Robin Williams' take on the Genie in 1992's "Aladdin" is a legendary voice performance. So full of rich humor and the sardonic wit we all came to expect from the late Williams. We all knew it was going to be a frustrating process to find someone to play that role in the live-action version Disney is currently concocting. However, Will Smith? Really? That's the best you could come up with to replace what is the best voice acting performance in the history of animation?! Albeit, Smith is just in talks for the moment, but all signs point to him nabbing the role.
Deadline has it going something like this:
"Will Smith is in talks to take on the genie role made famous by the late Robin Williams in Disney’s live-action Aladdin from Guy Ritchie, we hear. The adaptation of the animated feature follows the studio’s strategy of bringing its classic animated titles to life and so far it has been a goldmine, most recently with Beauty and the Beast which has already grossed over $1B worldwide. Smith had previously been in talks with Tim Burton about Dumbo but that did not materialize and we’re told these talks are also early."
It's already a red flag that Guy Ritchie is directing this film. "Aladdin" is supposed to wrap filming early next year with a tentaive late 2018/early 2019 release date.