vision of a classic tale in Disney’s Aladdin. During the Grammy Awards this week, Walt Disney Studios delivered a special look at the film—one that delivers our first proper look at the Genie. You may recall that when EW debuted a batch of images from the film back in December, many fans took issue with Will Smith‘s Genie looking a bit too human. Smith himself took to Twitter to announce, “Yes, I’m gonna be BLUE!,” and now there’s visual proof. It’s a whole new world…

Based on the 1992 animated classic, Aladdin is written by John August and Ritchie. Along with Smith as the Genie, the film stars Mena Massoud as Aladdin; Naomi Scott as Jasmine; Marwan Kenzari as Jafar; Navid Negahban as the Sultan; Nasim Pedrad as Dalia; Billy Magnussen as Prince Anders; and Numan Acar as Hakim.

Eight-time Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken provides the score, which includes new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Oscar-winning lyricists Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and includes two new songs written by Menken and Oscar and Tony Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Photo: Walt Disney Studios

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

Will Smith’s Genie Goes Blue in Aladdin Special Look

About the author

James Zahn