Who should play the Genie in the live-action Aladdin?

When we think of Disney’s beloved 1992 ani­ma­tion Aladdin, what instant­ly jumps out is Robin Williams’ knock­out per­for­mance as the Genie – a shapeshift­ing mag­i­cal enti­ty sum­moned to unleash 10,000 years of mad­cap, pent-up ener­gy. Per­fect­ly suit­ing Williams’ rest­less­ly riff­ing com­e­dy schtick, the Genie is among the late actor’s most icon­ic roles.

When the Guy Ritchie-direct­ed live action remake of Aladdin was announced in 2016, there was instant spec­u­la­tion as to who would replace Williams. The pub­lic grief over Williams’ death com­bined with his incred­i­ble per­for­mance means that who­ev­er fol­lows him faces a mas­sive task. But it sounds like the film’s pro­duc­ers may just have found their man: Will Smith is in talks for the role.

Although Smith is unde­ni­ably charis­mat­ic, he wouldn’t be our first choice. Recent roles in Sui­cide Squad and Col­lat­er­al Beau­ty have seen him play ret­i­cent, trou­bled char­ac­ters. The mak­ers of Aladdin will sure­ly be hop­ing he can bring the same goofy ener­gy we first saw back in his Fresh Prince days.

So, who might be a bet­ter fit for the Genie’s lamp? Come­di­an Eric Andre has proven him­self a charis­mat­ic and total­ly unpre­dictable mas­ter of the cer­e­monies in The Eric Andre Show. He is used to pro­vid­ing the unscript­ed, spon­ta­neous humour that made Williams’ Genie so mem­o­rable, and his uncom­pro­mis­ing brand of black com­e­dy could make the role his own.

Ilana Glaz­er is anoth­er come­di­an with the charm­ing, high-ener­gy chops to take on the role — plus she would style out Genie’s gold hoops and wrist cuffs. Or per­haps, assum­ing the film­mak­ers are keen to recap­ture the ​’90s feel of the orig­i­nal, Jim Car­rey could chan­nel his unique­ly hyper­ac­tive Mask-era style of phys­i­cal comedy.

How­ev­er, giv­en the recent advances in CG tech­nol­o­gy, it would be sur­pris­ing if the pro­duc­ers haven’t con­sid­ered Williams him­self for the role. In the pre-pro­duc­tion stages of Disney’s first Aladdin, direc­tors Ron Clements and John Musker ani­mat­ed the Genie per­form­ing clips of Williams’ stand up com­e­dy in order to per­suade the reluc­tant come­di­an that he was per­fect for the part. Could Ritchie and co some­how work these old clips into the script, to be spo­ken by a dig­i­tal­ly-res­ur­rect­ed Williams? 

No mat­ter who is cast, Williams will loom large over the role. Accord­ing to Vul­ture though, Richie is look­ing to put his own stamp on the film. ​“My sto­ries are real­ly about street hus­tlers. That’s what I know how to do. And Aladdin is a clas­sic street hus­tler who makes good.” Will Vin­nie Jones or Jason Statham end up as the Genie? We’ll find out soon enough.

Who do you think should play the Genie? Let us know @LWLies